Web Profiles

"Get up, stand up Stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up Never give up the fight."--Bob Marley

Recently Mary and I were strolling around a local outdoor mall and I was making some pictures of the landscaping with my recently infrared-converted Canon EOS 20D (www.irdigital.net). Within moments of raising the camera to my eye, a young and polite security guard asked if I knew the mall's camera policy. My answer, "What camera policy?"

Since September 11th, anecdotal reports have spread far and wide over the Internet about photographers being confronted by authorities and how their rights to make photographs have been rightly or wrongly challenged. So what are your rights anyway? Bert P. Krages II Attorney At Law has developed a one-page flyer (www.krages.com/phoright.htm) containing information on what your rights are when stopped and confronted by authorities. As the author of Legal Handbook for Photographers (www.allworth.com), Krages is knowledgeable about photographers' rights. I would like to thank him for producing a document that explains what your rights are, legal remedies if harassed, but most importantly how to handle these kinds of confrontations. Print this PDF file, get it laminated, and put a copy in each of your camera bags. Be sure to read it several times so you're ready the next time somebody says, "No Photos!"

Not all "No Photography" signs are as benign or handled by such a pleasant gentlemen as this one photographed during a pit walk at the US Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. You can learn your rights as a photographer by downloading Bert P. Krages II's "Your Rights and Remedies When Stopped or Confronted for Photography." © 2003, Joe Farace, All Rights Reserved

Stand Pat
Stan Patz is a talented New York photographer whose website (www.patzimaging.com) was designed by his son Ari. Wrapped up inside this classy design are a series of galleries showcasing Patz's work, but before going there, take a look at his camera creation. The Patz 616 features interchangeable lenses, produces four 55x162mm pictures on a roll of 120 film, and was, he told me, "semi-inspired" by an old Shutterbug article. Patz's imagery cannot be summed up in any single word. The Studio section contains old-school style mixed with contemporary high-tech photographs, but to me his most successful images are the simple, elegant ones, such as a chair with a dress and shoes or a vase of flowers.

His infrared photographs are dramatically evocative, especially the panoramic photograph of a swing on a tree. Similarly, a Central Park bridge image found in the Architecture section is pure urban Ansel Adams. From uncomplicated subject matter, such as the untitled photograph of a shaving brush in the Features (it should be called "Still Life") gallery, Patz works quiet magic. His images in monochrome or using little color are more successful than his color photographs, which are much, much more literal than the dreamlike explorations found elsewhere on the site. Before leaving, click on Patz's WTC Memorial to see an image expressing in visual poetry the poignancy of what September 11th means to all of us, not just as photographers
but citizens.

Stan Patz's work in monochrome or when working with little color are more successful than his color images, which are much, much more literal than the dreamlike explorations found throughout the site. © 2005, Patz Imaging, All Rights Reserved