Category: Access & Censorship

Stock photo giant Shutterstock has found itself in some ethical hot water. In a recording obtained by the media, an executive is heard dismissing employees’ concerns about the censorship of search results in China, telling them that they are free “to pursue other opportunities” if they’re unhappy with the company’s decision.

“Post-9-11 was the real start of this (in this century, at least), and it has only gotten worse in the age of Trump,” Leslie Burns, Esq., an attorney who specializes in photography and other creative industries, tells us. Now more than ever, it’s crucial for photographers to familiarize themselves with the law and to understand where they can–and cannot–take pictures.

The rules come after a months-long “standoff” between the authorities on Capitol Hill and The Standing Committee of Correspondents, which represents journalists credentialed to cover the House and Senate. According to a letter published by the Standing Committee of Correspondents, the sergeant-at-arms and Capitol Police rejected all of their suggestions without any explanation of how the new restrictions contribute to safety “rather than simply limit coverage of the trial.”

It felt like a minor terror alert. Four security guards were watching me, whispering into microphones on their collars. A plainclothes police officer had just covered my camera lens, mentioned the words “hostile reconnaissance” and told me I would be followed around the city if I moved.

I was stopped and searched twice near London City airport – for watercolouring! I was not even facing the airport. I was painting the Tate and Lyle sugar factory opposite. They said they saw me on a camera and thought that “no one would want to paint a factory”. I explained that LS Lowry did loads. Then they said I could be an anarchist and I was carrying “suspicious paraphernalia” – this being a flask of coffee and an iPod. Oh, and a box of watercolours.