I was in Fort Tryon Park, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.  It’s a beautiful park, a place to escape the concrete, steel, glass and asphalt that comprises the vast bulk of Manhattan.  It’s a rare oasis of green in the middle of the urban jungle.  People come there to jog, stroll, admire the flowers in the Heather Garden, enjoy the wonderful views of the Palisades and the Hudson River, and to bring their children and pets to play on the lawns.

And, of course, to photograph.

I happen to love photographing the parks in New York City, the places that dispel the notion of the Big Apple being made solely of man-made materials.  And so, there I was, photographing in the park, taking a wide shot of one of the lawns, when the red lady ordered me to stop.

“Actually,” I responded calmly, “I can take pictures here.  This is a public park.  I don’t need your permission.”

“I do not let,” she responded.  “I am the nanny and the mother said no one can take pictures of her child.”

Normally, I’m a pretty reasonable person.  Had she come over to me and asked me nicely “Would you mind not photographing here?” I might very well have just picked up my camera and moved on.  But I don’t respond well to orders being shouted at me from someone who has no rights to issue such orders.

“If that’s the case,” I said, “then I suggest that you keep her facing the other direction.”

I was waiting for her to say that she was going to call the police, but that didn’t happen.  Instead, she and the kid simply left.

Photographing people in a public space where they have no expectation of privacy is not a crime and does not require anyone’s permission.  Period.  Photographers have just as much a right to use a public park as anyone else.  There is nothing nefarious or illegal about taking a wide shot with people in it (which is what I was doing) or even, for that matter, close up shots of people.  If you’re out in public, you’re fair game.

Most parents who act like this probably think they are protecting their children from some awful fate, but what fate, exactly, are they protecting them from?  To the best of my knowledge, no child (or adult, for that matter) has been harmed by the act of having their image captured on a digital sensor or film.  Are they thinking that I’m going to use their child’s picture for some nefarious purpose?  If that were the case, I wouldn’t need to go to a park to take pictures of kids — the internet has about a billion pictures of kids available that I can use for free without having to leave my living room.  Are you afraid I’m going to use your child’s image commercially?  Not without a model release I’m not.  Are you afraid that this somehow violates your child’s privacy?  Well, you’re already out in public where everyone can see you.  So, what exactly are you afraid of?

I understand that people want to protect their children.  As a father of three myself, I get it.  I even understand that when people think there’s a threat to their children, they may even go into mama (or papa) bear mode to protect them.  But people (including parents) have to be able to distinguish between real threats and things that are innocuous – like people in public with cameras.  Your child has a far greater chance of being hurt by the jumping rope she’s playing with than my camera.  Watch your child, and don’t mind me with my camera.

Fifty Two Frames is a photography group on Facebook where we submit a picture each week based on a specific theme.  I joined the group at the start of 2013 and have, so far, managed to submit a photo every week (77 weeks total).

Before I joined, there were times when I wouldn’t pick up my camera in a month at a time.  I’d often get distracted by work, or the needs of raising a family, or some family emergency or even the need to have a day just to “veg out” and not doing anything creative.   In addition, sometimes I’d get into a creative rut and, instead of trying out new things, I’d just recycle some old ideas, just for the sake of saying that I’d done “something” photographic.

Joining a photography group changed all that.  Now that I know that I’m expected to submit a picture each week (and to do so based on a theme), I’ve been forced to challenge myself.  When it comes to this project, I have to plan ahead for what I’m going to shoot.  I’m forced to tap into the creative well and try to come up with something new, different and (hopefully) unique.

I’d be lying if I said that every shot I submitted over the last 77 weeks has been a masterpiece.  Indeed, there were a few weeks that I submitted something just for the sake of “keeping the streak alive.”  But I can also say that some of the nicest shots I’ve taken over the last year and a half have come from this project.  Here are a few of the better ones that I submitted:

2013, Week 26 Theme: HDR/Contrast

2013, Week 52. Theme: Themeless (i.e. anything you want).

2013, Week 41: Landscape

2013, Week 43: Famous Quote (in my case “The Long And Winding Road.”)

2014, Week 4: Greeting From… (your hometown — in my case, New York City.)

Do you belong to a photo group where you have to submit something regularly?  Or do you have a weekly/daily photo project?  If so, I’d love to hear about it.

Zev