2026 SPE Annual Conference: Catalyst for Exchange
Looking for a chapter event?
Past SPE Annual Conferences
exhibitions
West Chapter Conference Schedule
print this pageKnow Your Rights for Photography; Defending the First Amendment in Public Space
Shanna Merola Workshop
Saturday, November 02 - 4:45PM to 5:30PM
de Saisset Museum Auditorium
Know Your Rights for Photography is grounded in the historical analysis and power of bearing witness through the lens, beginning with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee photographers of the Civil Rights Movement. This workshop offers information on the rights of photographers under the first amendment, but it also encourages participants to consider the kind of agency that is created through visual storytelling. Ultimately this is the power that artists hold, to inspire political movements, sway public opinion, and reach far beyond the constraints of our limited legal system. Participants will learn what constitutes public space and freedom of speech under the First Amendment (with regard to both photography and protest) as well as restrictions or exceptions. We will also discuss how to invoke your rights in the event that you are stopped, questioned or detained, and how to take action if you believe your rights have been violated.
speaker
Shanna Merola
Become an SPE Partner
The SPE Partners program offers three packages which provide flexible opportunities for schools, businesses, and nonprofit organizations to subsidize faculty, staff, students, and broader community participation in SPE.
Have a great assignment or resource to share? Submit it to our Teaching Tools!
About
- Board Reports, Letters, and Minutes
- History
- Staff
- Board Members
- Board Committees
- Board Elections
- SPE Code of Conduct
- Caucuses
Join
Members
Annual Conference
- About the Conference
- Overview
- Speakers
- Schedule
- Registration
- Volunteer
- Sponsors
- Exhibit
- Anti-Harassment Policy
- Hotel & Travel
- Location + Travel
- Hotel
- Schedule of Events
- Schedule
News & Events
Chapters
Exposure Journal
About this piece
Comments about this piece
Dialogue and critique are important to the SPE mission.
Please join the conversation.