Writing Shotgun

PORT ‘O LONG BEACH: PHOTOGRAPHERS GO HOME!

Rachel PowersSun. May 18
 

Where are we supposed to go to get our arty post-industrial post-apocalyptic photos?

Last November we ran a story about security at the Port of Long Beach; specifically, my ability to meander through restricted areas and openly photograph bridge supports and chemical storage tanks. Not only that, my ability to do it day after day after day. There were a few negative responses: several people thought that I had single-handedly ensured our doom by introducing the concept of bombing to terrorists. I didn’t take those complaints too seriously. One person said that I was clearly a poor journalist because I had taken my toddler with me on one of the drives. That seemed pretty stupid; I’m just a bad mother. A few people (one or two of them were writers at The District) pointed out that stories like mine might serve to intensify paranoia, leading to an unnecessary cascade of restrictions at the port, restrictions that would do little to improve security but would permit the harassment of private citizens. Honestly, that gave me pause.

Recently a local photographer spent the day wandering around San Pedro and Long Beach, and after getting some really great shots of the port he realized that he was being tailed rather aggressively by a white pickup truck. A few weeks later two FBI agents show up on his doorstep. It sounds as if the encounter started off as an interrogation, quickly became a polite interview, and then settled into kibbutzing, but make no mistake: these were two FBI Terrorism Task Force detectives, they were following up on a lead, and they meant business.

Two questions:

Am I that powerful? I can’t imagine so; besides, I just recommended some perimeter fencing and a few central entrances, not the banishment of photographers and sight-seers. At the time it just seemed strange to me that I could slowly circle silos in lots that said “Authorized Employees Only” but couldn’t take bottled water on an airplane.

Am I invisible? How is it that I was able to tour the port for hours–taking photos of pipelines and the like–without a single backwards glance? Does one merely need to be (1) white and (2) female and (3) appear to be lost to avoid all suspicion?

Any guesses?

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COMMENTS

  1. 1

    If it makes you feel any better, Rachel, nearly all journalists are poor.

    [report]

    Posted By Dave Wielenga on May 19th, 2008 at 8:50 am

     

  2. 2

    I was stopped from taking photos at the PIKE and at the Long Beach Convention Center on the same day last week. I mean do the terrorists really want to blow up the Ferris Wheel?

    [report]

    Posted By Michael Zampelli on May 19th, 2008 at 8:52 am

     

  3. 3

    The Pike’s Ferris wheel is a monument to oil and the capitalist regime, as are job fairs, diabetes expos (Wilford Brimley is a huge threat to the terrorist underworld), and stacks of old tires. You shouldn’t even be able to look at these things, let alone photograph them!

    [report]

    Posted By Jeff Gould on May 19th, 2008 at 10:06 am

     

  4. 4

    a LOT has to do with being female. I am white, but if I get near a government/nimby area like the port, airport, etc taking photos, I am immediately kicked out. In fact I’m really surprised you pulled this off.

    I guess its accepted that women don’t start wars or terrorism. Then again, women get away with a lot that men can’t.

    [report]

    Posted By joey jo jo on May 19th, 2008 at 10:51 am

     

  5. 5

    OK, because I love you guys I am going to share my sure-fire way to get security on you FAST!

    Pull your tripod out of your trunk and set it up. I guarantee that by the time you fire off a test shot they will be on you like paparazzi.

    [report]

    Posted By Michael Zampelli on May 19th, 2008 at 3:05 pm

     

  6. 6

    There seems to be a lot of inexplicable Photographic Restictions here in Big Town.
    I’ve seen people being asked not to take photos at the Long Beach World Trade Center courtyard and the Pike. An office building and a shopping center?!? Welcome to North Korea!
    If no one takes pictures at the Pike, or shops or eats there, will there be any proof that it actually existed? Hopefully not.

    [report]

    Posted By Middlebrow on May 19th, 2008 at 11:24 pm

     

  7. 7

    I have also been ‘intercepted’ but funny thing is it is only during the day. I have wandered all around taking pics at night without anyone saying a thing.
    Guess they don’t want to pay their security guards the evening shift defferential!

    [report]

    Posted By bill90814 on May 20th, 2008 at 10:37 am

     

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