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Hello loyal readers, I come to you today with trepidation in my heart, and my heart on my sleeve. About a month ago, there was a storm here in my hometown of Sparta, MI. When I say it was here I don't mean it was only in Sparta, for it hit the surrounding areas as well. Kent City, Cedar Springs, and Sparta made national news that night for being ripped apart by 70 mph winds, lightening, and rain. Trees were downed, power was out, roads had become impassible, and I was at a friends home enjoying a nice homestyle dinner.
I had no clue, what was happening at home, but soon after eating dinner I received a frantic phone call from my mom explaining the situation. On the way home the state of disrepair was obvious, with downed power lines and trees littering the roads. I saw quite a few 90 year old trees that decided to lay down on top of 20 year old homes. Getting closer to home there was a realization of how bad things were when I couldn't reach our house, iwaiting in turn for the fire services to clear the next set of branches of the roads.
After many struggles I reached the house and was filled with relief, no damage at all. A couple years before my father passed on, he decided to clear out the larger trees from around our house. At the time I was upset, being that I'm a lover of nature. Now I was relieved. A half hour at home with no electricity passed by, and being the adventuring type I decide to go estimate the damage. Armed with a longboard and a camera I set off to record what had happened.
Just down the road I came accross my first and only subject of the night. An ambulence with 2 EMT's and a Minivan that had a tree branch land on the winshield. I took the time to walk around the scene to find a good angle, being careful not to get anywhere close to the accident. Well as it turned out I could have been a thousand feet away from the accident, and it would have been to close for thier taste. The first thing I heard come out of the EMT's mouth was "get out of hear, you can't be filming this". To which I replied, "I have a right to be here, this is public property". My statement was soon followed by him getting angry and telling me, he was going to get the police here if I didn't leave. I stayed, to shoot a few more pictures, and when I decided to actually leave he shouted, "That's it, you want the cop's your going to get them".
I'm not one to run from a fight, especially when I'm not in the wrong, but I didn't want the lady in the van to become any more aggitated than she already was, so I decided to go about a block away, on the way out I talked to a volunteer fireman and explained the situation. Minutes later a barage of firefighters showed up to try and clear the trees that were blocking the road. They asked me what was going on, and agreed to let me shoot them. Seconds after talking to them the Sparta Police Department showed up and started talking to the firefighter that had been talking to the EMT. I was taking photos of the firemen as I waited for the Sparta policewoman to come talk to me, and the next thing you know I was being questioned.
Officer Mathews started out with asking me what had happened, and once she realized I wasn't 15 and I knew my ways around the laws concerning photography, decided to go a different route. She appealed to my decency as human being by asking me how I would feel if someone was photographying my family in an accident? Now humans are very withdrawn creatures and normally we don't like personal events being recorded, but my question is: Would life be better if we didn't see the horrible things that happen every day? A soldier in Afghanistan might not like the photographer keeping him in check, but isn't it for the betterment of humanity? We might not enjoy seeing the photos of soldiers torturing Abu Ghraib prisoners, but what if noone had taken the photos?
In the end I was told: if someone in uniform tells me to do something I have to do it, if I didn't have a way home they could give me one, and if I was seen out photographing again that night I would be arrested for disorderly conduct. Now compared to some of the videos I've watched concerning police injustic this doesn't seem that harsh, but that doesn't mean it was right. This is America, the land of freedom and opurtunity. I could have went to jail, fought the charges and been exonerated, but who wants to spend the weekend in jail?
The problem I have with what happened is 1. I have a legal right to photograph anything in plain view, especially if it happens in a public space. 2. I was told I have to follow someone in uniforms order's regardless of what they say (this isn't Poland 1939). Finally 3. Officer Mathews was willing to make up a charge against me if I wasn't willing to comply with not photographing the accident.
Short and sweet I went home, it wasn't worth it, but noone should ever face arrest for doing something within their rights. I should have stood up for myself, and the others that will come after me, because this will happen again. We photographers shouldn't be afraid to stand up for what's right, and the next time this happens I will say "I guess, I'm going to jail". The main questions I have for you the reader is this, has this happened to you, and if so how did you/would you handle it? Am I just Bitching, or did something bad actually happen?
