Candid/Street photography.

And who exactly gets to deem what is important and how trustworthy exactly are they. You've heard of Rupert Murdoch?

There are different questions here

Are you allowed to photograph? In almost all cases yes. Around here you can't photograph minors without BOTH parents permission. But in theory you can photograph anyone else.

What can you do with the image? News aka editorial is usually wide open. Commercial isn't.

Final issue even if you are able to you might get sued. Or get an angry response from somebody.

57even said:

Iamme non said:

Chris192 said:

Are you allowed to take photos of random people in the street? Are you allowed to publish them? (without anyone’s prior consent/knowledge).

There have been various privacy laws passed in the last decades, and various instances of photographers being molested/arrested by police.

So I was wondering, again, what the legal situation is these days around the world.

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If you didn’t have the right to photograph people on the street where would the outside broadcast come from and those shots of fighting outside the doors of court house’s come from. In Oz and most democratic countries you have the right to shoot in the street and onto private property from the street but not aloud to enter and shoot on private property with out permission. We had a incident some years back where bikies were photographing police and they couldn’t do a lot about it.. so there you go,

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Journalists and news reporting is generally excluded from these laws if images are deemed to be 'in the public interest'.

That's hard to argue in the case of an individual street photographer.

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Sorry, there is only one law and it is the same for all, just think if your were on holiday and couldn’t take a photo because you may just have other person in your shot. Mind you, you can’t publish it without their permission. Media has no special privileges.

Iamme.

Hello...

Chris192 said:

Sue Anne Rush said:

my son had the chance to go to France while in school but changed his mind because the group was going to only eat at 'American' restaurants

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I once had an American colleague who had worked in France. She said her mother had sent her food packets there (from the US) because “France is a socialist country”.

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Well the other day near my house were people on their bikes - I asked if they wanted to go to the La Tour de France and they said no. LOL.


Sue Anne Rush

EOS GUY said:

And who exactly gets to deem what is important and how trustworthy exactly are they. You've heard of Rupert Murdoch?

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If you sue, then a judge decides.

Assuming you can afford to of course.

But it's hard to sue newspapers unless libel is involved.

Hello...

Cherry_F said:

Sue Anne Rush said:

Thank you for sharing - France is on my bucket list (For now just go to France at Epcot... LOL - my son had the chance to go to France while in school but changed his mind because the group was going to only eat at 'American' restaurants - but we can speak French fine. IMHO.

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Très bien! Un pays dont on parle la langue apporte beaucoup plus de souvenirs grâce aux rencontres que l'on y fait.
Et accessoirement cela te permettra de demander la permission des gens que tu as envie de photographier et de bavarder un peu avec eux...
Fais-moi signe si tu prévois de venir à Paris dans un futur proche.

P.s.: your son did the right move. We have a saying here to describe a stupid person: the one that bring his own beer at Munich.

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Thank you LOL - my son doesn't drink - when he was young he ate everything now he is a vegan.

Iamme non said:

57even said:

Iamme non said:

Chris192 said:

Are you allowed to take photos of random people in the street? Are you allowed to publish them? (without anyone’s prior consent/knowledge).

There have been various privacy laws passed in the last decades, and various instances of photographers being molested/arrested by police.

So I was wondering, again, what the legal situation is these days around the world.

Click to expand...

If you didn’t have the right to photograph people on the street where would the outside broadcast come from and those shots of fighting outside the doors of court house’s come from. In Oz and most democratic countries you have the right to shoot in the street and onto private property from the street but not aloud to enter and shoot on private property with out permission. We had a incident some years back where bikies were photographing police and they couldn’t do a lot about it.. so there you go,

Click to expand...

Journalists and news reporting is generally excluded from these laws if images are deemed to be 'in the public interest'.

That's hard to argue in the case of an individual street photographer.

Click to expand...

Sorry, there is only one law and it is the same for all, just think if your were on holiday and couldn’t take a photo because you may just have other person in your shot. Mind you, you can’t publish it without their permission. Media has no special privileges.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, in practice and in law, it does.

Hello...

I love Epcot - and any food LOL (Do you know Burger King now sells the impossible Burger ( For Vegans) and I love McDonalds for all their foods -

Mark Scott Abeln said:

Sue Anne Rush said:

Thank you for sharing - France is on my bucket list (For now just go to France at Epcot... LOL - my son had the chance to go to France while in school but changed his mind because the group was going to only eat at 'American' restaurants - but we can speak French fine. IMHO.

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I am an American, but went to Europe with friends from college—both from other countries—but we ended up eating at McDonalds and Burger King frequently despite my protests. I also went to EPCOT with them on another trip, and I think they enjoyed that better.

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Hello...

TN Args said:

biza43 said:

Chris192 said:

Are you allowed to take photos of random people in the street?

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In my country, yes. They are in a public place.

TN Args said:

Are you allowed to publish them? (without anyone’s prior consent/knowledge).

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In my country, yes. I only need a signed model release in case I want to sell the photo. If the use is editorial, no need.

TN Args said:

There have been various privacy laws passed in the last decades, and various instances of photographers being molested/arrested by police.

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Yes. Some instances were legally justified, others not so.

TN Args said:

So I was wondering, again, what the legal situation is these days around the world.

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Quite variable.

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Same in Australia

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I have been in Australia when little - I plan to go there again (as Marco Nero and wife live there too.)

(For now we just go to WDW/Epcot and to Canada.

Hello...

On my bucket list and my grandma Ella was from Germany.

EOS GUY said:

Yes except in Germany

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Hello...

georgehakim said:

Chris192 said:

Are you allowed to take photos of random people in the street? Are you allowed to publish them? (without anyone’s prior consent/knowledge).

There have been various privacy laws passed in the last decades, and various instances of photographers being molested/arrested by police.

So I was wondering, again, what the legal situation is these days around the world.

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I personally always ask, but was told by many street photographers that street photography has to be candid!! Regarding the legality, this article covers many legal issues, although rather general, is a good start:

https://expertphotography.com/street-photography-laws/

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Yes you are correct. TY for this link.

newnorm said:

Flavil said:

EOS GUY said:

newnorm said:

To answer the OP question, it varies from country to country.

On another note, I understand photojournalists, photographing conflicts, delivering news to the world. It's a career, life-threatening even when covering wars, but for average Joe, camera hobbyists, what is the purpose of photographing random strangers you found on the street? What story are you going to tell anyway? An uncle went to the market buying groceries, a mother on a bus, etc.

Art?

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Yes art,

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The first two are EXCELLENT. Nice pictorial retort to a very ignorant question.

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Well do you feel ok for some strangers to snap a photo of your daughter or wife or etc on the street and then put it on youtube or the internet? It's art, so it must be ok? Those doing that kind of stuff are ignorant IMO.

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You would do well to actually look at the great candid street photographs taken since photography began.

Don Kiyoti said:

1. Don Kiyoti wrote:

newnorm said:

Flavil said:

EOS GUY said:

newnorm said:

To answer the OP question, it varies from country to country.

On another note, I understand photojournalists, photographing conflicts, delivering news to the world. It's a career, life-threatening even when covering wars, but for average Joe, camera hobbyists, what is the purpose of photographing random strangers you found on the street? What story are you going to tell anyway? An uncle went to the market buying groceries, a mother on a bus, etc.

Art?

Click to expand...

Yes art,

Click to expand...

The first two are EXCELLENT. Nice pictorial retort to a very ignorant question.

Click to expand...

Well do you feel ok for some strangers to snap a photo of your daughter or wife or etc on the street and then put it on youtube or the internet? It's art, so it must be ok? Those doing that kind of stuff are ignorant IMO.

Click to expand...

You would do well to actually look at the great candid street photographs taken since photography began.

https://www.domestika.org/en/blog/7406-10-pioneering-street-photographers-that-you-should-know

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Great artists!

But maybe some things have changed since then, like the sheer number of people doing "street photography". Or this other thing, that internet, which let everyone, regardless of talent and intention, publish pictures.

So maybe the world has changed since Henri, sorry!

57even said:

Iamme non said:

57even said:

Iamme non said:

Chris192 said:

Are you allowed to take photos of random people in the street? Are you allowed to publish them? (without anyone’s prior consent/knowledge).

There have been various privacy laws passed in the last decades, and various instances of photographers being molested/arrested by police.

So I was wondering, again, what the legal situation is these days around the world.

Click to expand...

If you didn’t have the right to photograph people on the street where would the outside broadcast come from and those shots of fighting outside the doors of court house’s come from. In Oz and most democratic countries you have the right to shoot in the street and onto private property from the street but not aloud to enter and shoot on private property with out permission. We had a incident some years back where bikies were photographing police and they couldn’t do a lot about it.. so there you go,

Click to expand...

Journalists and news reporting is generally excluded from these laws if images are deemed to be 'in the public interest'.

That's hard to argue in the case of an individual street photographer.

Click to expand...

Sorry, there is only one law and it is the same for all, just think if your were on holiday and couldn’t take a photo because you may just have other person in your shot. Mind you, you can’t publish it without their permission. Media has no special privileges.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, in practice and in law, it does.

Click to expand...

Sorry, I think you are wrong.

Please read below starting with Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography_and_the_law

and the law from Oz, UK and USA

https://www.artslaw.com.au/information-sheet/street-photographers-rights/

https://law.photography/law/street-photography-laws-in-the-uk

pdnonline.com/photography-business/legal/street-photography-and-the-law-what-you-need-to-know/

The one law in all cases is for all, not just the media.

Iamme.

It depends on the law of the country but in the most cases you're allowed to shoot, publish and sell street photography as much as you want, because street is the public place.

the first person who wants their picture taken in public by some stranger with a camera.

Happens all the time. I admit they're often drunk but I get asked more often than I want. Sober and drunk. The worst ones get belligerent if you don't take their picture.

Reilly Diefenbach said:

the first person who wants their picture taken in public by some stranger with a camera.

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Back in the day—before smartphones—I'd be occasionally stopped in the street by high-school aged girls who wanted to become models, and ask me to take their photo.

I suggested that they contact the local artists' guild, which was always looking for models—they had painting and drawing sessions frequently—and they paid fairly well.

It's totally allowed in public places. You cannot photograph people in their homes through the windows though, but out in the street it's fine.

There are exceptions, like if you basically follow and haunt someone who tries to get away from you and your camera, but even then your behavior needs to be pretty outrageous for it to be illegal and then it is because of harassing, not because of photographing.

In practice it's a little different though. I don't shoot people, too shy. But I shoot houses, general street views and of course there will be people, even if I don't focus on them. it has happened more than once that people have gotten annoyed, questioned what I'm up to. Add to that I'm female and 60+. Not your average pedophile or general sleeze bag suspect. Doesn't happen so often that it makes me stop, but it does happen and sometimes it's uncomfortable.

I don't think I would get reactions like this if I photographed with my phone. A system camera, or any real camera really, is so unusual today that people notice and probably think it's a strange activity. I should also say that most of the times people have questioned my activities, they have been immigrants, refugees. They've been scared, think I register them. I understand that and always let them look at my shots and it usually ends with that they apologize and we part as friends. More hard to understand why some Swedes get upset. it's not like I push my camera up their face. It's more like they happen to walk into the frame. Oh well.

This is a related issue, many have raised the need to be aware of local laws and contexts, which is much easier in a home country.

It is VERY different in far away lands and the person traveling will often not know or be aware or sensitive due to extreme differences in cultures.



This is particularly noticeable with European and American White photographers on 'ethno-travel' events feeling completely entitled to take images of the local people thinking they are creating art and 'telling a story' when in fact they are being very invasive, unaware and often making people uncomfortable. The only reason they are acting 'ok' is because of extreme politeness other cultures have and the desire to avoid creating a scene.

That's the difference, in the US and EU the person photographed if so desires has no problem confronting the photographer and saying 'hey, stop this, what are you doing" or just waving 'no' and making clear they do not wish to be photographed. So now the photographers know they better be more respectful, ask for permission, etc.

People in the underdeveloped world behave very differently and would rather smile and accommodate the wealthy visitors.

I think some candid street photography is ok. But I think it should be done way less than what is currently or previously done, it really is not needed to be that intrusive so much to so many people and the reality most of it is of low value and only the creator thinks they 'captured a moment' while the rest of us only see an old tired woman sleeping on a bus in New Delhi converted to black and white with increased contrast or clarity and nothing more.

I think it should be reduced by 90%, and the restrictive laws in many countries is a way to tamp down on it. Life has changed. The romantic Paris 1920's street images guy kissing a girl under a flowering tree is gone.