To: Gesture... re: photography in public....
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Gesture wrote:
Glad you talked about sensitivity over photographers.
It's slowly becoming problematic. When I'm on the beach, I have to be very careful to avoid photographing children simply because some people would take offense. I've even had my family and my wife point out wonderful scenes but I've opted not to take the shots if there are kids in the scene. On the few occasions I have, it's when they are far away or out of focus... or I know the parents or have been speaking with them. Today's politically-correct climate is going to puzzle future archivers who will wonder why there are so few children in public photographs from the early 21st century. It's a shame but part of the problem is that some people are determined to brand anyone with a camera as a wacko.. or worse. Here's a few things I've encountered:
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The Angry Lady...
I remember crouching down to take a picture of a solitary flower growing through the pavement on the footpath with a macro lens ... the front door of the nearest house burst open and a screeching, angry fat woman with no teeth came barrelling out and ran at me with a baseball bat in her hand. I explained that I was photographing a flower (pointing at the flower the whole time) but she seemed to think I was a "police detective" spying on her house. A car pulled up and a scruffy, dirty man got out with a gun in his pant belt. It turned out that flower was blooming out the front of a crack house. I was preparing to take them on when they spewed profanity at me before running inside and locking the door. I walked across the road to where my mother was waiting for me. She's getting older so her eyesight isn't as sharp as it was... but she thought I was just "making new friends".
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The publicly embarrassed client with a DSLR...
I had a client tell me he was photographing freshly blooming flowers in my nearest city with a DSLR when he was descended on by police who took him into custody and went through his photographs. It turned out that 500m away was a school and a passer by assumed he was using his big (24mm lens) to photograph children in the distance almost half a kilometer away. This poor photographer was CRUSHED by the mere allegation that he was doing anything wrong. He was still shaken months later and confessed that it has ruined his interest in photography. The police let him go but he was so embarrassed by the incident at the time.
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The dreadful restaurant...
As recently as December I had to explain myself to police who commenced an investigation when I refused to grace a newly opened local restaurant with a positive review. The manager asked for my business card and shortly after made a false police report over photographs I had taken in his restaurant (showing filthy cutlery, under-cooked food and decrepit conditions). Let's just say that his business is "now under new management". The camera I had at the time was the EOS M6. I'm still not done with that fraudster and the case continues.
Step back a minute and see how people are using smart phones unchallenged in so many situations that quite recently one would think would be objectionable. On planes, political rallies, inside private retail space, in schools, everywhere and everything. They are just so pervasive, hard to challenge. And people snapping photos don't seem as threatening as people with real "cameras." We have already seen the enormous impact of citizen smart phone photojournalism.
Tourists in Sydney demand I erase an image....
There's a strong backlash against photographers in public spaces today. And most of the people seem to think they have a right to come up and demand to see your photographs or even demand that you delete your pictures. It's happened to me once and the situation was puzzling since they approached me to ask me to take a picture with their own camera when they saw me with mine. This happens quite a lot at tourist locations and I was photographing a major city background at sunset. I showed them quickly how to use the fill-flash since the sun was behind them. I then took a picture of them with their camera. The liked the pic. Since I had the opportunity to take a better pic with my DSLR and external flash, I offered to take a second shot with my own camera which turned out really nice and they all liked the shot. We swapped emails so I could send the picture to one of them. An hour later, the same person found me with my wife photographing a building after sunset with each of our cameras on tripods... and insisted I delete the earlier picture in front of them. I'm still puzzled by that. It was their loss. Legally, I could have ignored the demand. I could possibly insist that they delete the picture I took with their own phone too. Didn't think of it at the time. I think i was shocked. But I did tell her that I'd have charged her a five figure sum if she'd hired me to take that picture.
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I've even seen people call the police on photographers because they incorrectly felt that their right not to be photographed in public is enshrined someplace in law (it's not). If I'm not actually photographing something, or if I'm entering a store where it might be inappropriate to carry a camera, I'll either put the lens cap on and carry it with the lens pointing down. Or I'll sling the camera over my shoulder or cradle it in a way that shows I'm not taking pictures. Sure I have a camera with me most of the time but I'm usually photographing anything other than people. I shoot landscapes, astro and macro usually.
Walk around an art fair or farmer's market with a smart phone and most folks don't give it a second thought. But pull out a that EOS-M or even a compact camera like a Powershot GX, let alone a DSLR, and it's a whole different cricket match.
You're right. I've actually attended a literal Farmer's Market in Canada one year and I saw so many cool scenes and opportunities that I was disappointed that people would turn and glare at me if they saw my camera... and that was a large Compact camera (Pro1). In the end I didn't take any pictures. In Australia (where I live), there are laws in place to prevent voyeuristic photography and you can't take pictures where a person has a "reasonable expectation of privacy" (eg private property or a public bathroom etc). I would have recommended that photographers carry a copy of local regulations with them because most police don't even know what the rules are. Train platforms may still be a forbidden subject here although i think they've removed that rule recently.
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Taken into custody and hauled before a Judge?
I was photographing historical architecture in Parramatta City, about 6km from my home about 6 years ago. I had already photographed the Town Hall and Toll Bridge Building which were built in the 1800s and was working my way to the local Governors house in the park (first building constructed here). Many of our historic buildings are being torn down to make room for larger modern structures so I wanted to capture some shots for the local council to archive. I actually tried to avoid getting people in my shots and I was using the Canon PowerShot G1X at the time which is a bulky but fairly compact camera. It's IDEAL for shots like that because landscapes and architecture come out great with this camera lens. I was standing on the street... literally on the footpath and took THIS picture:
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Standing on the footpath when I took this shot... then taken into custody.
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I liked the shot because of the bright gold paint which had just been applied to some glossy stonework. An officer of the court came outside, asked me what I was doing (I explained that I was photographing architecture) and then he told me I was now in custody and brought me inside. He walked me through the security scanners which were triggered by the camera I was carrying. Then he led me to one of the court chambers while he looked for a magistrate. I had the time to spare so I thought I'd enjoy the moment. When he came back, he started to "try to explain to me" what my 'situation' was. I interjected and explained politely that I was within my rights to stand in a public place to photograph a building of architectural significance. He then tried to tell me I was still "in violation of the architect's copyright". I explained that I didn't need the permission of the architect unless I was intending to profit commercially from the photograph and that this didn't apply here because a government building is public property. He then admitted that he couldn't find a magistrate or a judge - to which I replied that they were all across the road eating lunch. I showed him how he had violated court rules by not confiscating my camera from me when we passed the security scanners (cameras are illegal INSIDE a court here) and how I could have easily walked a weapon in with me. I explained to him that I have lectured in copyright law for artists and photography students (which I have) and that he'd simply made a mistake by hauling me in for a dressing down when I was perfectly within my rights to stand outside and take pictures. He reluctantly agreed and laughed that the situation wasn't really turning out for either of us... and we shook hands and I let myself out. He asked that we pretend "this never happened" and that's fine by me. If he was more belligerent instead of politely uncertain, I could have been put in a cell until the magistrates spoke with me after lunch. I knew I had done no wrong... so I wasn't remotely nervous and was curious as to what was really happening. I phoned my wife and she was horrified. In the end, I have concluded that in this day and age of terrorism, that I had worried the court staff... because just two weeks earlier a man barricaded himself in a magistrates building and threatened to blow the place up after smashing out a window and threatening the police on the street below with a fake firearm. Those court officers were probably just a bit punchy after the incident.
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Ejected from Castle Towers shopping Plaza...
What REALLY annoys me is that when I bought the Canon G1X, I was phoned by a family member while I was still in the camera store (in the Castle Towers Shopping Center) to tell me there was an Ice Ring around the sun and that i should try to photograph the 'rare' phenomena. So I loaded the new camera with battery and SD card and went to the open-air courtyard in the shopping mall I was in to take a picture of the sun from the food court. I was promptly escorted off the premises for "taking a picture within the grounds of the shopping center". I explained that I was trying to photograph the sun but they wouldn't even look up to see what I was pointing at. They also wouldn't let me through the entrance to get to my parked car. It didn't even matter that I had just bought the camera from the center. I had to walk two blocks to walk up the driveway to retrieve my car. On the way to my car I passed no less that 9 CCT cameras that were attached to the walls of the mall.
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... But I got the shot...
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I actually enjoy photographing other photographers... mostly because it irritates some people. But I don't really troll them. I sometimes ask permission but not if I think the shot needs to be candid. The shots below were taken all over the place with most of the indoor shots taken at conventions that I was involved with at the time. I have an album of these now.
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My father in-law had to get used to me taking pics of him as he used his camera.
Local kid at the park getting his 10 minutes of fame
Tourists at Taronga Zoo
She knew I was taking this shot... I'd taken one before this one with a flash and asked her to hold still for this second shot without a flash. She looks a bit like a young Sandra Bullock.
Taken last month at a Ren Fair. (did I spell that right?) - this guy was serious. Nice style too.
Waikiki Beach in Hawaii
Kate loved Canon
Restaurant on Valentines Day... staff approached me with a camera and were surprised when I took out my own EOS M6
Nikon users are shy.
What on EARTH is this camera? It's HUGE !
Demonstrating to me how her phone camera (Samsung) was so cool in lowlight after sunset. Then I showed her this picture which may have ruined the moment.
My wife is used to this.
Last month - a wedding photographer I came across.
Some friends making Cosplay photography. I asked them for permission to take a shot from the end of the alley. They're all photography nuts and we now follow each other on Instagram.
I was a guest at this event. This was a local news girl who came to capture some shots for the news.
Obviously a friend.
