Management
A popular chain of Coffee Shops
Austin,Texas
October 15, 15
I have
had enough of the abuse I get from taking images in public places. Many of
these images are taken during the daytime and the target image is the
REFLECTION of what is lit behind me. The customers and the shop keepers are so
ignorant and uneducated that they do not understand that almost nothing INSIDE
the store shows on the taken image.
Basically only lights are recognizable; and, people are at most dark
shadows totally unidentifiable.
This
explanation does not phase the attack on “you can’t take pictures of my store,
my customers are afraid of you and your
pictures”. Even showing them the
pictures and explaining the laws governing photography does not mitigate the
attack. At least 50% of the complainers will not even look at the images, which
is the only “hard” evidence” available.
The
management frequently threaten to call the police and threaten to have me taken
to jail for trespassing. In Texas,
trespassing enforcement gives the police power to take an accused offender to
jail for 24 hours; and, THEY DO NOT HAVE TO JUSTIFY THE REASON THE PERSON WAS
ARRESTED AND THE PERSON IS NOT EVEN ALLOWED A PHONE CALL. A murderer is given
the opportunity to make a phone call.
This extreme paranoia about a crippled old man taking photographs that
are lawful, has become totally out of hand, and it keeps getting woese.
I am in
poor health, and if disappear for 24 hours my loving wife will go through “the
tortures of the damned” thinking I am lying dead somewhere. So, I have no real choice but to leave and
abandon the photographic opportunity.
This may seem trivial to most people, but photography is the one remaining
“hobby” (which I studied diligently since 1969 while I was a student at UT
obtaining a BS in Radio-TV-Film.) I KNOW
THE RULES and abide by them.
In
addition, street photography (which is the term applied to the type of
photography I do) has a long and noble history.
It is a major source of our knowledge of our past. For example, Dorthea Lange’s images of people and places during the Great Depression
and Dust Bowl, speak a thousand plus in describing the suffering that Americans
endured. So, there is great value in
street photography. Yes, it is a serious
hobby for me and one of the few activities I can still do and enjoy. But it has
greater importance. In the future these
image that I capture will describe the situation in our current era of rapid
cultural, economic and political change.
My slill level is very high, since I have been an avid student of
photography since 1969, and I have a degree in Radio-TV-Film from the
University of Texas.
A BS
degree in 1971. So I am not an amateur
hack who doesn’t know what he/she is doing.
Even
murderers are allowed a phone call!! .On
a daily basis, some one with delusional magic powers, complains to a shop
keeper that I am taking pictures of them with nefarious intent. The shop keeper
then comes out and gives me the 3rd degree about my behavior. I recently took a
photo of a magnificent ancient live oak skillfully integrated with the store
deck and building architecture, this occurred at the coffee shop at the corner
of Parmer and Mopac. Under the tree was a group of Middle East/Hindus, who came
and asked me not to take pictures of them. I explained that I was not taking
pictures of them. They were in the shadows and could not be identified from the
image, which I showed them. They persisted, and made a vague demand to erase
the image. I explained that taking images of people in public places was not
unlawful. The issue had been argued before the Supreme Court 4 times. In each
instance the court ruled that even without permission, the photographer's right
to photograph them was protected by the First Amendment. I said that I was not
going to erase a good image of the tree, just to make them comfortable.
Out came two store employees, who sided with
the complainant, stating in a loud voice : "WE HAVE HAD COMPLAINTS FROM
THE OTHER STORE.", which implied that I was a known criminal. Pure
slander. They said "Are we going to have to call the cops?" I said, “This
has gone way too far and I am leaving. I will not waste a police officer's time
explaining to you that no crime has been committed. “
The
"complaint" at the other store (which occurred several months ago),
involved a paranoid schizophrenic (having worked for 8 years at the state
mental hospital I can recognize a schizophrenic in 2 minutes.) Same scene as
the tree incident. She was sitting in the background of a young couple that I
photographed with their permission. She demanded that I destroy the image. I
told her I would blur her out of the image, but would not destroy the elegant
portraits. She, went ballistic, and in her delusional state "knew" I
had some nefarious intent. She cell-phone imaged me and my car, which didn't
bother me because that is typical behavior for a paranoid schizophrenic. No doubt
she complained to the staff; and, the staff, with no knowledge of the law or
psycho pathology, put me on some black
list which they apparently passed on to the staff at the store with the tree.
No one spoke to me about the episode; so,my right to face my accuser was
ignored. The Starbucks’ staff has no training in law enforcement and has no
business monitoring behavior once the customer leaves the store. To make the
matter even more disgusting is the fact that I am a regular customer (daily)
and am known on a first name basis by most of the staff. I am certain the
schizophrenic has not returned. So, I am cutting way back on my public image-
making. Corporate abuse of power is ruining this country. Their arrogance and
inappropriate use of power to control
people, is disheartening to those of us who were raised and taught that we had
civil rights,
One more
important point, corporations record the behavior of every square foot of their
property (even the bathrooms), and people don't complain about that; but a gimpy
old man with a real camera is an easy target to exercise their “False sense of
power over my behavior”
In order to
make their delusional customers more comfortable.
Please
investigate my public record. If you are
going to play “cop”, do it right. You will find a profile of an ideal
citizen. In a high risk profession,
medicine, I have never been sued or even been threatened with a law suit. Never arrested. Sum total of my “offences” to society: 3
speeding tickets, all for 10 miles over, over 50 years and at least a million
miles driven.
“My good
Flickr friend, Dave, who lives in a small farming town in southern Minnesota
put it “
|
|
I have often wondered if
you encountered negative reactions from your portrait subjects, Morris. I
assumed that sometimes you did. Now I know.
I certainly feel bad
about the accusations you have faced, and I hope it will not put a damper on
your night photography.
By the way, you are
correct about video cameras constantly recording us, even in the small town
where I live. This bothers me much more than having my face show up in a
photo somewhere.
Dave
|
Here are my demands:
1)
Written
and signed apologies of all Starbucks personelle who were involved in this
fiasco of robbing me of my First Amendment Rights and slandering me in a very
ugly way. By the way, this issue of
photographer’s rights vs privacy rights, has been argued before the Supreme
Court 4 times. As I stated earlier, in every case it was ruled that the
photographer’s rights were protected by the First Amendment : Freedom of
Speech. I have enclosed documents to
make this task easier for you.
2)
As a gesture of
good faith, one year of gratis coffee and pastry on a daily basis.
3)
PLEASE do not
complicate this by bringing in corporate lawyers who will only do everything
they can to obfuscate the issues. If I receive
such a letter, I will consider it a
clear sign of ill will, and I will not read it.
4)
This is really
very simple: you made some mistakes, we all make them, both intentional and
unintentional. A mistake can be
transformed into a “good” thing if we learn from it.
5)
I am not going to
sue you for slander or anything else.
6)
I just want a
safe place where I can go . Starbuck’s
WAS that place prior to the events at “the other store”. I know and am known to the majority of the
staff on a first name basis. I have given the store many photographic prints,
as one employee, Ellis, expressed interest in what I took pictures of.
7)
I believe that
Howard Schultz is a brilliant and caring business man. I lived in Seattle 1980-2000 and watched
Starbucks’ stock rocket upwards. Meanwhile, the New York boys who think they
know everything, underestimated Starbucks’ earning EVERY QUARTER FOR 20 YEARS.
8)
I do not believe
Howard Schultz would approve of the events in question. If my demands are not met, I will do whatever
it takes to get a copy of this letter in his hands.
9)
“I am sorry.”
Still works. Please do not make this
issue more complicated than it needs to be.
Morris Creedon-McVean,DO
A gentleman and a scholar
Austin, Texas
Note: I did
not deliver this letter because I do not believe the managers would understand
it. I just gave up another fertile place
for image making. My photographic world
keeps shrinking, which is tragic, both for me as an individual, but to society.
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