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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Boston Subway Photo Ban?
Ian Hurley, Photographer
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Boston | MA | United States | Posted: 5:02 PM on 03.25.07 |
| ->> I was shooting in the subway today and was told by a T official that I couldn't take pictures in the subway because of a "heightened state of alert". Has anyone else had this experience in the Boston subway? |
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David Manning, Photographer
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Winter Garden | FL | | Posted: 5:15 PM on 03.25.07 |
| ->> No, i was there in the T last weekend for the Murphy's show and shot a bunch of pictures/video down there. Of course i looked like a gaudy tourist from Florida... supposed it helped.... |
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Ian Hurley, Photographer
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Boston | MA | United States | Posted: 6:15 PM on 03.25.07 |
| ->> I was shooting my story subjects as they were putting more money on their fare cards (which happened to be right near to the T official). I explained what I was doing but I believe she was exacting her own personal policy, not MBTA official policy. I'm going to find out for sure what they have on the books. |
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Fredrik Naumann, Photographer
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Oslo | Oslo | Norway | Posted: 6:16 PM on 03.25.07 |
->> Banning photography is a very efficient way to stop terrorists...
yeah, right.. |
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Robb Sepulveda, Photographer
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Newport Beach | CA | | Posted: 7:21 PM on 03.25.07 |
| ->> I was told by a conductor in a passing train not to shoot..but since no one else was around... oh well |
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Matthew Healey, Photographer
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Providence | RI | | Posted: 10:38 PM on 03.25.07 |
->> Hey Ian. The MBTA is notiriously difficult when it comes to photography, even pre 9/11. I have been told that they may be a public transit system but they are technically a private company and therefore keep a tight leash on photographers (the ones they see at least).
If you have a planned assignment you can just contact their PR ahead of time and they should clear it for you no problem. A crime scene on the other hand is a whole different matter.
This is the only thing I could find on their redesigned website:
http://www.mbta.com/business_center/filming/ |
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Gary Clark, Photographer
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Mill Spring | NC | USA | Posted: 11:26 PM on 03.25.07 |
->> At Christmas this year I was shooting in New York subways and did not get in trouble as long I did not use a flash.
Gary |
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Walter Calahan, Photographer
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Westminster | MD | USA | Posted: 8:43 AM on 03.26.07 |
->> New York has a civilized subway system.
Boston has always been a problem. They've been on a "hightened" state of alert ever since Paul Revere saw those damn church lights. |
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Joe Brown, Photographer
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Woburn | MA | USA | Posted: 9:21 AM on 03.26.07 |
->> Ian -
I got thrown off the tracks of the commuter rail recently when there was the train crash/double fatality. It is not unusual for the MBTA to play up the whole "private property" angle against us. I got my photos so I was not worried about being thrown out, but they are not usually nice about it. Joe Brown |
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Ed J. Szalajeski, Photographer
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Michael R. Sisak, Student/Intern, Photographer
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New York | NY | USA | Posted: 3:01 PM on 03.26.07 |
->> The MTA New York subway case, where a ban on photography was overturned by a court, should be a precedent for all these types of cases. Sure, the MTA or the MBTA, or the whatever quasi-government agency you'd like, can claim that it is a private entity, but its stations and trains are part of the public space (and the agencies receive tons of tax dollars)... Therefore, their bans -- while enforceable by the guards and the police who tell folks not to take photos -- might not (or at least, should not) hold up in court.
Of course, in the words of Dennis Miller, that's just my opinion... I could be wrong. |
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Jim Bounds, Photographer
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Raleigh | NC | usa | Posted: 3:45 PM on 03.26.07 |
| ->> Walter was it........One strobe, if by land, and two strobes, if by sea. :) |
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David Guralnick, Photographer
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Detroit | MI | USA | Posted: 4:13 PM on 03.26.07 |
| ->> No one wants to spend the money on lawyers. You'd probably have to be arrested first, then you could sue but either way you need $$$ and lots of time to see it all the way through. |
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Tom Sperduto, Photographer
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Edison | NJ | USA | Posted: 6:57 AM on 07.18.07 |
->> Here's some good news ...
T allowing riders to use cameras again -
BOSTON. The MBTA has made a surprising reversal in policy and will now allow people to photograph stations and trains without a permit, in response to a flurry of complaints from students, train buffs and tourists ...
FULL STORY:
http://www.metrobostonnews.com/us/article/2007/07/17/01/4008-72/index.xml |
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Rafael Agustin Delgado, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Pasadena | Ca | USA | Posted: 8:36 AM on 07.18.07 |
->> Thanks for the post Tom.
I am off to Revere Today for my last day in Boston. However with the lousy lighting today, I may just take a bunch of transfers around Boston today. |
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Larry Clark, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Falls Church | VA | USA | Posted: 6:52 PM on 07.18.07 |
->> Took a tunnel tour offered to our office by the DC Metro Police a couple of years ago. Their position was that taking photos is OK, but not tripods -- which kinda makes sense.
They know that Metro is almost a tourist attraction in its own right. There are about a zillion cameras going in and out of the system each day during the summer and during holidays. Can you imagine trying to stop that?
I use a vantage point in one station to check out low light performance with my digital cameras now and then. I remember crouching at the rail a few months ago with four Metro Police taking a break about 20 feet away -- no problem. |
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Ric Tapia, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Santa Barbara | CA | USA | Posted: 7:17 PM on 07.18.07 |
| ->> I just got back from my trip in D.C. a week ago and I took photos of the metro whenever I could. No one said anything to me or stopped me from taking photos. Click on my icon to see my images. |
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John Plassenthal, Photographer
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Vandalia | OH | USA | Posted: 11:42 PM on 07.18.07 |
| ->> There is an exception on the DC metro and that's the Pentagon station. There are signs indicating that photography is prohibited. Only makes sense... |
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Sean D. Elliot, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Norwich | CT | USA | Posted: 8:38 AM on 07.19.07 |
| ->> Ian, I presume you are the Metro photographer mentioned in the story? Always nice when an "injustice" gets corrected promptly. I still find the requirement to produce ID a bit troubling. What if I forgot mine, are they going to arrest me? |
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