Is this fair game to photograph?

You are in a hospital, and you see the possibility of a candid image, using a patient (who is not a family member nor anyone you know) in the hospital, one who is suffering from such a large degree of dementia that she does not know where she is.

Is this fair game to take a shot?  How about posting it on the internet then?

An example found in this thread: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3364075

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DISCLAIMER: The text written herein is meant to provide the opinions and/or suggestions of the author. No statement herein is meant to be considered law of the land, representative of any party or group, and or a quote from any party or group. Neither is any statement in the contained text meant to be taken as scripture, doctrine, or all encompassing of an entire populous or any groups or individuals therein.

Nope. Some places there's even legislations against it.

Still, I'm not sure I appreciate your 'example' link, given your participation in the ongoing discussion. Feels a bit as if you're looking for support in a petty fight rather than making an honest question for curiosity's sake.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/Draek

No, I am looking for opinions outside of the rabid Fuji fan boys. Folks here, I would suggest, might be a little less biased.

I know my position on this and firmly believe it to be right. I did not taint the above post with my position.

I note that you agree completely with me.

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DISCLAIMER: The text written herein is meant to provide the opinions and/or suggestions of the author. No statement herein is meant to be considered law of the land, representative of any party or group, and or a quote from any party or group. Neither is any statement in the contained text meant to be taken as scripture, doctrine, or all encompassing of an entire populous or any groups or individuals therein.

especially if there's a few rellies around.

Do we really need bottom-feeding threads here ?

Candid camera in a hospital, for real ?

Some believe this to be OK.  Hence this is not a bottom feeding thread, unless you refer to the thread I linked to (my opinion on the matter).

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DISCLAIMER: The text written herein is meant to provide the opinions and/or suggestions of the author. No statement herein is meant to be considered law of the land, representative of any party or group, and or a quote from any party or group. Neither is any statement in the contained text meant to be taken as scripture, doctrine, or all encompassing of an entire populous or any groups or individuals therein.

well, it must be true then, this is not a trip to the bottom of the gene pool.

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StephenG

Thank you.

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DISCLAIMER: The text written herein is meant to provide the opinions and/or suggestions of the author. No statement herein is meant to be considered law of the land, representative of any party or group, and or a quote from any party or group. Neither is any statement in the contained text meant to be taken as scripture, doctrine, or all encompassing of an entire populous or any groups or individuals therein.

Its not but we have street photographers that would think it is. Its not.

Ant.

My own opinion FWIW is that I find it distasteful, but that's the world we live in. My mother had  dementia before she died just over 3yrs ago, & if I had caught anyone taking snapshots of her wandering round the hospital, that person would have been in need of hospital treatment themselves. We may not be able to stop this kind of morbid curiosity, but we don't have to like it or put up with it.

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lee uk.
There are old pilots, & there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots.

Having seen the image that you refer to, I have to say that I love the picture, but the end does not justify the means.

If this image had been commissioned for a news article, with the permission of the subject and or her relatives, then maybe it's OK, but it's not acceptable that a stranger takes a picture like this in a hospital.

The photographer can congratulate himself on his awareness, reactions and technique, but should seriously look into his soul and give himself a good talking to.

He should also take down any images that he has posted on any web sites, before he either gets sued by the hospital or the relatives.

The positive for the photographer is that he can take this ability and apply it in public places where it is acceptable and appropriate and then we will all be pleased to see the results of his work.

IMO this is unethical exploitation of a vulnerable person. The photographer who took this shot needs to spend a bit of time in the "Room of Mirrors" and take a long hard look at themselves...

Joe

I read through the linked thread and saw no evidence of "rabid Fuji fan boys".  Matter of fact, I really didn't pay any attention to the camera used.  I would suggest it is you who is biased.

Mark

To be honest I didn't find your example distasteful,I was expecting much worse as my wife works in a nursing home where some of the patients are a bad as it gets.I do however find the term fair game to be distasteful when it's used to describe people who are in a sad state.

However you need to ask yourself would you consider yourself or mum or dad to be fair game if they or you were in such a pitiful state.For documentary and awareness purposes I guess it has to be done from time to time but beyond that I don't see any good reason for doing so.

I do think it was a mistake to raise it here Ratty but I suppose you were looking for an answer before being more assertive. Can assure you that many street photographers would not accept the image, certainly we can appreciate the image as an aesthetic but ultimately it doesn't qualify as street and might be more voyeurism. That is what the street and documentary forum is for and some guidance is given ...but honestly its a horrible place with some pretty sad individuals and the best part is that their photos are equally sad and therein is the self-fulfilling justice.

The author of that pics looks to be a decent fellow that had just made an error in judgement, it must also be pointed out that even a landscape photographer has been known to climb a fence and trespass to get his/her picture ...tut-tut.

Ant.
ɹǝpun uʍop puɐl ǝɥʇ ɯoɹɟ
oneant.com.au

I did not take this photograph in question.

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DISCLAIMER: The text written herein is meant to provide the opinions and/or suggestions of the author. No statement herein is meant to be considered law of the land, representative of any party or group, and or a quote from any party or group. Neither is any statement in the contained text meant to be taken as scripture, doctrine, or all encompassing of an entire populous or any groups or individuals therein.

Why?  Is this not an open forum?

And continues to insist that he is correct and without error in taking AND publishing this photograph.

Nowhere near as offensive or wrong.

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DISCLAIMER: The text written herein is meant to provide the opinions and/or suggestions of the author. No statement herein is meant to be considered law of the land, representative of any party or group, and or a quote from any party or group. Neither is any statement in the contained text meant to be taken as scripture, doctrine, or all encompassing of an entire populous or any groups or individuals therein.

Now you attack me.
you need to pull your head in ...is it hot there, are you tired?

Now you are cross posting across this and the open forum ...I think you are just making trouble for no other purpose.

We should flag you as trolling.

WHAT?  Where did I "attack" you?

This is meaningless.

I created ONE post.

Go ahead.  I am sure it will be ignored.

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DISCLAIMER: The text written herein is meant to provide the opinions and/or suggestions of the author. No statement herein is meant to be considered law of the land, representative of any party or group, and or a quote from any party or group. Neither is any statement in the contained text meant to be taken as scripture, doctrine, or all encompassing of an entire populous or any groups or individuals therein.

No, but why do you even have to ask? Does the Pope have a balcony?

Jules