[UPDATE: The criminal charges against him have just been dropped and the judge issued a court order for the release of his camera equipment. Good news for sure, but the points remain: 1) we need documentary shooters shooting the entire gamut, legal and not. 2) we need public defenders who understand this need and are prepared to help us defend it.]
This is nuts. LA photographer Jonas Lara has been arrested and faces up to a year in prison for ‘aiding and abetting’ two graffiti artists while documenting their work in February. Lara pleaded not guilty, wisely citing it’s within his rights as a photographer to be at the scene documenting the work of the artists. But here’s the rub: his public defender, David Gottesmann, has so far refused to consider his rights as a photographer as part of the defense.
PDN reports, “When he was arrested, Lara was working on a long-term project for which he has documented the work and creative processes of 30 visual artists. Lara met the two graffiti artists at an abandoned building in South Central Los Angeles to photograph the pair as they worked on the illegal mural. The photographer says the officers were understanding when he explained his reason for being at the scene. They told him they needed to process him, and that he would be free to go in the morning. After advising Lara that it would be dangerous to leave his car in the neighborhood, one of the officers even drove Lara’s car to the police station so he could avoid a towing fee.
Once he got to the police station, however, Lara’s situation became much more precarious. The police held Lara for eight hours before telling him he was being charged with felony vandalism. He was held for 26 hours in total…before his wife bailed him out.”
Now call me crazy, but this is pure bullsh*t. I’m not advocating crime, I’m advocating Lara’s rights to document it. His public defender won’t cite his rights as a photographer? Huh? If documenting crime is a crime, then why isn’t every photojournalist who documents drug abuse, war, and violence in prison? The guy is headed for the MFA program at Art Center in Pasadena. His work is legit. We need pictures like these.
In situations like this, where a person’s right to document is being questioned, it’s crucial to have a criminal defense lawyer who understands the nuances of free expression and legal protections. Melbourne criminal defence lawyers, for example, are trained to handle cases where clients face potential charges that may infringe on their rights. A defense attorney experienced in protecting creative professionals can help ensure that artists and journalists are not unjustly prosecuted for doing their work, standing up for the preservation of civil liberties and artistic freedom.
Since his public defender doesn’t see the light (wtf?), Lara needs private council. He’s got a donation page here. Spread the word. And if you’re a photojournalist, please keep shooting.
(via PDN Pulse)
Where is freedom in our world going?
How else are we to understand deviance in society. The fields o criminology and sociology should be illegal since most of it is based on studying the deviant mind and they’re act as they happen. Everyone who observes, captures, writes, researches or is a part of an undercover investigation with any illegal activity should be imprisoned if Lara does not get acquitted.
Once I’ve read about a photographer in England. He was arrested, while doing some street-snap, for public nuisance… Man, I wonder how many tourists got arrested by taking their trip pictures? – -;;
Graffiti is different than tagging. Graffiti is just another form of Street Art. Why is it a crime? Most of the graffiti i’ve seen in Los Angeles improves the neighborhood.
Anybody seen the movie “Exit Through the Gift Shop” http://www.banksyfilm.com/ a Paramount movie about this very subject. Is Paramount Pictures a criminal for releasing this documentary about Street Artists in action???
Sorry, but grafitti is not “just another form of street art.” I don’t particularly appreciate someone painting the side of a building I own without my permission, however “artistic” they may be. Nor do I particularly want someone painting public buildings without prior authorization. The fact that the result may appeal to the artistic sensibilities of some viewers does not change this.
Others are correct: as a photographer, I agree that we must be zealous in protecting our rights as photographers and as citizens. The problem is that when we protect the “rights” of those who are in the wrong, we diminish our message and our influence. Now, I am not saying the photographer in question _was_ wrong, because I don’t know the details of his situation. What I _am_ saying is that _if_ he was involved in the planning of a crime, his actions were not legal or defensible just because he is “creating art.”
The moral question of what a photographer or photojournalist is to do when faced with a crime in commission is far more complex, at least to me. Does the photojournalist document a robbery, assault, rape, murder? Or does he intervene directly, or indirectly (eg call the police)? I remember reading once, I cannot recall where unfortunately, about the photographer who made the famous photograph of a young girl escaping a napalmed village during the Vietnam war. Later, he received criticism for having photographed this child rather than intervening to help her. Was his role that of a photojournalist, to document but not intervene, or was the moral imperative to intervene to help this child? Obviously his decision was the former, but if I am recalling the article correctly, this was a decision he wrestled with then and later. I don’t know the “right” answer here, and I’m sure this very question occupies many hours in journalism classes.
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Nick Út did the right thing by taking the photo. Le Phuc Dinh filmed it for NBC. This, and others like it, helped turn the American people against the war, which helped bring it to an end.
Eddy Adams photo of the Chief of Police shooting a prisoner in the head is another one that changed world opinion about the Vietnam War.
Make that Eddie Adams, sorry about the misspell.
Chase checkout
http://photographernotaterrorist.org/