And by us, I mean people in general, not Americans or Brits or Germans or whomever, but the Global Us.

9-11 has made everyone paranoid. People are constantly seeing a potential threat where there is none.

16-year old freelance photographer stopped and detained in london


Confrontation Between a Police Officer and Photographer in Los Angeles


UK Photographer Films Own Arrest


Photographer and Civil Liberties Group Sue Department of Homeland Security

Just because we have a camera and are out taking pictures it doesn't mean we as photographers, amateur or professional, are terrorists taking recon photos for the Taliban. It's our hobby, it's our job, it's something we enjoy doing. Stop and think about it. If the attacks on 9-11 had never happened, would you law enforcement officials be stopping someone for taking photos of a state capital building with great architectural elements? I don't think so.

Just because some nut-jobs decided to hi-jack some planes and fly them into the Twin Towers killing 2,995 people, 19 of which were the terrorists themselves  (1), doesn't mean that the person snapping pictures of a park bench is plotting the next attack.

Use some common sense people! Photographers are not the scourge. We're not plotting to take over the world. We're NOT the enemy. We ARE just doing what we love to do, that's it. There's no secret agenda behind our lenses.

Now, don't misunderstand my rant here to mean that we, as photographers, can go out and take pictures of whatever we want. There are laws and we must abide by those laws. Every state has different laws regarding photos. I would HIGHLY suggest that you Google those rights in your particular state. You'd do yourself a great service by doing so, that way you don't end up in jail over a misunderstanding.

I would also suggest you download and print out this PDF from Bert P. Krages, Attorney at Law, The Photographer's Right.

The image linked below was something that a photographer in Great Britain made and is being distributed in the July 10th issue of Amatuer Photographer.

[link]

It highlights the laws of that country regarding photography and photographers. We as American's need someone to step up and do the same for us by printing Mr. Krages' document on something easy to carry with us. I would do it if I could.