Photo Ban on Private property
Photo Ban on Private property
Here in the USA I already encountered odd Photo bans.
The first was in April during a Spring blizzzard when I went out to do some street photography in down town Milwaukee. I saw a garbage can with an umbrella in it with snow on top and wanted to take a picture (the garbage can was on some steps outside a small skyscraper). As I was framing the shot, a security guard came running out of the building yelling that I must leave, that absolutely no photography is allowed on the premises. I told him that I just wanted to take a picture of the garbage can, and he said I was not allowed because I was on private property. I asked him if I could go two steps down on to the side walk to take the picture, and he said no, becasue the building would then be in the picture, (Ya, a whole 5 foot section of a pillar!) I asked him what the building was, and he said that it belonged to Northwestern Mutual Insurance company and that I need to leave at once (even though I was by this time off the step and on the public side walk).
The second incident happend at a new mall that opened up called Bayshore Town Center. The mall was renovated to look like an out door small town with more upscale sellers. It is outdoors and has some cool architecture. I went with my wife and child for a stroll and took my camera along. I took some picture and when I got to a fountain, there was a child playing in it. I took a picture of the fountain and the builing behind it with a wide angle lens. A security guard saw me, and then called another guard they talked and then one approached me and said that I have to put my camera away, that there is a zero tolerance policy for photography. I said to him: "Where does it say that policy? There are no signs." "Sir, that is the mall policy, you have to put your camera away at once." A little later on I met a friend of my wife who worked at the mall as an "ambassador" (security guard). I told her what happened, and she laughed: "So you are the guy they were talking about on the radio." I asked her about the policy, and she said it was true: zero tolerance for photogrpahy. It is so bad that you can not even take a picture of your own family on mall property. I asked why and she said that the mall was afraid of competitors taking pictures of merchandise and prices. I said: "That's crazy." And she agreed with me, but that was the reasoning they were given. A group of teens even got their camera's taken away from them because they didn't listen.
The moral of this long story. Photo bans are happening everywhere. It is truly sad! 😱
