Ethics of shooting random people

[Alex_B]

Or you could say: "It is a wide angle lens, I was shooting the building behind you. You will be a very small object in a large picture."

Errm, if you leave photography circles, many people will not know what a wide angle lens is!
And they do not know what it means and does ... when I shoot buildings at 17mm, people often step out of my line of sight, trying to be polite as in not to be in the image ... but they never understand that they are maybe not dead centre, but still well in the frame

 

[castrol]

I also disagree with telling them before you shoot. The facial expressions of
a person not paying attention to you and doing what they do are always
better than the person who knows you are taking their picture and they are
trying to do that fake smile they do.

 

[RMThompson]

Several issues have been discussed, so I will respond in my opinion.

1. Ethically, taking pictures of anyone in the public view that isn't harassment in OK to me. If a little old lady is sitting in her underwear outside, and I think it's a particularly interesting shot, I'd take the picture.

2. LEGALLY taking a picture and PUBLISHING the picture, in the USA, are two different animals. I can take ANY picture, even on PRIVATE property, since the act of trespassing and the act of taking a picture are two different events. No one ever ever ever ever EVER has the right to take your camera/film etc... Publishing that picture is a different story, and matters for different reasons, but the rule of thumb is you cannot use the picture you took for COMMERCIAL reasons. That doesn't mean you can't sell the picture, or even prints of it, as ART, but you cannot use the picture of a girl in front of a fountain as part of a perfume ad!

3. How to handle this situation? Well personally I only have two experiences where I had some trouble.

The first, I was in the mall, taking some pictures of random people like this one:

I took these pictures in the mall... without many people noticing. Is it wrong for me to take these pictures, especially of a little girl? I personally don't think so, although I got some funny looks from some of the participants. At one point, one of the guys I just took a picture of walked up to me, and I was preparing to explain to him my rights as a photographer... and he asked for the time. I could tell he wanted to ask to see the picture, and he was smiling, but he didn't. I should've offered...

Second time when I was taking pictures of the Tampa Skyline:

For this series of shots a friend of mine and I went behind Tampa General Hospital, technically private property. I even was behind a construction fence on the edge of the seawall. Eventually a police boat drove near us, put a light on us for a second but never said a word. Soon though, they were docking right behind us, at which point I packed up and left.... I am positive they were going to ask us what we were doing, but they seemed content with letting me leave.

 

[Iron Flatline]

You really would be well-advised to learn how guys like Garry Winogrand or Lee Friedlander worked. Both just fired away at strangers without asking. It may be uncomfortable, but it is hardly immoral.

Winogrand especially had a technique where he would keep the camera up by his eye for hours on end. He was a big, crazy-red-haired, hard-to-miss guy wiht a huge and friendly personality. Winogrand shot film like some of us shoot digital. After attending a celebrity party in NY he was asked if he had a good time, and he answered "35 rolls!"

One technique that Friedlander apparently used was to find a location he liked (lighting, background, mood) and then waited for interesting people to walk into the shot - just as you described doing.

To get back to the first point I made: ask yourself if your question regarding the morality of photographing strangers isn't a sort of excuse about pushing yourself creatively. If you are pursuing "street photography" creatively (rather than journalistically) you will need to push yourself to get the shots you really want. So what, big deal, someone may yell at you, or possibly even threaten you. Smile, apologize, and move on - but don't give up the shot. Being liked by everyone was important in pre-school, it does NOT matter when being creative.

 

[megapaws]

Something that I learned during a TPF meetup (thanks Raymond) was to "shoot from the hip". I too am also shy about shooting strangers especially after my first experience at street photograhy (lots of people were not very happy with me - people reaching for the lens or covering their faces), so when the idea of shooting from the hip was presented to me, I felt that would be a good way to try my luck and see what I came up with. I have only done this once with a few shots when I was wondering around downtown, but I did end up with a shot that I was pretty happy with. This could make for some interesting photography IMO.

 

[Mr. Bananagrabber]

if they are in public they are fair-game, i find most people dont mind. every where ive gone ive taken random pics of people, no one minds except those that stand on street corners yelling about the government, that the only time ive ever had a problem, it was at pioneer square (seattle) i was shooting film so there was nothing i could do. lucky for him i over fixed that roll and had to throw it out. so anyway thats my 2 cents. happy shootings everyone. :camera:

 

[Riggaberto]

Thanks everyone, the only advice on here that doesnt apply to me is the business card part, as I am completely unemployed, and new to photography. So you can sell prints of people without getting a release, but you cant publish it? Can I put them in a gallery online?

 

[ArmyOfNone]

Thanks everyone, the only advice on here that doesnt apply to me is the business card part, as I am completely unemployed, and new to photography. So you can sell prints of people without getting a release, but you cant publish it? Can I put them in a gallery online?

Legally, in the US, you can even go so far as to sell the art. Go to the wikipedia article on street photography, they have a decent section on this.

 

[billybob]

I was ready to post this as a new post in the beginner's section, but I decided I'd have more luck getting opinions from more experienced people if I moved it to this section. Then, I ran into this thread and, although I don't like the title as much as the one I had intended, it does address many of the questions I had. It's late and I was hoping to read the responses in the morning, so rather than re-writing everything, I will paste my original post here. Some of the questions have already been answered throughout this thread, but I'd still like to get input into my specific situation, and I'd love for this thread to keep going and for more people to add their experience and advice.


I would like to open this discussion up to the subject of sociology as it applies to shooting pictures. This is the result of something that happened to me today, which has raised many questions about the future. I am still a beginner, but I hope that more experienced photographers who have faced these kinds of issues before and have devised their own strategies will provide their input.

I am working through some books on composition and assigned myself certain projects that would help me learn the various things the book is teaching. One of my assignments was to take pictures of actions at their decisive moments. I had gone to the park to take pictures of a waterfall when I saw a good opportunity to fill that project by shooting these kids who were playing football. This turned out to be a bad idea when I was approached by a loud and angry mother demanding to know why I am taking pictures of her kids.

This brings up a variety of questions. Was it a bad idea to shoot that at all? How should I have approached shooting at that location (if at all)? Hopefully some day in the future I'll be able to respond to people who ask questions by explaining that I'm a professional and sell pictures to _____, but until then, how should I respond if anything like this were to come up again?

Moving beyond the actual situation and looking towards the future, this brings up even more questions. My favorite kinds of shots involving people are unscripted shots rather than shots of people acting for the camera. How can I get these shots while being sensitive to the possibility that the person may not like having his picture taken? Is it simply a bad idea to take pictures of people you do not know at all? I would hate to think that is the case since these are often the most interesting subjects, specially when traveling.

Basically, I would like to open this subject up to discussion on the sociological aspects of photography and how best to handle them. If you have examples you'd like to share, please do so.

 

[Iron Flatline]

Well, kids are always a bad example, and an abnormal situation. People are very uptinght about shooting kids, and many parents think that having kids gives them the right to unleash all their fears and anger on and about society. I have a 3-year old and a 4-year old, so I know a lot of parents right now - I think half of them are actually nuts.

Continue your thoughts and questions about shooting in public, but please be aware that kids are a whole different thing, whether you like it or not. It's too loaded to be part of that particular discourse.

 

[Cheesewheel]

I don't think you need to actually be a professional photographer to have a business card. Just put your info on them and carry them around so if people want a copy they can contact you. Heck, you might even get a gig that way and earn some cash

At any rate, I've always been taught to let people know when they've been photographed just out of common courtesy. That's assuming they (or their property) are the subject of the photo, of course. Whether or not you have to is another thing.

 

[LaFoto]

Oh... you would even let people know when you photograph their property or part of it? I have photographed so many farmsteads by now or details of farm houses ... and not one of the farmers who live there know anything about it - unless they have seen me take that photo.

Sometimes then they would come and ask about what I am doing there and I will tell them that hadn't they seen how wonderful that window looked in the surroundings of the half-timbered house? (For example) And I just liked that sight and wanted to capture it, for myself, because it is beautiful. Mostly then they would say: go about it to your heart's content then. As long as it is private...

People are a different matter and even though I have a good many people photos in my archives from events of the half-private to totally public nature, I only ever post or make public those photos when I get release. Or when I know that on the same occasion the press photographer has been there and some of his photos appeared in the local paper. Then I know that similar photos have been published before and understand that a silent agreement must have been reached that photos from said event can be made public.

I am less squeamish about total strangers photographed in a far-away city where there are many tourists around who all take photos and where other people will always and quite necessarily so get into ever so many other tourists' frames.

There must be room for street photography somewhere, after all.

 

[f8lranger4x4]

Basicly in the way i was explained the law was if you take a picture of someone in public their is nothing they can do as long as you are not useing it for personal gain (ae. selling it.) I take pictures in public places just keep in mind as a friend of mine learned no police, police stations, or fed. Buildings this could end with you being hassled.

 

[RMThompson]

Well, kids are always a bad example, and an abnormal situation. People are very uptinght about shooting kids, and many parents think that having kids gives them the right to unleash all their fears and anger on and about society. I have a 3-year old and a 4-year old, so I know a lot of parents right now - I think half of them are actually nuts.

Continue your thoughts and questions about shooting in public, but please be aware that kids are a whole different thing, whether you like it or not. It's too loaded to be part of that particular discourse.

1/2? More than that! Us parents are crazy!

One time on Halloween a guy was photographing every kid that walked up to his door... which was a cool idea, but he wasn't really asking, which I didn't like.

This year I took pictures of everyones pumpkins! LOL

 

[Jim Gratiot]

1/2? More than that! Us parents are crazy!

You beat me to it... it's in the 85-90% range where I live.

And for what it's worth, if my kids were playing at a public park and some person I'd never met came up and started taking pictures of them just because it was their legal right to do so, I would have a pretty big problem with that.

Speaking strictly as a parent, anyway. (I can't help thinking about that scene in Desperate Housewives when Lynette walks into the room that has an entire wall filled with pictures of half-naked children.)