It may seem like an obvious answer to this, but are we allowed to photograph any building we like? Of course, unless its an M.O.D. or some sort of other official government building etc, do we have the right to take pics of it? On my first photography trip to London this year I was happily snapping away at my favourite building, the BT tower, when a chap came running over to me waving his I.D. badge yelling excuse me sir, excuse me sir. He in fact was head of security at the tower and politely pointed out that its not permitted for photos to be taken of the tower due to the fact its still not a publicly listed building (or something like that bla bla bla .) ok, fair enough, so, there I was, a naughty boy with wrist slapped! Also, I would ask the same about private dwellings. Does anyone have the right to just come up and take photos of our houses? For instance, I recently went back to my childhood home in London, and wanted to get some pics of what its like now. Out of courtesy, I actually knocked the door and explained who I was and asked if they minded if I took some photos. And after all, a middle aged bloke loitering around a residential street with a digital camera in hand could look slightly suspect!!! So I got to take the pics, but sadly they didnt offer me a guided tour bah humbugs! I feel its better to ask permission first, but I bet on my next trip to London, if I ask first they will say no, where as if I dont ask I bet nobody says anything! So, what do you do? Would appreciate your comments and views on this and also if youve had any issues with security etc.
I've been chased out of Union Station in Washington, DC, and away from the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company's neo-gothic palace in Pittsburgh by security guards operating on private property. They had the right to do that because I was on private property, period, and even then, if I'd shown your resolve and worked up the food chain, I might have had the positive results you brought to be.
This Oregon lawyer's site has a useful, concise explanation of US law, a link to a more in-depth resource, and links to info on the situation in the UK and Australia: Krages
As far as photographing government buildings goes, if you're in the U.S. you're entitled to photograph whatever your camera can capture from a public street.
But it gets interesting when it's government property but under the care of the private sector. We had a local situation where a private developer was operating part of a county-owned shopping and restaurant district. The developer's security guards were energetically rousting people for taking routine snapshots, bullying them, snatching their cameras, et ridiculous cetera. The county put a stop to it since it was contrary to the purpose of using tax money to fund the developer's activities -- to draw people into the district and have them enjoy it enough to return and spend more money.
In my own rousts, both guards were overbearing from the second they approached me and growled huge untruths about the law, though they might not have known what they were saying was patently false. I didn't try going over their heads because I thought it would eat up too much of my shooting time (morning light) and just moved off, but there will be other occasions, I'm sure.
I dont know how much it costs or how easy they are to obtain but many big cities have offices that can issue permits to photograph around the city - especially if you are using items that are regarded as 'pro' equipment such as tripods. As for the BT tower, I would have thought that providing you werent actually on their land you should be able to photograph it with impunity (its not exactly a subtle or discreet structure) but you may have made the guards day and sent him home with a big satisfied smile that he averted some crisis or other - failing that tell him youre a shareholder and youll do as you damn well please :-)
... Seems to me .. there are other related threads in the Photography forum .. some posted by ME, even
With the whole "anti-terrorist thang", the renta-cops working security for most buildings will shoot first and ask questions later .. and be fully supported in doing so
can't say I blame the authorities .. photographers and their "take only photos, leave only footprints" mantra ...
I was helping my son take photos of the Library of Congress building (for a school project of ALL THINGS) in DC and got "no-no"'d by a rent-a-cop..... Now I have the PDF printed out and copied and it's going into our camera bags... Good question Paul! ~Mary~
Paul :)