I took the photograph on the left of the Republic Plaza Building a few weeks ago, not because it is pretty or interesting, but for the principle of the thing: after 15 years, I am still being told to not photograph it. In point of fact, I was taking a photograph of a row of trees against the back wall of an old building, and was told by a security guard that it was private property and photographs were not allowed. It turns out she didn't want me to take a photograph because a small corner of the Republic Plaza Building was in the background, and the photo could be used by terrorists. A few years ago I took a photograph of the front of the building and was chased down the 16th Street Mall by two security guards in blue blazers, who ran out the front of the building as soon as I snapped the shutter. What a crock. It is time to aim the war on terrorism on terrorists, not photographers. The Republic Plaza Building, by the way, is 714 feet tall, 56 stories, the tallest building in Denver, and the 109th tallest building in the US. You can get all the details, including a photograph almost exactly like the one I took, on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_Plaza_(Denver). And so why am I being hassled?
The kicker is that I was walking past the same spot just last week, and the security booth was closed. I was able to take the photograph I originally wanted to take (as seen on the right) without any hassle whatsoever. So is it only important to stop potential terrorists during regular business hours? Just let them have their way after 5:00 P.M? The mind boggles. In any case, be sure to be extremely careful with the photograph on the right. If it got into the wrong hands...
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