Why are photographers treated with distrust?

[Aoide]

I was recently taking pictures in downtown Denver, with relatives, and it was my INLAWS that were giving me funny looks. I think they were embarrased that I kept stopping and snapping pictures. But hey, they all love to ooh and ahh over them when I send them to them, so what can you do?

I've started warning people. "You're going with me to so-and-so? Fine, just as long as you know I will be taking pictures."

 

[6Speed]

I like to shoot old houses and things of that nature. Sometimes it's hard to know whose property these old abandoned houses are on, and therefore hard to get permission. Plus, I usually see them at random times, and want to stop right then and snap a few pics. I always worry someone is going to call the police and say I'm "prowling" around or something.

 

[JimJohnD]

I don't believe it's all mistrust. Many/most people don't have a clue about real photography beyond their cellphone 'camera'. They just don't understand all of the equipment let alone the theory of light. People 'fear' what they don't understand, human nature I guess, too bad.

 

[Lyncca]

I guess there is the good and bad of being a female. The bad is that I don't feel safe to go to some areas that a male may, but on the other, people don't tend to think I am a terrorist or kidnapper either.

I see people watching me a lot, generally when I have a big telephoto lens attached to my camera or if I have a tripod for night photography, but I don't usually have anyone rude approach. Mostly people come and talk to me and ask if I am from National Geographic or something similar, which is pretty funny. If they only knew that if I were, my equipment would be seriously lacking!

A lot of times I will show people pictures I take on the LCD. Then, they can see what I see, and many times this will bring about questions, so I explain to them about shutter speed, and the purpose of a tripod. So, in the end, I get to blab about photography, meet someone new, and they learn something or at least see some cool photos

 

[Jeremy Lim]

Like Jamie said, the first thing I thought when I read the title was, "Because everyone thinks everyone else is a pervert." Though I get funny looks in public, I get the most crap from my friends. I think the worst comment was, "You know, when you said you were bringing the camera, I didn't think you'd be humping it all night." Blagh.

I live in Vancouver, so we get a large influx of Asian tourists and visitors. I think I get away with some shots because people think I'm a tourist. Being born and bred here, they couldn't be more wrong.

C'est la vie. I've met some amazing people and come up with some pretty sweet shots thanks to my 30D. The only thing stopping me is the day my camera dies. Quick, everyone knock on wood!

 

[Overread]

errr guys this is a 4 year old thread -- let it die please

 

[Joves]

errr guys this is a 4 year old thread -- let it die please

No we must give it CPR. Besides the forum has been slow so why not revive something.
Oh and most people notice my sidearm before my camera. I love living in Az.

 

[manaheim]

Like some I find that most people are more curious than concerned... I almost find this more weird. I get a lot of people who are just kind of into whatever you are doing and want to be involved in some way, see what you are doing, look at your results, ask you questions, etc.

To be honest, it surprises me mainly because it's not like DSLRs are uncommon in my area... hell I went to a labor day parade recently and I swear every third person had one. Dunno. It's a funny social behavior.

 

[Josh66]

errr guys this is a 4 year old thread -- let it die please

And obviously things have only gotten worse since then.

Four years ago people thought you were strange for taking a photo of a person you're not related to, now you are suspect if you take a picture of a bridge.

Why on Earth would anybody ever photograph a bridge if they weren't planning on blowing it up? I don't understand why nobody else sees this...
We need to ban photography altogether, the world will be much safer.
"The Terrorists" will have no way of planning their attacks if we all just made this small sacrifice and took up another hobby. (Astronomy would probably be best, so we could continue our obsession with lenses, and it is equally (probably even more) expensive, so we'll still have that going for us too.)



I get looks sometimes... I've gotten the finger for aiming a camera at someone a few times. There's been instances where I didn't take a picture I wanted to because I didn't want to have to "explain myself".

I can't believe how stupid some people are. Most people are probably just curious, but some of them really do think that photographers might be "up to something".

 

[Unreal Tuner]

I don't believe it's all mistrust. Many/most people don't have a clue about real photography beyond their cellphone 'camera'. They just don't understand all of the equipment let alone the theory of light. People 'fear' what they don't understand, human nature I guess, too bad.

I think this pretty much sums it up. I agree with it.
Some people just don't understand.

 

[Paul M]

No we must give it CPR. Besides the forum has been slow so why not revive something.
Oh and most people notice my sidearm before my camera. I love living in Az.

I agree and I figgure with the investment I am carrying, I had better protect it right? Except here in Florida, it has to be concealed so when stopped, it makes things a bit more exciting when it's an officer asking what I'm doing. I am not going to stop either way. As long as I am not doing anything wrong, I am not going to let people that have no clue limit me in any way.

 

[MarkCSmith]

I think anybody is right to be wary of their picture being taken and absolutely fulfilling their parental obligation to question anybody taking pictures of their children. I'm never nervous about taking pictures of kids, I always ask the parents permission first and offer a business card so they can see the shots. I've never had a refusal... I'm very personable and I'm great with kids.

As far as people being weirded out by photos in general, who cares? lol I've struck up more conversations then I can remember with people because I've been taking photographs of random stuff. Being good with people and extroverted is a great trait for a photographer.

 

[manaheim]

'course the funny thing is I would bet you money a tehhhrist wouldn't be roving around with a bag full of camera gear, a D300 and a tripod. They'd probably snap some pics with their camera phone and move on.

 

[phoenix_rising]

I ran across this and thought it pertanent...

http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm

 

[MarkCSmith]

I ran across this and thought it pertanent...

http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm

If you need to print out a document to show to people explaining your rights as a photographer, I'd strongly suggest you work on your people skills a bit :er:

Just because it's legal, doesn't mean it's a good idea to photograph kids in a playground.