SECURITY: YOU CAN'T PHOTOGRAPH THIS BUILDING!
I can't quite recall why I was attempting to get photos of the swanky Huntingdon building in River Oaks on Wednesday. It's a building full of super rich folk. Ken Lay once lived there and I think Mayor Lanier had a unit in the building. But whatever the reason was it has changed to this particular blog post. As I said I stopped at the upscale rich people high rise to snap a few photos. Out of the blue came these two security guards. They told me I couldn't take pictures of the building even though I was standing on a public sidewalk. I asked them to tell me the law or city ordinance I was violating. They couldn't give me one. They just said the management said it wasn't allowed. I told the security guard the only building I know you can't photograph without permission is a federal building or installation. They can actually give you a ticket and fine if you snap Uncle Sam's property. But taking a picture of an apartment building from a public street is no where to be found as a violation in the law. I know some folk have tried to use copyright law to stop photography but it rarely stands up if the picture is for personal use. In the meantime, the guards just stood there while I snapped them and the building. I had a point to prove. Just because management or rich people say it's so doesn't necessarily mean it's true. They just stood there glaring at me while I took my pictures. Here are the pictures I snapped and I don't even remember why I wanted them!
The building is not that great. I don't know what they are tripping about.
ReplyDeleteIt happens to me at the trailer parks in Waller County all the time!
ReplyDeleteIt's usually a couple of child molesters instead of the rent-a-cops. They usually back off when they see that I have more than a camera.
Maybe they thought you were 'casing' the place for possible future criminal activity....
ReplyDeleteTanks for standing up for real easte appraisers everywhere!
ReplyDeleteRoyko
That is an outrage. I am going to stop by there next time I'm in the area, park legally on a nearby side street, and take all the pictures I want to from the sidewalk.
ReplyDeleteEverybody needs to join in.
When the Enron mess was going on, some rich people were throuwing eggs from that building at news people reporting from the public sidewalks.
Rich people who assert that they have special rules that discriminate against regular people when they clearly don't really get my panties in a bunch.
And I think you're wrong about photographing federal building. There are pictures of them everyday on TV, in newspapers and magazines and there were some here from the inauguration.
Re. The Huntingdon - there must be some nice people that live there, but Ken Lay, Bob Lanier, and another guy I won't name were/aren't good, in my opinion. It is very hard for a very wealthy person to be a good person. It's as hard a stuffing a camel through the eye of a needle.
So what did the rent-a-cops plan to do if you didn't stop? Ask you to stop again?
ReplyDeleteThat is outrageous. Usually security guards have very poor grasps of actual laws. They just do what they are told whether it's right or wrong. I am sure you could hear crickets chirp when you asked them to cite you a law or ordinance.
ReplyDeleteLOL
Hilarious.