Being a photographer with a “real” camera always carries risk. People well within their rights to photograph in public are harassed online all the time. I’d argue, though, that being a brown person in the United States adds an extra layer of risk that other photographers don’t face, namely fears that you’re a terrorist taking photographs to plan for a future attack.
If it was just one time and one story, I wouldn’t say that. But it’s definitely not just one time. I’ll start with a story of my time as a graduate student, where I took this photo:
Syracuse University from a publicly accessible area that was made a little less public just for me.
The photo was taken from the top of the Syracuse University’s Crouse-Hinds Hall, in a hallway in the building that houses classrooms and administrative offices. No one is barred access to any of the hallway and classroom areas during business hours, so I took the elevator up to the eighth floor and placed my camera against a window overlooking the campus. I was aiming for a time-lapse.
Ten minutes pass, and a janitor walks past, but no one else. Ten minutes later, an officer from the Department of Public Safety walks up and informs me that only faculty and staff are allowed up in the hallway. I knew where this was going, but I gamely showed him my ID anyway, since I was adjunct faculty even before I was a graduate student. My ID card said as much. He seemed to short-circuit, fumbling through some words about how someone reported a suspicious person in the hallway and that I needed to leave.
Like I do in any interaction with police officers, I pondered whether I should challenge the assertion that I was a suspicious person, but I determined that I already had the photo I wanted and that the better play was to back down. I packed up and walked away.
Another time, when flying out from Buffalo Niagara International Airport with camera gear I needed to shoot a wedding, I got stopped and searched six ways to Sunday when going through the security checkpoint. That was not unexpected, given the amount of hardware I was packing. What was unexpected, was that after I had packed everything back up and put my belt back on, was that I was stopped and searched again in the same manner after walking five feet away from where I had previously been searched, without explanation. I complied, again. That said, I’ve been “randomly” searched most times I’ve been through the airport, gear or not.
When Taking Photos Is Really (Not) Encouraged
Sometimes, the stories just cross into the territory of asinine. Take this example from the Destiny USA Mall in Syracuse:
The tweet does most of the talking, but in short, I had my Fujifilm X-T1 with the XF 35mm lens (a diminutive setup as far as cameras go), and I was still stopped by mall employees and told to stop shooting. There’s a picture of a DSLR right on the sign, for crying out loud.
All of that brings me to the most recent incident from just this previous week, where I photographed a fixture in Bridgeport that I’ve photographed numerous times before, a power plant by the water.
A power plant that sits on the harbor in Bridgeport, easily viewable from everywhere.
I ride this ferry to work every day, many times taking photos, without incident. On weekends, there are parents, mostly not minorities, riding the ferry and taking pictures left and right. In the case of the photos above, I was using a 14-year-old Canon Rebel XTi, a camera that arguably takes worse quality photos than the Google Pixel 3a XL in my pocket. To make it a point, I started photographing with my cell phone first for a few minutes before switching to my DSLR. That was when I was asked by a ferry employee to stop and to not take photos. After I pointed out that people take plenty of photos with their cell phones, she relented and told me to not take photos of the (very visible from all angles everywhere) power plant. There didn’t seem to really be any rhyme or reason to any of it. If I was trying to be sneaky to get photos of the plant to blow it up later, I’d use something a little less conspicuous than a silver DSLR. Or I’d just use Google Maps. It’s not really a secret power plant.
Either way, as the ferry is a private business, I complied with the request to put the camera away, but if you look at the photos above, can you even tell which one was a cell phone and which a DSLR? I'd argue you can glean the same information out of either photo.
Am I Being Singled Out?
Maybe I’m making a big deal out of what may be isolated incidents and individual people. There’s no way I’d know without A/B testing, since I only have the skin I have. But all of it adds up and wears me down over the years. While race isn’t mentioned in the article where Hilary Duff confronts a black photographer for photographing her kids, the encounter is dripping with racist undertones. Brown and black folks will understand exactly what’s going on here. The photographer didn’t look like the other people on the soccer field and was then singled out by Duff for scrutiny. It’s doubtful he’d get the same treatment if he was white.
I can’t be the only photographer of color to have experienced this. Have you? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Not all heuristics are stereotypes.
As a middle aged white guy I rarely get hassled by the popo. But the TSA had me on some sort of list for about 2 years starting around 2007. I got the dreaded SSSS when I checked in and had go thru many many secondary searches when I would fly anyplace. But never twice in the same airport LoL Then it stopped.
Do the mall security guards allow photos taken with phones? If not there will a lot sad teenage girls not taking selfies.
White women get hassled- photographic proof:
Americans are racist and fearful, and US media exploits and intensifies these qualities; if you do not like it then you should move.
Nice broad strokes like those often fail to show the reality of complex issues like this.
Yes it's complex; it's also absolutely true.
Well I would prefer not to be lumped in with the bigots.
Isn't it odd how someone who appeals to complexity isn't smart enough to work out singular exceptions do not invalidate a generalisation.
Go away.
Your generalization isn't holding water due to all the exceptions
Ya...that's right up there with "if you don't like it go back to Africa". Heard that many times growing up in the lower 48. Occasionally someone refers to me as "Coloured...or Colored".
Move next to the airport and complain about the noise. Stupid is as stupid does.
By all means, contunue raging against things you can't change.
Get over yourself, Blake. I'm no racist and your no different than those that are.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA
Try again, I'm a misanthrope.
I guess we all have our bears to cross. :rolleyes:
I wouldn't worry, I detest you as well.
What a relief! You've made my evening.
"Americans are racist and fearful"
Great job making sweeping generalizations with zero basis in actual fact. Just want to point out that you just threw Donald Trump, Snoop Dog, Kim Kardashian, and Connie Chung into the same group with that statement. That's how absurd it is.
Donald Trump is racist, actually. Just so you know.
Wait, you think Trump is not racist?
LOL
Also, the fact an obvious racist and sexist was elected makes my point; as does the media demonisation of Sanders and his supporters.
Well, it is not limited to just US. It exists in India (my country of origin - I have experienced a lot). However, 'indivdiual psychological profiling' and racism are two different things. The first one is for being alert, second one is for demeaning the other human being.
As a brown american photographer this article speaks to me personally. I love it. Its 100 percent true. Ive been stopped walking down the street a few blocks from my home. Ive been told to not photograph things because of terrorism. ive been told that i look shady even though other people where there taking pictures. Thanks for writing this. Its good knowing im not alone
I don't think you're being singled out.
To be fair my girlfriend and I were pulled up for taking photos of burnt out cars at a scrapyard that had been set on fire previously. I just think people with cameras are susceptible to dickheads with a chip on their shoulder generally. I’ve also been bag searched the last 3 times going through security at airports, admittedly once because I had an offending dinner fork in my rucksack (that I had managed to get into Northern Ireland, just not out).
I’m not saying you aren’t getting grief because of your appearance because it wouldn’t surprise me but there is an argument to say the camera is playing a large part.
I do think you should go easy on the guy above asking if you are Middle Eastern too, I think his whole point is correct, to the average member of public who likes to make assumptions they would look at your name and assume you were from Pakistan or a similar country of origin, which then brings with it a whole new set of assumptions, it’s sad, but that’s the world we are living in atm. I’m willing to bet people make plenty of assumptions about me based on my appearance, everyone thinks they know a lot but they don’t.
Thanks. This is amplified by the fact that Wasim Ahmad is his nickname (his name is apparently John Smith), and he presented himself in the article as a "person of color" (to use common parlance), which is a strong indication that he is anything but a tan white guy Scottish descent. I hope no one attacks me because of my blue skin.
If you have blue skin, I would think that the proper response would be to call an ambulance and possibly perform abdominal thrusts...
I tried the abdominal thrusts on myself and I just look like a chicken trying to fly.
It's the same reasoning that was used for the "Blue Lives Matters" argument. It's a deflection tactic used to dismiss and ignore the core of the issue.
I dont understand what you mean, also what is 'blue lives matters'?? i dont really use social media so all these acronyms mean nothing to me.
It is a counter reaction to the Black Lives Matter campaign. Having blue skin myself, I am pretty up on these things.
Genuine question; who is blue skin? (Have heard white, yellow, purple, brown, black). I know we are missing few colors in the spectrum.
A bit of humor- look at my avatar.
It's not a question of "liking" to make assumptions. We ALL make assumptions. It's our brains' way of using limited computing power efficiently. I mean, if we had to reason everything through newly with every encounter, we'd never get out the door in the morning.
Hmm, there's a round thing on this big rectangular piece of wood. It appears to be made of metal. Is it round? What does "round" mean? What is "metal"? What is "wood"? And, what is this rectangle for? Oh, if I grab the round thing and rotate what I'm going to call my "wrist" and pull, the rectangle moves and I can then pass through the opening...
That's why the concept of "implicit bias" is at least as significant as explicit bias. Many of our assumptions are based on generalizations we've never consciously examined to verify whether they're valid or not. The question is whether folks are willing to do the work of testing and adjusting.
About 13 years ago I got kicked out of Mall of America because shoppers complained I was suspicious. I had a pencil and sketch pad, they were concerned I was planning a terrorist attack. It was ridiculously stupid, I was 18 at the time and I'm white.
Now I'm a photographer and where I live we have a series of parks and wooded trails along the river, only place around with much wild life so I go down to shoot birds and nature. Far too often I've gotten dirty looks from women at the park with their kids. It's like they suspect I'm going to kidnap them.
I'm convinced American society is paranoid delusional at this point.
Some folks take "If you see something, say something" too far.
Wasim, thank you for posting this article.
I was look for something to help explain how a brown or black person could feel singled out in a completely innocuous moments, to show my son. Your story reflects a very challenging concept for all of us in so many different situations.
I often feel out of place and obvious when I am practicing my photography, but my insecurities are all my own. Nobody cares why I’m photographing a power plant. They may judge me or think I should be paying better attention to my children but no one perceives me as a threat and I am therefore not defensive. People make all kinds of assumptions about other people all day long. Generally negative assumptions made of me are rude or insulting but I have the choice to not worry about it. In your case people’s assumption that you are a threat makes THEM unpredictable, and you have no control. Is this a fair comparison?
I will never be able to experience photography /life the way you do but stories like yours can help me check myself and challenge my prejudices so that hopefully my kids will be better than me.
I am white and have been stopped by rent a cops and NYPD detectives in Manhattan for taking photos of building exteriors on multiple occasions. While I do agree with this article, people are scared of certain looks and of big cameras, it does happen to a lot of people on the streets not taking pictures of people.
"rent a cops". Are we being security-guardist here?
People just want to see something terrorist related or illegal or immoral to add interest to their mundane lives. So people tick boxes to build an assumption that someone is doing something shifty or malign.
Middle eastern looking (close enough)…tick
Alone and taking photos in public... tick
Better say something just to be sure
Old man at a playground...tick
Wearing dark sunglasses...tick
Has binoculars...tick
Better say something just to be sure
3 black men standing outside a shop looking around...tick
Better say something just to be sure
The simplest explanation is probably the correct one.
The guy taking photos is just a citizen doing their thing.
The old man is bird watching
The black men are waiting for an uber
Prejudice may not be intentionally racist, but intentions don't change the underlying racist assumptions.
The media doesn't help and can make regular people jump to conclusions on first observations. Taking a few seconds to properly read a situation can save making someone feel like shit based on stereotypes and embarrassing yourself.
I don't think the people making seemingly racist comments on here are racist. They just don't judge people on race and have never been treated negatively based on their skin colour, so they can't understand what it's like to face even minute racial judgements on a daily basis. So it comes out as "no one cares you're brown, stop thinking white people are racist, that makes you racist"...which isn't intentionally racist, but comes off as insensitive.
An article like this was always going to be divisive, but important to remind people that it only takes 1/1000 people to be racist to make someone feel prejudice. And 999/1000 people will never understand it
"Better say something just to be sure"
"See Something, Say Something" Common poster in airports
That's the problem. People WANT to see something. Even when what they are seeing is nothing they justify it in their minds, and that justification is usually stereotypically racism based.
Was it racism when Hillary Duff challenged and video recorded the black photographer as he photographed boys (including her own) playing soccer? Is Hillary Duff a closet racist? I would submit it is a little thin skinned.
https://fstoppers.com/news/hilary-duff-challenges-creep-photographer-pho...
I'd personally get creeped out by anyone doing that, no matter what background or gender or anything.
Do you actually want my full opinion on that matter or just whether I thought it was race driven, which I don't think it was. That falls more into my "old man on a park bench" scenario, in which I know I would make worst case assumptions because I'm fiercely protective of my young daughter. I just try not to take action unless there is more to go on.
What I saw in that case is a guy (who also happened to be black) with a pretty serious camera taking pictures. That could be called a hobbyist. He could also have known it was Hillary Duff's son and might have wanted to photograph him for that reason. I do not know anything about him, but from his demeanor he did not look or act like a pervert. He may perhaps have done a better job making his case, but I think Hillary Duff was a bit over the top. If someone challenged me about taking pictures in a public place I might get defensive also. And yes we will protect our children. But I am not sure I saw any danger here. Soccer is played in public so people that want to can watch it.
You and your cronies are grasping at every straw you can manufacture.
It's not working, we can see you!
I'm glad you're feeling scared, welcome to "America"
What on earth are you talking about? Are you profiling me because of my blue skin?
The photographer acted like a complete jerk. Who the crap cares about the legality of the matter. I'm asking you not to take pictures of my child.
The article here suggested that there were racist undertones by Duff. That's completely baseless and lazy. She was a mom who didn't want a stranger taking pictures of her child. That's it. And he happened to be really rude about it, prompting her to get worked up as well.
The photographer was in a public park taking pictures well within his legal rights. People can't stop you for unfounded reasons. If you watch the video, Duff, to me, seems to go in with the anger from the start and he reacts pretty calmly until she escalates it.
The photographer is not in the wrong here.
I did not see him acting rudely. She did. He may have found a more diplomatic way to handle the situation without jumping to the legalities, but then again, this is a public space, and soccer games are intended to be watched, and by extension they will be recorded photographed. I understand the mama bear bit, but it was a bit over the top.
She isn't racist. I would do the same if I see someone (whose kids are not playing or in the ground) photograph when my kids are playing (for real). She is just being protective and alarmed. Her reaction is extreme for sure (I wouldn't post public for sure, but will 'talk' to the guy), but that is a result of her fear, wanting to let other parents know and not racism.