Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/05/25
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On Fri, 25 May 2001, Alan Hull wrote: > > So many otherwise bold photographers experience a sense of shyness when > taking unsolicited photographs of people on the street. Deep, deep > down they are aware that what they are doing is not quite right. Wrong. Many of us experience a sense of shyness when taking unsolicited photographs of people on the street because we think thay might not like it, not that anything is inherently wrong. Some of us eventually learn that most people don't care, and many people actually like being photographed, and you can engage them, talk with them, and maybe make a friend or two. > I have a suspicion that a lot of outdoor photographers snap pictures > much like a dog pisses on trees and lamp-posts. It is in response to > a primal urge to mark out their territory. Hence, the mandatory camera > on a foreign holiday, and with family members as portrait subjects > standing in front of so many landmarks. > > It follows then that a photographer who takes pictures of perfect > strangers in public must be guilty of a form of photographic rape. Maybe I haven't been in this list long enough (although I have read the archives quite a bit) but this logic escapes me. All I can imagine as a valid logic conclusion would be something like "It follows then that a photographer who takes pictures of perfect strangers in public must want the world to be his family", which is a pretty lame conclusion, if you ask me. > To stretch an anology to its limits, how would you feel if you were > strolling down the street past the local tailor shop, and the tailor > dashed out and took your inside leg measurement without permission. > After all, he must be allowed the freedom to practice his profession. If said tailor offers a free suit in exchange, I'm all for it. I don't think any street photographer would mind sending a print or two of their subjects if asked, some even offer to do so. For me the bottom line is the law. I can photograph you because you're in a public place. I'm responsible of the consequences that could arise of publishing your picture, *if any*. The rest is human relations, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop me from talking pictures in a public place, except asking nicely. When people ask me to not take their picture, I stop. j, who wishes his pictures were better. - -- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Juan J. Buhler | Sr. FX Animator @ PDI | http://www.crosswinds.net/~jbuhler - -----------------------------------------------------------------------------