Cop (?) duffs up photographer for shooting San Fran building

Thomas Hawk — Flickr-shooter, Boing Boing pal and photographers' rights shit-disturber — got harassed and duffed-up by security guards at San Francisco's 45 Fremont Street. The guy shown here actually manhandled him off the sidewalk and into the street, all the while claiming to be a cop, but refusing to show his badge. I smell BS — this guy is probably a private security guard who likes to pretend to be on the job. This is the second time Thomas has had trouble taking pictures of 45 Fremont, and the PR people from the building have assured him he's allowed to take its picture (I mean, of course he is — by law!), and tell him that the security guards who harassed him are working for their tenants, not for the building itself.

People have been taking pictures of impressive buildings for as long as there have been cameras. Before that, they painted pictures of impressive buildings. And public transit. And street scenes. It's thanks to these images that we retain any sense of the history of our cities and ancestors. They're also some of the most striking art ever produced. "Security" is a bogus reason to discontinue this ages-old practice — terrorists can readily take photos with hidden cameras, or rely on the existing stock of photos, or wait until no one is around, or memorize features of the buildings they plan on attacking. All that this sort of ad-hoc ban accomplishes is to punish non-hostile, private individuals doing something that's as old as buildings themselves: documenting the way we live.

Link