John Jovic

Bullshit! And this is why.

I realised whilst reading other peoples comments that some people have been dissuaded from taking photos around interesting industrial locations. After all you must be a terrorist if you are taking a photo of a refinery, right!

Thought I’d share some of my experiences on the subject as I am very often in these kinds of situations. My day job is photographing cars for magazines. I often do this in industrial locations and sometimes near sensitive installations such as refineries, ports, airports, you name it. I’ve been accosted by security guards, customs agents, police, ignorant old farts, you name it. I’m sure someone has already reported me to ASIO. I’m not a lawyer so don’t try to use me as an excuse if you end up in jail, do your own legal research, consult a lawyer if you think you need to, but this is the information I have obtained from both State and Federal Police when I’ve called to question the legality of such photography.

Basically, there are no laws which prevent you photographing any property from a public place! Private properties such as shopping centres, subways, airports etc are a completely different story whilst within the property. The property owner sets the rules and you must abide or leave. But if you are outside the private property and on public land then shoot away. There can be local council By-Laws preventing photography, such as on some beaches, so it is worth asking the question if you think it might be relevant.

However, any Police officer can do just about anything they like to you should they have good reason to suspect you of Terrorist activity. They can confiscate your camera, detain and question you. My solution to this is to have some forms of identification or samples of my work, in a small compact Folio, which can be shown to quickly convince them of my real intentions and identity. I have a Canon CPS card with my photo on it and business cards, or you could join one of the professional photographic associations (if you are eligible) some of which now offer membership cards for this very reason.

There’s heaps of good information here on the legality of photography. It’s worth reading.
http://www.4020.net/words/photorights.php

Having said that, you can’t then just do anything you like with the images because of trade mark and copyright issues with buildings and company logos, but that’s a whole different issue anyway. Just being allowed to take the photo doesn’t mean you can do whatever you like with it.

My suggestion is that if you are going to be shooting in really questionable places AND you think you might have trouble with security, then try to contact the security people first and tell them who you are and what you are doing. DO NOT ASK FOR THEIR PERMISSION, you don’t need it! Just offer them the courtesy of letting them know who you are and what you are doing so that they don’t have to worry about you. Shell, for example, is a bit touchy about this kind of thing. I always call them and tell them of my intentions to shoot around their refineries. They appreciate it and we both play nicely. Same thing at airports such as Moorabin or Essendon. It works.

Know your rights and don’t let the ignorant push you around. Of course never let things get out of hand. I can honestly say that I would be the first to call the police should a security guard get heavy handed with me. Not that it’s ever happened, and hopefully it never will.

JJ