That’s right, I took it in the Lehigh Valley Mall, which expressly prohibits any and all sort of photography on mall property.  I know this, because I’m the photographer in this case, and while wielding my iPhone 4, a mere 12 inches from my daughters face, I was approached by mall security and told to immediately cease what I was doing.

Shocked, I asked for an explanation, and was told all forms of photography and videography have been illegal in the mall since “9/11″, with security instructed to confiscate film and delete photos when witnessed.

That’s right, a couple terrorists, upset at our freedoms and beliefs managed to get photography banned in a mall.  I think I could have let it go if she said folks had complained about creeps following them around with 500mm lenses or something, but no, the reason given was “9/11″.  We’ve got men and women thousands of miles from home, giving their lives everyday to protect basic freedoms, but I can’t take a picture of  my daughter from 12 INCHES away in a mall on a Saturday.

I guess I didn’t look to pleased with the explanation given, since the security guard went on to state that they had found friends posting pics of each other in the mall on Facebook, flickr, etc. and it’s “just not right”.   Yeh, I agree . . .  It’s “just not right” that those kids, pockets full of their parents money and plastic would want to go to the mall thinking it’s trendy and chic like everything else they do because they saw it in a picture on Facebook.  Thank god the brick and mortars of the world aren’t willing to embrace the free benefits of social networking.  The online business of merely tracking the effect of social networks on purchasing decisions across all age groups per day is probably larger than what the entire Lehigh Valley Mall  grosses in a year.

I love this country, and it’s rich history chock full of freedom and independence, but common sense, today, is all to often lacking.