The Los Angeles Subway Tunnel at Wilshire/Vermont; harmless, imperfect, and dull.  This was really me playing with balancing out the ISO and Film Speed to capture the variety to lighting which occured as the subway tunnel headed East towards Hollywood.  The only warning sign to be found in my vicinity read ‘Do Not Enter’ and was screwed to a gate.  To be honest, I didn’t even think to look for a sign citing permission or warnings until after the police officer moved on, but there were no other signs present.  However, that didn’t stop the officer from citing a number of rules I was breaking while I scrambled to find my subway ticket.

The rule cited by the officer was “You Can’t Do That”.  Which several escalated moments later turned out to mean A) I couldn’t photograph down the subway tunnel – and – B) I couldn’t stand in the area I was standing.  As soon as I had trouble finding my ticket, a third problem presented itself – I had no reason to be taking the picture.

I can appreciate the need for security measures, and, even if there were no signs posted anywhere, the orders given to me by the cop were, at least for that moment, the law.  He signaled over his partner.  This was one of those situations where a timer had begun, the settlers had begun to circle the wagons and were just biding their time until they could call my info into headquarters.  I had to find my ticket before they called in my name because if it got to that point, even if I found my ticket, there would be other concrete problems, signs or no signs.  The officer passed my ID over to his partner, and this is when me not having a real reason to be taking the picture in the first place became my biggest problem.  I wasn’t a student, I didn’t think there was anything especially appealing about the tunnel, and I couldn’t give a specific reason for taking several photos beyond ‘I wanted to’, which can be interpreted a number of ways- none of which could help me.  At the last moment, as the parter gave that ‘go ahead’ nod to the original officer, I pulled out my ticket.  I received a stern warning about not doing it again, and was left alone.

Now this happened in my hometown where I speak the language and am a native citizen.  However, as a travel photographer, I have gone around the world shooting sights, people, and cultural events in very foreign situations, sometimes stealing shots that I felt were particularly special.  Many times I have filmed places that I was very unsure about what the rules were, but none were posted so I shot anyway.  How far should one go to get a great shot though, especially if the person is a self-employed or freelance photographer with no corporate or state backing should something go bad?  I mean, look at what happened to the vetted reporters covering the uprisings in the Middle East.

For this photo, I figure the worst that could have happened would have been a citation/ticket or a few hours in a holding cell for some essentially stacking charge.  Yet, when I think of how rough some of the police or army personnel were when we last traveled through Asia, I know that this situation would have had much more dire consequences if it had taken place there.  So where am I supposed to draw the line?

Do I shoot conservatively- mainly tourist attractions and hope that my photo catches something the previous thousands haven’t?  Do I sneak more shots and play dumb if somebody has a problem? What should I do?

For me, I think the answer is to apply a liberal caution to any warning signs that I do see, and, if nothing is present but someone has a problem, smile and put the camera away immediately or run; though I have run away before, and it does tend to ruin the day.  Where do you draw the line when you travel?  Is it different in different countries?

Looking back my subway situation makes me laugh.  I can only assume that the policeman was at least a little worried about terrorism, and what’s ironic is that this whole altrication happened literally within minutes of the Osama Bin Laden is Dead announcement.  Of course, with no cell signal in the subway underground, neither he nor I had any idea.  Anyway, sometimes it’s good that things like this happen to make one more aware of the consequences of certain actions.  I will definately pay more attention to my surroundings when I shoot next.