One more reason not to go to Long Beach

[Eric Woodbury]

http://gizmodo.com/5831230/long-beach-police-frowns-on-your-no-apparent-aesthetic-value-photos

This coupled with the fact that there is nothing of aesthetic value in Long Beach.

[Robert Hughes]

There's a thread (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=79501) in the Lounge about this story.

[Ed Kelsey]

I didn't need a reason not to go there.

[Sirius Glass]

I didn't need a reason not to go there.

:D :D

[GPS]

The land of freedom became the land of feardom...?

[John Kasaian]

Actually there was a training video produced by....Homeland Security I think...I recollect seeing it on You tube a few years ago, instructing law enforcement officers on how to size up photographers as potential terrorist threats. LBPD is just following the game plan.
If you want it to change, don't preach to the choir, hire a lawyer.

[JMB]

Actually there was a training video produced by....Homeland Security I think...I recollect seeing it on You tube a few years ago, instructing law enforcement officers on how to size up photographers as potential terrorist threats. LBPD is just following the game plan.
If you want it to change, don't preach to the choir, hire a lawyer.


The Nazi camp nurses said something similar: "We were just doing our jobs." In my view the LBPD is not immune from the 4th Amendment just because a federal agency ignores it in the name of security. Also, I think that it is important to communicate with each other about this important issue. In any case, I think that you will find that the high court that put modern teeth into the 4th Amendment and fortified the liberty rights, which you might expect the lawyer to assert with confidence has been gone for a very long time. The lawyer would ultimately find himself up against a Supreme Court (if he even got that far) that has been slowly chipping away at 4th Amendment freedoms for over 30 years. The public's conception of traditional American liberty and its importance in our culture is quite different than the view exercised by contemporary courts. And even the public's demand for liberty is softening. The political machinery is selling fear these days, not liberty. Hence, its time for the choir to start singing about unacceptable conditions.

[John Kasaian]

"And even the public's demand for liberty is softening."
The erosion of rights is a direct result of the erosion of culture. It is a folly to think that one is not affected by the other---look at all the other good things that are eroding: financial security, health care, journalistic integrity, the list goes on ad nauseum...
Your Nazi analogy is spot on---a political system will always expand it's power when a society becomes distracted with it's self indulgences, but this gets into matters of politics & religion, which is verboten here, so I'll shut up.

[Michael Gordon]

This coupled with the fact that there is nothing of aesthetic value in Long Beach.

With all due respect, if you can't find one thing of aesthetic value to photograph in Long Beach, you're likely finding challenges everywhere else.

I live in Long Beach and have commented against this constitutionally absurd "policy" . Now that this news has moved widely through the internet-photosphere, I'm guessing there's going to be a lot of police/photographer encounters in the weeks to come.

[Drew Wiley]

I don't see how there's any problem. 99.99% of all photographs have little or no
esthetic value, even if they were taken in Yosemite.

[John NYC]

It is absurd to think a terrorist would walk around "suspiciously" with a camera anywhere to see if they get caught.

[Brian Ellis]

The theory isn't that terrorists will be caught because they're carrying a camera. The theory is to prevent them from making photographs that might be useful in planting bombs or whatever. That's the theory, the practice is entirely different as we can see from this thread. Evidently all of Long Beach is a gold mine of opportunities for terrorists except those areas that would be photographed by a typical tourist.

[cyrus]

This is not so much about terrorists than it is about justifying a budget. It is called "security theatre".

[JMB]

"The erosion of rights is a direct result of the erosion of culture."

Absolutely. And this is precisely the reason why I take the erosion of contemporary culture so seriously.

[John NYC]

The theory isn't that terrorists will be caught because they're carrying a camera. The theory is to prevent them from making photographs that might be useful in planting bombs or whatever. That's the theory, the practice is entirely different as we can see from this thread. Evidently all of Long Beach is a gold mine of opportunities for terrorists except those areas that would be photographed by a typical tourist.

What I am also saying is that if a terrorist wanted to make photos of something, they would do it in a way that would go unnoticed.

[Robert Hughes]

So LF cameras are props for terrorist activities.

How does Long Beach feel about open carry weapons? No terrorist threat there, right?

[evan clarke]

http://gizmodo.com/5831230/long-beach-police-frowns-on-your-no-apparent-aesthetic-value-photos

This coupled with the fact that there is nothing of aesthetic value in Long Beach.

Tom Paiva has done a lot of night time color photography in the Port of Long Beach with his 4x5 and it's exceptional stuff. See tompaiva.com...EC

[lawrencebrussel]

But i do really love beaches :P

[Bill Suderman]

I was there last October...there was beach? As a kid, we visited the Pike, swam in the public salt water pool and went directly out on the beach to play in the sand. Now it's all cement and marina full of sail boats. Boat$ pay by the running foot, kids are a bother...

[Michael S]

Seems to me that this is a very good reason to go to Long Beach. If I were still living in LA, I would be inclined to organize an army of photographers to descend en masse on Long Beach to photograph anything and everything we choose to photograph. Call it Critical Mass for photographers. Get off of the damn computer and DO something to save your guaranteed rights under the Constitution and the Bill of Rights! Take no guff from these swine!

[BrianShaw]

Maybe a civil liberties lawsuit too... there may be a bias or discrimination issue. I had no problem in Long Beach with a MF canera recently.

[rdenney]

Seems to me that this is a very good reason to go to Long Beach. If I were still living in LA, I would be inclined to organize an army of photographers to descend en masse on Long Beach to photograph anything and everything we choose to photograph. Call it Critical Mass for photographers. Get off of the damn computer and DO something to save your guaranteed rights under the Constitution and the Bill of Rights! Take no guff from these swine!

Question: Have the Critical Mass bike rides achieved greater awareness of cyclists as qualified users of the road? It's been a long time since I followed that activity, but back then, it seemed to heighten animosity towards cyclists, not reduce it.

Rick "who has had a beer bottle planted in the middle of his back while cycling, among other things" Denney