My Experience Photographing In Downtown Phoenix Photo Gallery by Gordon W at pbase.com

My Experience Photographing In Downtown Phoenix

Normally, when visiting a large city I like to photograph some of its downtown core. Such was the case during our stay near Phoenix, but if one looks at the photos in my Central Arizona Gallery one will see only two shots from downtown Phoenix.

This is because shortly after my wife and i made the 30 mile drive over there from our campsite in Mesa, specifically to shoot photos of downtown Phoenix, and I was merrily snapping away, I was approached by a security guard and told not to take any more photos of the buildings I was shooting because they were private property and the owners didn’t allow them to be photographed!

Needless to say, this took the fun out of it for me. I didn’t argue with the guy even though my understanding is that as long as one is photographing from a public location (in this case a sidewalk) one can shoot whatever one can see, private or not.

So, considering most buildings are privately owned and being annoyed by the guard and not sure how 9-11 might have effected the law, I packed up the camera and drove back to Mesa, fuming.

Personally, my thought on the matter is that this is a sure way to piss off a tourist and spoil a visit to a city and that is generally a bad way for cities to treat tourists. Of course, perhaps Phoenix feels it has so many residents it doesn’t matter if they piss off tourists. They’re probably right, but I never went back and saw nothing so compelling about the place while I was there that I ever want to go back and therefore can’t recommend anyone else ever go there, so as far as I’m concerned the loss is theirs.

Mesa, on the other hand, was a great place and that is where we spent our money during our 3 week stay.

On the plus side, for all the stops we’ve made on the Photo Odyssey, downtown Phoenix was only the second place I was stopped from photographing (Mammoth Cave being the other) and the motive behind such a restriction no matter where it takes place is beyond me. Perhaps someone can explain it to me.

Click here to return to my Central Arizona Gallery.

Downtown Phoenix

Ashley Hockenberry		12-Feb-2011 16:53
Gordon - I think there are three explanations for this - 1.) Most so-called security guards do not have enough to do with their time so they harrass tourists 2.) While they are out chasing harmless camera-wielding tourists around - they leave the premesis vulnerable to real threats 3.)It is a sad excuse for a job - chasing people around who are on vacation trying to get a snapshot of a skyline. My advice to them is get a real job and do an honest day's work ! (May sound harsh - but that's it)

Gordon W		13-May-2007 00:48
I suppose it's possible it was me, Joseph, but I have no idea what the building is called where I was photographing and my discussion with that security guard was quite brief since in that situation I don't argue with people objecting to me taking photos wherever it might be, whether I think they have the authority to stop me or not. As I mentioned in my narrative above, it was Phoenix's loss. I wish I could get a commission from all the chambers of commerce for the people who have visited an area specifically because they had seen my photos of it. I routinely get comments from people telling me of their plans for such visits and why, but this won't be happening with Phoenix, which certainly won't have any impact on the city but does give me a small degree of personal satisfaction. Seems like since 9-11, many people have lost all common sense when it comes to restrictions on photographing sites they consider to be sensitive. If a terrorist is going to case a potential site to terrorize, he isn't going to photograph it in plain view for all to see when all he has to do is photograph it safely and anonymously from inside a vehicle with tinted windows. So why do you ask?

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