PHOTO PHACISM IN NEW YORK CITY

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COLIN MOYNIHAN, NY TIMES - As the city considers rule changes that would
require a permit to photograph and film in public places, a coalition of
filmmakers and photographers is mobilizing a campaign against the rules
by using the very medium they believe the regulations would constrict.

Members of a newly formed advocacy group called Picture New York
gathered recently at a gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to harness
their creative skills to express their opposition to the rules by
planning demonstrations, including one that was set to take place
yesterday in Union Square. The public comment period ends next Friday.

Some members used a detailed stencil to make cardboard props that
resembled a 16-millimeter Bolex camera like the one Andy Warhol used.
Others have compiled clips that are posted on a Web site run by the
group, picturenewyork.org.

"Until very recently, nobody knew about this issue," said Laura Hanna,
an independent documentary filmmaker. "We are, in a way, running out of
time."

The new rules, which were proposed by the Mayor's Office of Film,
Theater and Broadcasting, would require any group of two or more people
who want to use a camera in a public place for more than 30 minutes to
get a city permit and $1 million in liability insurance. The same
requirements would apply to any group of five or more people who plan to
use a tripod in a public location for more than 10 minutes, including
the time it takes to set up the equipment. The permits would be free. .
. Officials have said that the rules are not intended to apply to
tourists or amateur filmmakers or photographers.

One member of Picture New York, Jem Cohen, said that he was motivated to
work against the rules because of an experience in 2005 when federal
agents seized film that he had shot from the window of an Amtrak train
to Washington. . . 

Some opponents say the cost of insurance required under the rules would
burden independent filmmakers and photographers with limited budgets.
City officials said that if the proposed rules were adopted, insurance
could be waived in some cases for those who could not afford it.

Christopher Dunn, associate legal director of the New York Civil
Liberties Union, said many people have expressed concern about the
rules, including representatives of the Manhattan Neighborhood Network,
a public access cable station that often conducts interviews on the
street, and bird-watchers and nature photographers who frequent Central
Park. "The rules they are proposing are unconstitutional," Mr. Dunn
said. "And we will sue if they adopt them."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/28/nyregion/28film.html

http://www.pictureny.org/

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