New Fresno City Hall Copyright 2008 Paul Calkins F stop 9 Shutter Speed 1/400 sec ISO 400 Focal Length 18 mm Ken, Hope you had a great Easter, well it is on to another week. I think you can identify with this weeks article. This is really funny because I work with the Homeland Security folks.... Photographic Thoughts Volume II April 1, 2013 No Foolin' By Paul Calkins © 2013 Bellaartandphoto.com During a recent photo shoot, I was taking a light reading using the old Canon Digital Rebel. A young woman yelled "what are you doing?" I told her exactly what I was doing. She immediately called security, told me that I was not allowed to take any photographs of the buildings, logos, and people who happened to be in the area. Security showed up immediately, I was escorted to the authorities. I explained what I was doing. I received the same warning, had to sign a paper, saying what the young woman had told me. "Can I take photographs of the beautiful flowers, surrounding the buildings?" I am an eternal optimist, who believes in the wonderful freedoms that make our lives possible in this special place. After all this is the United States of American, and the State of California. I was told that I could only take photographs of flowers, only if I turned in my card for download to the authorities, and then erased the content. At one time the government and business leaders were proud of their architectural creations, and the design of interiors as sign of their freedom, and an expression of their achievements. That was the old world that I grew up in. The people of Fresno, California wanted to be on the cutting edge of architecture, after all they had just gone through a huge urban renewal moment, tearing down a whole swath old homes, built in the classic 1880 to 1890's Victorian styles, with ginger bread, and broad porches to protect from the valley heat. Arthur Erickson, a prominent Canadian architect, was chosen to build a new city hall in this now old fashion neighborhood. Erickson's design called on the Futurism school of 1909, and the Postmodernism 1970's movement to describe the seat of government. This brings me to my desire to photograph the varied architecture and history of Fresno, if you have a camera, that is more sophisticated than a point and shoot, or a cell phone camera, you could risk of a serious run in with the Department of Homeland Security, local law enforcement, and businesses. That is no foolin'.
Thanks for listening. |
