A family photographer who was in the middle of photographing young children in a public park was verbally harassed by a woman who was upset that the photographer was using the park for photo sessions earlier this week.

In the NSFW video, the woman, after a profanity-laced rant toward Nickolette Mottola, the photographer, can be heard screaming, “This is not your studio! This is a park for kids and children and people; this is not a place for you to conduct your business!” She was extremely upset by the benign family photo session taking place. The children — whom Mottola was photographing — can be heard crying in the background, presumably upset by the tantrum-throwing woman.

This incident certainly isn’t the first time a photographer has had a run-in with an angry person over photos being taken in a public space and highlights a disturbing mindset by some that photography is somehow a public nuisance. 

Reportedly, the woman seen in the video owns a home located against the park in question and has complained publicly regarding the activities that are allowed to take place in the park by the local parks department. After Mottola posted the video of the incident on Facebook, another photographer came forward in the video’s comments explaining that the week before, she and her clients had been sprayed by the same woman with a pressure washer from the woman’s backyard. The photographer said she’d obtained a permit from the parks department, which cost $12, and that the woman called the police on the photographer. The woman was angered when the police refused to do anything because the photographer had obtained the proper permitting to conduct professional business within the park. Mottola was taking photos of a friend’s children, and not conducting professional business.

Should Photographers Be Considered a Public Nuisance?

Far too often photography is lumped into park or public space rules along with other seemingly nefarious activities like skateboarding, graffiti, and drug use. Visit enough parks, and you’ll run across a “park rules” sign stating “no photography” along with the activities listed above.

Obviously, the reaction of the woman in the video above is an overreaction, but does the public really have reason to view photographers in such a negative light in regards to conducting photo sessions in public spaces, particularly if the photographer has obtained proper permission and permitting? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.