Photography and Security

Reading this: Boing Boing: Photographer grills security guard about dumb policy

Thinking this: Killy and I once got called out by a security guard when we were taking pictures of a downtown building. So instead of taking pictures of the building, we took pictures of the reflection of the building in the paint of my car. It took place in post-9/11 Houston, where people were terrified that the terrorists would strike an out-of-the-way who'd-a-thunk kind of place next. It sucked--we weren't interested in making a scene but in retrospect you have to protect your right to do stuff or you will certainly lose it. Worse still, it isn't as if taking a picture or not taking a picture will change the (in)security of a large building, dam, water-works, refinery, etc. Security from obscurity has been shown time and time again to not work. If we were interested in "scoping out" the building for some nefarious deed, then the rent-a-cop wouldn't know it. The security person's orders come from people who wish to impose an easy way out on the rest of the world--you can't sue these the managers of this property for letting terrorists scope out their property.

From that perspective, I feel some sympathy for the people paid to be dick-heads, so to speak.