Reading these articles were interesting, but honestly, it just made my blood pressure rise. In the 'Are Cameras the New Guns?' reading, I was thoroughly discussed of the hypocrisy and bigotry from the combination of the police and the courts. The fact that three states have already made it against the law to record them in any public space is absolutely ridiculous. I see this as a way of controlling how art can be expressed, ultimately changing the meaning of art, which is supposed to be a freedom of expresssion.
I think that this article is especially relevant today due to the very recent bombing that happened in Boston Massachusetts, which is one of the states with these anti-recording laws. When these bombs went off, there were hundreds of people there with cameras, whether it was on their phones or on their professional-grade equipment. When the bombing actually happened, there's no time for the cops to give consent to these people taking the pictures. It's almost mind boggling that the recent front cover for Sports Illustrated has an amazing photograph of a runner down on the ground while cops are running drawing their guns with chaos and dust in the back. This image portrays the police in a postive and heroic light, which is why it made it on the front cover in the first place and I am unequivocally sure that these police in the photo did not give consent for the photographer to take this photo.
These absurd laws are just contributing to the paranoia in our society and the obsession for recording not only serves as entertainment, but as a challenge to the common people; It gives people more of a reason to rebel. Police should be subjected to laws just like everyone else. They shouldn't get a free pass and be able to approve or disapprove which photos they think they look good in. It's just plain unethical.
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