Urban poetry

Early morning, empty cafe tables at Worldwide Plaza in Manhattan.

After I took the picture, a security guard scurried over to inform me that no photography was allowed in the plaza. I smiled and left but I was thinking, Seriously?

It wasn't just that there's no reason that this innocuous outdoor space would need to be protected from photographers -- it's not exactly a national security risk. But there's also no way you could enforce a ban. On a nice day, hundreds of people eat lunch there, with hundreds more passing through, and probably close to 100% of them are carrying phones with cameras. People take pictures of anything, anywhere now. There's no realistic way to stop them.