COLUMN: Yes, I have the right to take your photo in public
As a photojournalist, I tell my stories with photos. It’s my job to capture what is going on.
I have a job to do whether you agree with me or not.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, when I am lawfully in a public place I have the right to photograph anything in plain sight. If you are on public property, I do not have to stop taking a photograph because you ask me to — even if you do not agree with me taking the photo.
Anything "in the public eye" is fair game for me to photograph. Unless there is a legal prevention from taking a photograph — like using a big lens to look into someone's home with — I can legally photograph anything in public that can be seen with the naked eye.
While on assignment, I was standing on the sidewalk across the street from the former Alpha Chi Rho house north of campus. I was using a standard camera lens to take a photo of the house for an article about an alleged hazing incident that took place there in October 2016. I had no special equipment, no telephoto lens, just my regular camera gear.
Former student allegedly hazed by "underground fraternity"
The attorney for a former Central Michigan University student filed a complaint with the Mount Pleasant Police Department alleging he was hazed by an unaffiliated fraternity in October 2016.
I was approached by a man from the house asking me what I was doing and why I was there.
After explaining to him that I was with Central Michigan Life and was there to take a photo for a follow up story on the alleged-hazing, he proceeded to tell me to stop taking photos — specifically of his house.
Since the house could be seen in plain sight, and I was standing on public property using a standard camera lens, I had every right to take that photo.
It's important we all understand the rights of photographers.
It is important to capture moments when people are smiling and happy, but it is equally important to capture moments of hardship that people face. I have rights to take photos in a public setting with my camera just like you have rights to take photos in public with your cell phone camera.
I take photographs of every type of moment to tell stories. Whether that is happy, feel-good moments or more melancholy situations, my intention is never to take photos that portray people in an unwarranted, negative point of view. I do not go out of my way to take photos that will make other people look bad.
I use photos to document what is happening.
Whether you like or not, I have a job to do. My job is to share the truth.
