A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T UNDERSTAND THEY HAVE A LEGAL RIGHT TO PHOTOGRAPH AND FILM. IT'S PROTECTED UNDER THE FIRST AMENDMENT.
IT'S DIFFICULT TO ESTIMATE THE NUMBER OF PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO FACE HARASSMENT BECAUSE MOST DON'T REPORT IT. BUT FILMING ADVOCACY GROUPS PUT THAT NUMBER AT FIFTY-EIGHT-PERCENT A YEAR.

CHRIS DUNN IS ASSOCIATE LEGAL DIRECTOR OF THE NEW YORK CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION, AN ORGANIZATION THAT DEFENDS FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

‘It is certainly right that the philosophy of photography has changed for the worse since 9/11,” according to Dunn. “The police, particularly here in New York City, view photographers as being suspicious presumptively and that’s a big problem in that it creates a lot of conflicts between photographers and the police.”

This story was completed as a long-form assignment for the core writing and reporting class at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. I produced, filmed and edited the piece.

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