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Wow, the world has changed, people are so paranoid about being in a photo

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Kodakrevisited

Kodakrevisited

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Since moving to a big UK city from a rural area I have been challened several times whilst shooting because people are just so paranoid these days, I am talking about shots with a couple of people facing away from the camera totally unrecognisable, ie the back of heads!!

It never used to be like this, its kind of turning me off urban photography, I can see myself getting into a serious argumant soon, the suggestion is that you are some kind of wierdo for shooting a photo in a busy urban area, its impossible to exlude some people no matter how hard one tries, I think I am likely to abstain, not worth the hassle , why are people so paranoid now ?
 
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LeicaEye said:
Oh yes, the world has changed. ‘Street’ in all its aspects is definitely a somewhat dangerous activity. IMHO it’s an art that has passed its prime, some areas like New York will tolerate where Ipswich UK may well not. Lots of other subjects you can turn to for inspiration.. 🍻
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Yes its ok, I have just moved back to my home city of Birmingham from a rural area and the city centre has so much to shoot, so much new funky architecture, but apparently its not worth the risk of a confrontation
 
Gato Amarillo said:
We live in a world where one embarrassing photo can subject a person to world-wide humiliation and possibly harassment. No wonder people are wary.

Gato
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I must be naive, but it has never even occoured to me to object if I inadvertently appear in somebodys holiday snapshot even were I easily recognisable, not even remotely bothered and never will be. But its clearly somnething that people are concerned about these days, ahh well, I will leave the camera at home when visiting the city in future
 
Western world. First world. I live in Arica, it can be rough around the edges but people are friendly. No issues taking photos for the most part. I find first world cities quite cold and unfriendly.
I understand I may just be miss reading social norma and so on. Not my world so I suppose unfair to judge.
 
UsherFellig said:
Ha, IMHO it's more like, "Wow, the world has changed, people feel entitled to photograph you without your consent and post your image publicly on the internet for the entire globe to see."
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Which, in UK law is pretty much the case, you don't own your image and photography in a public place is legal.
 
I think facial recognition is a big part of it. That and license plate readers, surveillance cameras, etc and you can be identified nearly anywhere on the globe.
 
J A C S said:
They wouldn't pay attention to you if you use a phone, I guess. Dedicated cameras are becoming more exotic, this is the reason, IMO.
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Exactly. Take photos or videos with a smartphone (some of which have equivalent focal lengths up to 120mm or more) and no-one will care or even notice. Makes no rational sense, but it is more an emotional reaction than a rational one.

Just use a high end smartphone and you will be nearly invisible. Doing this, the world will seem it has changed in the opposite direction: less paranoid
 
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J A C S said:
They wouldn't pay attention to you if you use a phone, I guess. Dedicated cameras are becoming more exotic, this is the reason, IMO.
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I find that my red TG7 works pretty well on the street. Nobody takes a tiny RED camera seriously.

The Officer in front...



The couple behind the Officer



Shot from the hip

 
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Kodakrevisited said:
Since moving to a big UK city from a rural area I have been challened several times whilst shooting because people are just so paranoid these days, I am talking about shots with a couple of people facing away from the camera totally unrecognisable, ie the back of heads!!

It never used to be like this, its kind of turning me off urban photography, I can see myself getting into a serious argumant soon, the suggestion is that you are some kind of wierdo for shooting a photo in a busy urban area, its impossible to exlude some people no matter how hard one tries, I think I am likely to abstain, not worth the hassle , why are people so paranoid now ?
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being brave is literally part of being a great photographer

I had a girlfriend at one time who was a recognized important award winning photographer, She did incredible things to get an image such as befriending war lords .

Dont be soft .... get out there and take pictures
 
Kodakrevisited said:
Since moving to a big UK city from a rural area I have been challened several times whilst shooting because people are just so paranoid these days, I am talking about shots with a couple of people facing away from the camera totally unrecognisable, ie the back of heads!!
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So how did they know if they were facing away from the camera? And is it safe to suppose that no one could recognize another person by the back of their head? There are a lot of reasons why people might be uneasy with being photographed even though it is totally legal to take photos in public places. Caution is advisable.
 
UsherFellig said:
Ha, IMHO it's more like, "Wow, the world has changed, people feel entitled to photograph you without your consent and post your image publicly on the internet for the entire globe to see."
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how can one expect privacy in public ?

does the entire globe go to facebook street photography groups ?

and even then ; no name, no adress under the photo

and why do people assume the photo will make them look bad or stupid ?

Moving to asia was my best decision ; its street photography paradise in most places, except Hong Kong
 
Gato Amarillo said:
We live in a world where one embarrassing photo can subject a person to world-wide humiliation and possibly harassment. No wonder people are wary.

Gato
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then dont do stupid things in public in front of CCTVs

also punish harshly those who harass other or publish photos than make the subject look stupid but leave the 99,99 % of photographers alone

this is so typical ; punish every one for the action of a few.

Happy to have left the occident, specially after the place where i live banned the publication of photography taken in public, without model release.
 
Kodakrevisited said:
Since moving to a big UK city from a rural area I have been challened several times whilst shooting because people are just so paranoid these days, I am talking about shots with a couple of people facing away from the camera totally unrecognisable, ie the back of heads!!

It never used to be like this, its kind of turning me off urban photography, I can see myself getting into a serious argumant soon, the suggestion is that you are some kind of wierdo for shooting a photo in a busy urban area, its impossible to exlude some people no matter how hard one tries, I think I am likely to abstain, not worth the hassle , why are people so paranoid now ?
Click to expand...
It is easy to take photos with a cell phone, just pretend you are looking at something on your phone. Not sure why some people are so crazy. I have a friend who has made a photo book with photos of interesting people. He did ask for permission before taking their photos.

I was at a protest recently and most people were happy to have their photos taken. That could be dangerous for them if I had been working for the government.
 
Kodakrevisited said:
Since moving to a big UK city from a rural area I have been challened several times whilst shooting because people are just so paranoid these days, I am talking about shots with a couple of people facing away from the camera totally unrecognisable, ie the back of heads!!

It never used to be like this, its kind of turning me off urban photography, I can see myself getting into a serious argumant soon, the suggestion is that you are some kind of wierdo for shooting a photo in a busy urban area, its impossible to exlude some people no matter how hard one tries, I think I am likely to abstain, not worth the hassle , why are people so paranoid now ?
Click to expand...
If you are in any photo that is posted to social media (even if you are an unintended and random participant, in the background) your identity is determined by your facial features, and your presence in that location at that time and in whose company becomes information for sale (usually to target you for selling you services, but sometimes for other reasons).

And be careful about "getting into a serious argument", A bystander might post a photo of you in an embarrassing (or worse) attitude.
 
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