Picture New York Petition

It would appear that this is just another example of administration out of control.

Here in France, a country which is renowned for it's love of paperwork, such permits have been around for years. However, even in a country of pen-pushers and official rubber stamps, they treat their tourists, amateur and professionals photographers with more dignity.

Tourists can shoot wherever tourists go ... except inside the Louvre and where it says 'no photography' etc. Keeping it simple. For those who are a little more adventurous (amateurs and pros), authorisation and/or written permission is required when:

shooting in a city garden or park
shooting in/around any government building
(or other obvious public/private-owned/operated establishments)

I carry a government-issued press card and a folded piece of A4 from the Prefecture which starts : "Filming in public areas where permission is not required".

It then goes on to list 9 conditions including shooting 'off the shoulder' and the use of tripods. So long as you don't block the pavement or block the regular pedestrian traffic, conduct your shoot in a public park or in the courtyard of a government building, then you can basically do whatever you want. It's simply a case of being sensible.

This sheet of paper, I should add, is ideal for those who are not bona-fide press card holders. It goes under a sub-heading of 'Simplified Procedure' - foot-patrol Police can't be expected to know all the rules so this spells it out on official headed paper. At one time or another I have handed this piece of A4 to officers and it has been given back accompanied by a smart salute and I am left alone to conduct whatever it is I am doing.

The majority of stories that come out of the civilised world about "journalist/photographer arrested", normally come about because the journalist or photographer in question has been doing something stupid and has aggressively argued the point, knowing (quite clearly) that whatever he or she was doing was against the rules.

"If this governs a precedent it might become important for photographers all around the world" ... I doubt that if the USA starts flexing it's muscles with this particular domestic topic (based on the terrorism attack on the WTC), the rest of the world will necessarily follow.

I understand the concern about restrictions on photographers, but have had no problem in Albuquerque.

What Ive done is contact museums, stadiums, sports arenas, etc and asked permission to shoot a virtual tour for my website www.VirtualAlbuquerque.com. I guide them to the site and walk them through a similar location/facility on the site. And I show them how it will benefit them. That's gotten easier to sell now that www.VirtualAlbuquerque.com is getting 20,000 visits a month

Not only am I allowed to shoot outside, they let me shoot inside museums like the Albuquerque Museum of Fine Art, New Mexico Museum of Natural history, Unser Racing Museum and, for www.VirtualSantaFe.com, the Palace of the Governors history museum. Instead of a virtual image of the front of Isotopes Park (the local AAA baseball team is the Albuquerque Isotopes), I've got a VR scene from the Batter's Box on the playing field. And Center Court in the University of New Mexico Arena (lovingly called the Pit becasue of the way it was contructed). And a scene from the 50 Yard Line of the UNM Football Stadium

To me a virtual image of the outside of a location is usually a waste of time, a still photo does a better job. A VR Scene of the front gets the building....and the parking lot. Given that some street scenes are great shots and I'm working on an intersection by intersection tour of downtown Albuquerque. The first scene is where Route 66 crossed Route 66 in Albuquerque.

Taking the time to call, explain what you want to do, what you're going to do with the VR photos and how the location/facility will benefit usually gets the photographer almost unrestricted access and fantastic virtual images the anonymous "out front" photographer will never get.

Douglas Aurand
Albuquerque, NM