# These Are the Photos That Took My Freedom



## rexbobcat (Dec 25, 2014)

For those who find the the articles tl;dr...


Freelance (see: not even employed by a news publication/agency) photographer gets arrested for breaking the law.
Does not seem to understand how laws work
Complains about it in an article
Gets free publicity

Honestly, this irks me to no end. This guy had some minor e-fame several months ago when he did a photo essay about his dying mother. Apparently that wasn't enough, so he wrote what I would consider a non-story to stroke his ego.

Judging by the comments on both articles, it backfired on him.

'The Photos That Took My Freedom' - An Interview with Abe Van Dyke | Fstoppers

These Are the Photographs That Took My Freedom, and This is the Story of How It Happened


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## Bernie K. (Jan 1, 2015)

Thanks for sharing.

Yes there are times when it's a good idea to put your camera away. Particularly if the request comes from a rather large Sheriff!!

Interesting times for both Police and protesters.


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## runnah (Jan 1, 2015)

I am all for protests and exhibition your displeasure but blocking a highway is just dangerous, stupid and selfish.

Only imagine if you or someone you know died en route to the hospital because some morons were blocking it! Protest, but use your head.


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## Gary A. (Jan 1, 2015)

I, as a former credentialed photojournalist, am irked as well. If he was a credentialed "free lancer", I'd be irked for police abusing their power and if he was not credentialed, just a "free lancer" along for the high of pretending to be a photojournalist, I am irked that he is just a jerk.


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## Bernie K. (Jan 1, 2015)

Mmm anyone in a photographers vest, safety vest and a camera?  Aren't they credentialed!!


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## JimMcClain (Jan 1, 2015)

rexbobcat said:


> For those who find the the articles tl;dr...
> 
> Freelance (see: not even employed by a news publication/agency) photographer gets arrested for breaking the law.


He submits to a single news agency. There's nothing wrong with freelance. In fact, I would guess that's what the majority of photojournalists are now days.



> Does not seem to understand how laws work
> Complains about it in an article


Prob'ly most people don't understand that you can get one ticket that doesn't require appearance and another that does. And so what if he wants to complain about it? I don't understand your issue with this. He's got a blog and social media outlets and followers who enjoy his exploits. It's certainly not unusual.



> Gets free publicity


And you are helping him. But that article you linked to first was a news story authored by someone else - someone who thought his story was newsworthy. And I would never have read it had you not brought it to my attention and the attention of the thousands of visitors to TPF, some of whom will follow your links to read the story of someone you think doesn't deserve it. I'm confused.



> Judging by the comments on both articles, it backfired on him.


Those things usually illicit comments both pro and con. The cons tend to be more vociferous (and nasty) than the pros.

The guy chronicled an event. He's a half-decent photographer and a poor writer. He was understandably disgruntled. Neither article showed us if he was, in fact, a credentialed journalist, but I suspect he was. It's possible he couldn't prove it to anyone's satisfaction, or they didn't care. It's also a one-sided story. We don't know if he was snippity or offensive to the officers. He prob'ly wouldn't tell us if he was.

He didn't make any outlandish claims of abuse by officers or suggest any took place against anyone else. He told a boring story. Not a big enough deal for you to get so perturbed about. So, I'm wondering why?

Jim


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## rexbobcat (Jan 2, 2015)

JimMcClain said:


> rexbobcat said:
> 
> 
> > For those who find the the articles tl;dr...
> ...



Yeah, and the Eric Garner case didn't personally affect me but I'm still "perturbed" by it.

It's the principle of the thing. 

He wrote the article, pushed it out there to popular online blogs expecting sympathy for his stupidity, and then went to the comment section of the blogs to further try and justify himself when he realized "Wait a minute, everyone thinks I'm an unprofessional dumbass."

I don't understand why you have a problem with me having a problem with this guy's article and attitude.

(Also; literally 95% of the comments are calling him out. This isn't some hot button discussion)


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## JimMcClain (Jan 2, 2015)

rexbobcat said:


> I don't understand why you have a problem with me having a problem with this guy's article and attitude.


I don't anymore. I let it go about 10 seconds after I posted.


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## Gary A. (Jan 2, 2015)

I get a couple of things from the article. Assuming he wasn't credentialed ... a guy like that would probably have posted that he was credentialed in his opening declaration ...
1) Why would a non-credential guy taking photo expect the same treatment as a credentialed, working member of the media? He is not entitled to those privileges. His images look very amateurish. I saw no real sense of story-telling of capturing the essence of what happened that night down to a single image or a few images. 2) A real journalist, if working alone, would have spend equal/significant time shooting from both sides of the confrontation.  I didn't see any from the police side of the confrontation.

Inexperienced, uncredentialed "Freelancers", in my opinion and personal experience, just get in the way ... on hard news stories ... at sporting events ... they just get in the way. Similar to Uncle Bob at weddings, but worse.


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## tirediron (Jan 2, 2015)

Gary A. said:


> I get a couple of things from the article. Assuming he wasn't credentialed ... a guy like that would probably have posted that he was credentialed in his opening declaration ...
> 1) Why would a non-credential guy taking photo expect the same treatment as a credentialed, working member of the media? He is not entitled to those privileges. His images look very amateurish. I saw no real sense of story-telling of capturing the essence of what happened that night down to a single image or a few images. 2) A real journalist, if working alone, would have spend equal/significant time shooting from both sides of the confrontation.  I didn't see any from the police side of the confrontation.
> 
> Inexperienced, uncredentialed "Freelancers", in my opinion and personal experience, just get in the way ... on hard news stories ... at sporting events ... they just get in the way. Similar to Uncle Bob at weddings, but worse.


I agree with your assessment concerning his being credentialed, and that his work doesn't come across as especially skilled, but I respectfully and strongly disagree with your assertion that he had no right to be there.  Unlike, for instance, a professional sporting match, or other event where access is limited based on credentials, everyone has an equal right to view or photograph an open, unrestricted public event, and the fact that one person possesses a piece of paper from an organization saying that he/she works on their behalf and another doesn't should make NO difference.  I understand the whole, "I'm here to do a job" cry, but so what?


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