That is what these nannies screamed at me when I tried to take a photo of their very cool four-kid stroller, on 19th Street: “Photography is against our polices!”

What they, and many others fail to realize is people (including children) on a public street have been found by the courts not to have an expectation of privacy and their photograph can be taken and even published without their consent. Using such images of the public for purposes of general commentary and criticism is also well established, and supersedes any “policy” these nannies or their company has.

So no matter how much or how loudly they yelled, even pulling out the race card at one point, when on a public street they can’t stop me, or you, from taking a photograph of them or anyone else.

And this yet another example of when photography is NOT a crime and why you should join Metroblogging DC in our Silver Spring Photo Walk – a declaration of photographic freedom on the perfect day: July 4th.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs