Friday, August 19, 2011

Police Say They Can Detain Photographers If Their Photographs Have "No Apparent Esthetic Value."

It happened in Long Beach:
The police officer somehow determined that there couldn't be esthetic value there, and thus, the photographer had to be detained and checked out. The police are defending this policy, saying that while officers don't have any specific training in what qualifies as "apparent esthetic value," they will stop anyone photographing things they don't consider to be something a "regular tourist" would photograph. I actually have to go down to Long Beach next month for a speaking engagement, and I'm now tempted to take a bunch of photographs that have "no apparent esthetic value."
I understand the security concerns at the root of this, but it's just crazily overreaching. And as someone who often takes pictures like this...

... I feel really threatened.

(Via MadisonMan.)

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