Photography and Public Spaces

I am by no means a "real" photographer. I dabbled quite a bit but I came across this photographer's weblog and I really love his work. It also helps that his photo essays are about my hometown of San Francisco. Yes I do play favorites. I also enjoy reading his accounts (article from Wired) when he's out on one of his photography trips -- and he gets harassed by the police or the local "rent-a-cops." This is what I fear when I actually do go out. I hate being hassled. It just ruins what you're trying to photograph. But I like the way Thomas Hawk, his pen name actually, approaches them and the irony of photographing what is presumably "public spaces."

It's really ironic. He's taken some wonderfully beautiful photographs of "The City" -- events, neighborhoods, scenery, and buildings. All of which everyone enjoys and photography is not only a way to preserve it, but to represent it as an experience to others. But to have the police charge you with trespassing? Or even attempt to take your camera away? I understand that there are concerns about what the photographs may be used for, or even reveal. But of public spaces like a Muni terminal? What is this fear? What does it mean when security and the protection of public space extends to its representation?

I should know better though that there's a huge difference between taking a picture of Coit Tower and the old carpet of a BART train. And the fear is how a picture of a public service program is going to be used to subvert funding, or justify budget cuts, or be used in a PR campaign to call for more environmentally safe public transportation. Yes, a picture can do many things. It is a politically powerful medium. I think that's why I like and fear this medium so much.

I have yet to go out on a photography trip of Arlington, VA, and Washington, DC -- especially when I really do look at public spaces and not your usual tourist attractions. I like taking what others often do not see and it's usually quite random. But at the same time, I also fear what others think of me when I'm there. I am conscientious about that and every now and then I get a stare or two from the locals. Sometimes I get a chat or two and what usually saves me is that I identify myself as a professor -- yes, it's my "Get Out of Jail" card. A few minutes more of chatting about what I teach and that's it. No harm done. But I think that's what makes photography such an intriguing medium. There's no one else there but yourself, the camera, your eye and your wits. It's a productive tension.