by SchuminWeb
I was on a railfan outing with a friend on the Orange Line on Saturday, and got confronted about photography at Virginia Square station. Apparently the station manager wet his pants over my camera when I was taking photos from the mezzanine. We went out to the street to get canopy and street pylon photos, and coming back in, an employee wearing a dark blue WMATA polo shirt with a second logo on it that I'd never seen before stopped us at the faregates to ask if I was a professional photographer. I explained that amateur photography is not regulated under Metro's current rules, and no tripods. He said that I need to ask the station manager before taking photos in the system. I said "sure", while thinking, whatever, because I knew it was unenforceable.
Then while balancing my camera on top of one of those bomb-proof trash cans with the lid for a long-exposure photo, a custodian came up to me and told me I can't photograph in the system. I initially ignored him (holding the camera still on top of the can lid required my full attention), and when he continued, I gave him polite "hold on" gesture (one raised index finger). Then when the exposure was complete, I gave him my attention. He said that photography was not allowed, and I basically let him have it. I told him that I knew the rules and knew my rights, and that photography is allowed in the system despite what he might think, and that he would need to produce evidence to the contrary in writing for me to stop. He backed off. If he had threatened to call Transit Police, I would have volunteered to call them myself (I have them programmed in my phone).
Then we went down to the platform and continued photographing, mainly just to piss them off. They left us alone, though you could hear the custodian talking about us from the mezzanine. The gentleman in the polo shirt came down to the other platform later, and sat on the bench looking all sad like he'd been defeated. And admittedly, I confronted them back and came out on top.
So photography on Metro seems to be alive and well, as long as you are prepared to defend your right to do so. These low-level employees can dish it, but they can't take it when you throw the actual rules (vs. their made-up rules) back in their faces.
Then while balancing my camera on top of one of those bomb-proof trash cans with the lid for a long-exposure photo, a custodian came up to me and told me I can't photograph in the system. I initially ignored him (holding the camera still on top of the can lid required my full attention), and when he continued, I gave him polite "hold on" gesture (one raised index finger). Then when the exposure was complete, I gave him my attention. He said that photography was not allowed, and I basically let him have it. I told him that I knew the rules and knew my rights, and that photography is allowed in the system despite what he might think, and that he would need to produce evidence to the contrary in writing for me to stop. He backed off. If he had threatened to call Transit Police, I would have volunteered to call them myself (I have them programmed in my phone).
Then we went down to the platform and continued photographing, mainly just to piss them off. They left us alone, though you could hear the custodian talking about us from the mezzanine. The gentleman in the polo shirt came down to the other platform later, and sat on the bench looking all sad like he'd been defeated. And admittedly, I confronted them back and came out on top.
So photography on Metro seems to be alive and well, as long as you are prepared to defend your right to do so. These low-level employees can dish it, but they can't take it when you throw the actual rules (vs. their made-up rules) back in their faces.
Ben Schumin
http://www.schuminweb.com/
http://www.schuminweb.com/
