Help!!!

[Garbz]

my mother found the pictures when she typed in our town in a google image search. Don't insult me with that valium ****. I just don't like seeing children taken advantage like that. Nothing more.

Hate to ask this, but who got taken advantage of? In fact it's quite the opposite. In most countries he could sell these photos, or display them in an art gallery and still be perfectly in his legal and moral rights. You're outside, people can see you. So what? Now it just so happens that someone surfing flickr can see something that anybody on the beach could have seen anyway? It may be different if she was photographed doing something illegal or demeaning, but quite simply it's called a public place because it's not private.

If you fell that anyone is being taken advantage of here I highly suggest you never walk out into public again in case someone may take advantage of you. Oh as someone who does some street photography my self, while I would have worded it more politely you would have gotten the same response from me.

 

[Senor Hound]

Hate to ask this, but who got taken advantage of? In fact it's quite the opposite. In most countries he could sell these photos, or display them in an art gallery and still be perfectly in his legal and moral rights. You're outside, people can see you. So what? Now it just so happens that someone surfing flickr can see something that anybody on the beach could have seen anyway? It may be different if she was photographed doing something illegal or demeaning, but quite simply it's called a public place because it's not private.

If you fell that anyone is being taken advantage of here I highly suggest you never walk out into public again in case someone may take advantage of you. Oh as someone who does some street photography my self, while I would have worded it more politely you would have gotten the same response from me.

Although you are allowed to have your opinion, I find your statements to be counterproductive to our (photographers) cause. Its because of people like this guy who took the photo of the girl, that the world is having issues with people taking photos at public events (like the soccer game we were talking about a while back). I think we amateur photographers have a STRONG moral obligation to respect the wishes of all of our subjects, even if it means deleting some photos we don't want to.

In my opinion if we don't start being a little less intrusive, and start holding ourselves to a moral code, the government of whatever country you (and I) happen to be in will attempt to hold us to their moral code via laws. And then it will be on their terms, not ours.

I wouldn't stand up for this guy taking photos of the girl at all. Even if it was with good intentions, he (and I stress this is only my opinion) is obligated morally to abide to a deletion of photo (or at least take them off the internet), even if legally he doesn't have to. And I have a feeling with everyone standing up for the photographer that took these photos, the original poster has moved to the category of disliking and distrusting all photographers. And truthfully, I can't say I'd blame him if he does indeed develop this attitude.

By the way, I hope you don't take this as an attack on your belief system or character. I WHOLEHEARTEDLY respect your opinion, and as someone who can self-govern, you probably are very careful with your shot selection when at risk of estranging your subjects. As a matter of fact, I hope to hear your response, as it will help us all find out our true inner beliefs (cognitive dissonance is a great thing).

 

[AverageJoe]

Is the real issue the clothing this girl wore?

 

[boston923]

I'm not one of those hippy liberals who fights for civil liberties and is against security cameras in public places, but I think that there are some rights that can not be written down...especially for children. You shouldn't have to fear that someone is going to photograph your children every time you go to the beach. I know that this isn't a legal issue, but it certainly is a moral issue. As Senor Hound said, this guy is giving photographers a bad name. The beach where those photographs were taken is one of the most popular beaches in Maine, yet why is he photographing only young girls? I really don't care what the law has to say or who the law protects....if this guy's intentions are wrong, he is wrong whether or not he is still acting within the law.
I am grateful that this guy took the photos off of public view, but I think that he was probably surprised to know that his subjects were not who he thought they were. I think that some photographers get caught up in their work that they don't realize their subjects are people and not just objects to use however they want. I also think that given his hostile response to me, he probably has something to hide. I'm sure that when he was across the beach, zooming in with a giant telephoto lens, he didn't expect anybody to actually catch him.
Thanks for all of your understanding.