These two men are walking away after harassing me for photographing the U.S. Coast Guard facility on Alaska Way South in Seattle. This is the only shot of them I have. The man on the left is a member of the Coast Guard. The one on the right is a private security guard working there.

I was at Jack Perry Shoreline Park to take pictures of ships, container cranes, and the Seattle skyline. The park is a public viewing area of the Port of Seattle. It abuts the south border of the Coast Guard's Thirteenth District installation on Alaska Way South. My friend Kris was with me for a photo excursion.

After getting some shots of the container cranes across the waterway, I stood on a concrete vehicle barrier and started shooting the Seattle downtown skyline. Those shots looked right over the Coast Guard installation and included parts of the Coast Guard ships berthed nearby. While I did this, a security guard behind the Coast Guard fence asked to talk to me about my photography.

I walked over to the fence and we had a talk. He was concerned that I was photographing from atop the barrier and asserted that it is forbidden to photograph "this Homeland Security base." My attempt to enlighten him about unrestricted photography from public areas seemed to annoy him. I offered him a copy of the Bert Krages monograph on the rights of photographers, but he didn't want it. He dismissed its relevance because a lawyer wrote it. (I kid you not!)

When he asked me to delete the photos that included the installation I told him I would not. It might have been at that point that he called somebody else on his two-way radio. Shortly thereafter a member of the Coast Guard came over and repeated what the security guard had said about "no photographs." He explained that photography would reveal the lay-out of the facility. Both men ignored my claim that Google Earth imagery already reveals the layout.

I was in the mood to tell the men to go fly a kite, but I didn't want the situation to escalate because my friend (who was with me) had taken a day off from work for our photo excursion. I didn't want to spoil his day. So I more or less said I would take no more installation pictures and we left. The men were satisfied and left. I shot this photo as they walked away. At least they were not belligerent about the matter.

After I got home I wrote a letter to the commander of the 13th Naval District, explaining this incident and stating my displeasure about it. I received a letter from the base commander, Captain R.J. Klapproth, which said that there is no prohibition on photographing the base and that the men acted improperly. In addition to apologizing for the incident, he invited me to ask for a tour of the base (with camera!) by contacting its Public Affairs Office.