Jeff Cagle

i am a freelance editorial photographer living in the chicago suburbs. my portfolio is at jeffcagle.com.

get in touch: jeffrey [dot] cagle [at] gmail

Ask me anything

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  One of the more interesting experiences I’ve had as a newspaper photographer occurred last week at a school board meeting to discuss potential boundary changes within one of the school districts out here. I was told to expect some fireworks with parents picketing the meeting beforehand. Check. Then I expected to make some generic shots of people filing in and crowd shots that captured the mood of observers at the meeting. Check and check. At some point I probably looked like the guy in the second to last photo as I waited for something interesting to happen.

  What I wasn’t expecting was to be told asked by one of the school district’s PR staffers to not take photos of committee members looking over maps (last photo) at a public meeting in a public school, especially since my hip was in physical contact with the media table the district had set up for us.

  It was one of those instances where an average assignment turns into a reminder of just how afraid people can be of cameras, how much influence a photo can wield and why people in power seek to limit when and where cameras can be used.

  • #first amendment
  • #press freedoms
  • #censorship
  24 Jan 2012