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Coleen Perilloux Landry | all galleries >> Picture a Day >> January 2010 > Photographers, Beware
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28 January 2010 Coleen Perilloux Landry

Photographers, Beware

Mississippi River at Bonnet Carre' Spillway

How many hundreds of photos have I taken from this same spot? How many sunsets and ships?
Today at three o'clock in the afternoon I was surrounded by Sheriff's deputies as I sat in my car snapping shots of the River. I was told I cannot do that. I was asked for identification. I must admit I was dressed rather well today with a white sweater, black and white jacket and black pants. I had on high heels and earrings and a Fleur-de-lis pin on my jacket. All the marks of a real Terrorist.
JW posted photos taken in England over the weekend of photographers wearing signs "I am a Photographer, I am not a Terrorist." Guess I shall have to get one of those signs.
Everyday we lose a little more of our freedom.


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Guest 01-Feb-2010 01:40
Hopefully they cut you loose with no problems. wonder what would happen if you took photos of trains too ????
laine30-Jan-2010 18:05
I guess there's two ways of viewing the situation...go back to the cause of this loss of freedom. Pick up the news on any given day & you will see how the ordinary looking guy/girl was not what they appeared. Law makers have a tough job & though we know we're innocent, they don't.

You need to invest in a Pbase Cap & Teeshirt, Coleen :))
Jackdad30-Jan-2010 17:06
you were told you're not allowed to take photos of the river?!?!???? what on earth...?
I hope the matter was cleared up swiftly and you received an apology Coleen!
Gayle Jenkins30-Jan-2010 04:25
Wow Coleen, that's scary. Makes you realize how the freedoms that we have all taken for granted are slowly going away.
Frank Wilson30-Jan-2010 01:38
I took a photograph of a ship entering Jacksonville harbor on Tuesday. Do you suppose I should turn myself in?

Here's a little trick I use. I have a name tag holder on a string I hang around my neck with a card in the holder which reads "pbase.com" and that is all. I don't claim anything with it or wave it at anyone . . . it just hangs around my neck. You'd be surprised how easy it is to get photos, or simply walk into places, or work you way closer to a shot . . . but I did get kicked out of a Sarah Palin rally with it on so it doesn't work all the time. And she makes such a great picture even if I disagree with 99% of what she says.
joanteno30-Jan-2010 00:46
Oh dear.. It is a strange world that we live in.
JW29-Jan-2010 16:36
This really makes me cross. And the UK and US governments seem about as paranoid. Freedom is tricky and messy. To be totally secure and safe, we'd have to have curfews, ID cards, Stasi-style community spies, end messy democracy and fair trials. All very safe but totally unjust.
We have to say NO while we can!

We are photographers not terrorists. We are the good guys!!!!
Maralee 29-Jan-2010 16:04
Boy!! What can you say. Seems like they go for the wrong people all the time. Let's hope that they get it right on of these days.
Phil Orgeron29-Jan-2010 13:54
Sorry to hear this Coleen. More and more pointing cameras is like pointing guns. I guess we will need permits soon to even carry a camera... and I'm not kidding.

PS Don't even get me started about loss of freedom
A J Adams29-Jan-2010 13:32
Sorry Coleen,but you being blond and a woman,you must fit the terrorist profile.
John Lester29-Jan-2010 13:16
I would ask a Jack Bauer question. Maybe there was something on that ship that they were protecting. While it has an American flag the name is not American. 24 Hours?
Neal Nye29-Jan-2010 12:14
Idiots! I'm glad you got a good shot anyway. I understand that if you're standing on public property, you can photograph anything you can see. Except for military installations maybe.
Zak29-Jan-2010 10:08
Such is the way the world is going at the moment, i'm surprised i haven't been stopped yet!
Cindi Smith29-Jan-2010 03:00
That's totally ridiculous! Yep, they'll be trying to put chips in our hands or foreheads in the not to distant future so they can keep a closer eye on us. Did they know you used to work for the Sheriff's department?
Ed Preston29-Jan-2010 02:36
Glad you didn't bring any explosive batteries with you, we might not have heard from you for years! :-) If they want more people to have jobs, perhaps they can hire workers to erect a fence from the gulf to Canada, East to West coasts, along all waterways, and have TSA workers check everyone who wants to fish, swim, or take pictures. I understand that a threat can come from anywhere, but I really think more thought could be put towards whom they check. My mother, when flying about 4-5 years ago was checked over real close, searched, bags checked, etc. course, she was 90 at the time, just a ripe age for a terrorist! Good luck Coleen and give 'em hell!
sschex29-Jan-2010 02:21
http://www.pbase.com/sschex/image/116390161
sschex29-Jan-2010 02:09
first a lotus thief, now a terrorist!