By David Walker

Washington, D.C. photographers committed to their freedom to shoot in Union Station and other public places around the city got the ear of Congress yesterday.

Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents the district, convened a hearing to examine complaints by photographers that Union Station has no consistent photo policy, and that security personnel arbitrarily prohibit them from taking pictures.

"Reported first amendment violations and denial of access by the press and public as well as inconsistent messages by Union Station personnel are especially troubling,” Norton said in her opening remarks of the Transportation subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. “Although management officials asserted that a ban on photography was not the policy, [Fox] Channel 5, National Public Radio, tourists and a host of amateur photographers have been shut down or given inconsistent direction on photography at Union Station.”

Ironically, Fox Channel 5 was barred by Union Station security while the chief spokesperson for Amtrak was on camera explaining that photography was allowed in the building.

Members of online group DC Photo Rights in particular have pressed the issue by documenting and publicizing incidents of photographer harassment by security personnel in Union Station.

DC Photo Rights member Erin McCann, an amateur photographer, testified to the committee that Amtrak police and private security personnel in Union Station “sort of makes up the policy on the spot.”

She said she’s been prevented from taking pictures in public areas of Union Station twice in the last three months. The last incident was a week ago, when an Amtrak employee told her that photography was prohibited because Union Station is private property.

Union Station is in fact a public building. As the city’s major transportation hub, it has an Amtrak terminal, subway connections, and a retail mall. The federal government leases it to a non-profit redevelopment authority. Amtrak and Jones Lang LaSalle, a private company, manage the facility.

McCann says she has repeatedly contacted Amtrak and Jones Lang LaSalle for clarification on the photography policy in the building.

“Often, my calls and e-mails have resulted in being given conflicting information, sometimes minutes apart by people in the same office,” McCann testified.

She told the committee her goal is to find out what the stations official photography policy really is. And if there are restrictions, she says, she wants them to be fair—and to be posted clearly throughout the building.

“Finally and most importantly, I want to be sure that the private guards, Amtrak police and everyone else in a position to interact with the public understand what the policy is.”

Clearly outraged by what struck her as First Amendment violations in a public facility, Norton grilled executives from the various companies that lease, sublease and manage the building. She asked them to present a written photography policy within thirty days and begin enforcing it consistently within another 30 days.

An executive of the Union Station Redevelopment Authority told the committee he would take steps to ensure that photography is allowed in the building. But he didn’t indicate what restrictions, if any, there may be.

A video of the hearing is available at:
House Transportation Hearings site

DC Photo Rights maintains a flickr page at:
www.flickr.com/groups/dcphotorights