Help!!!

boston923 · Jul 6, 2008

So I recently discovered that a photograph of my friend's teenage daughter in a bikini on the beach. The girl is only 16 and it is clear that the photographer took her picture without her knowledge using a telephoto lens. I emailed the guy and asked him to remove the photos, but he sent an angry email back to me saying that it was public property. I know he's right, but is there anything that I can do to have him remove these photos? My friend would be horribly upset and disgusted to know that her daughter is plastered all over this guy's website. Thanks, Mark

ryan7783 · Jul 6, 2008

unfortunately it is legal to take anyone's photograph in a public place without asking unless the photos are of a sexual (nude) nature. I'm afraid there's nothing you can do - atleast not that I can think of.

I suppose all you can do is email him, inform him that she is 16 and that her police officer father would like for him to remove the photo. Be polite about it.

Wait - what kind of website is it? a pornographic website? what context is the photo being used in?

boston923 · Jul 6, 2008

Wow...this guy turned out to be a major jerk! I politely asked him to remove them from public viewing and he sent the following:

>These photos were taken in a public place where photography
is permitted. They do not depict any behavior that one
would no see in a PG-13 movie. I have made no commercial
use of them. I have licensed them so that no commercial
use can be legally made by anyone else. Contrary to your
assertion, these young women approached my wife and I so
that they could have their pictures taken on their camera
immediately after the photos in question were taken. I
have been carefully to keep any inappropriate comments from
appearing on the pages that contain these pictures. Three
of them do not appear in any Flickr groups. One appears in
a single group dedicated to female photographers.
As such, I do not understand nature of your alarm. Please
explain.

so then I told him that he wasn't breaking any laws, but that I simply felt uncomfortable with the nature of the photos and that I didn't want her parents to come across those photographs considering they were of two 16 year old girls in bikinis. This was his response:

>The technical term for what I do is Amateur Candid
Photography. I have over 6600 photos on Flickr and have
received dozens of complements from the poor unfortunates
that find themselves in my viewfinder.
It's truly disturbing that you're aroused by pictures of
your friends children. You should inform the parents
immediately and seek professional help asap. In the
meantime I have taken the steps necessary to keep any
others with this problem from gaining access to these
images.
Now please stop harassing me.

WOW! I tried to be as polite as possible but some people just don't want to listen. This guy's name is Kevin Tyson and goes by the screen name of kptyson. If you come across him, steer clear! He's a real dirt-bag and likes to photograph young girls at the beach.

Emerana · Jul 6, 2008

this seems a little ... trollish to me. are you into photography yourself?

returnofa5i · Jul 6, 2008

I viewed these guys photos, they are right in the public, neone could see them there. The photos are are not inappropriate.

spiffybeth · Jul 6, 2008

how'd you see them?
link?

Luke623 · Jul 6, 2008

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kptyson/

I couldn't see what the big deal was...

boston923 · Jul 6, 2008

I'm not saying this guy did anything illegal...just very immoral. I was not very happy to see that some stranger had used a telephoto lens to zoom in on my friend's daughter in a bathing suit. The photos aren't inappropriate....it's this guy who is. Some people need to take a step back and realize that not everybody should be used as your model. Nobody who goes to a public beach deserves to be plastered all over the internet...ESPECIALLY A CHILD!!! I simply asked this guy to remove the photos from public viewing and he accused me of being in the wrong. Anyways, he has since made the photos private so you're not able to view them anymore. I guess I'll just have to be careful about what kind of creeps are at the beach with giant cameras.

boston923 · Jul 6, 2008

he has made the girls' pictures private on flickr so don't bother trying to look. Please...I'm not trying to advertise these pictures....I was just wondering if a minor has some sort of right to privacy.

Emerana · Jul 6, 2008

but how did you find them? Its pretty random to run across photos like this on a huge site like flickr

Dmitri · Jul 6, 2008

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valium

Luke623 · Jul 6, 2008

Dmitri said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valium

:thumbup:

boston923 · Jul 6, 2008

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.

Senor Hound · Jul 6, 2008

boston923 said:
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.

I can definitely understand how upset you are. When someone is YOUR child or someone you know personally, there is a level of emotion and feeling none of the people on here can understand (and some are obviously not empathetic).

This is not what you want to hear, but its perfectly legal for him to do this. Its really no different than someone looking at them, except he's captured it on film. And its not illegal to do that. The law basically says that if a person is going to be in a public place wearing something that covers as little as a bikini, they shouldn't be upset when someone takes a photo of them. Obviously there's more to the issue than that, but unfortunately courts don't recognize the fact there's more to it than that, you know?

This is why dads don't want their daughters wearing bikinis to the beach-- very few 16 year old girls understand how some older men look at them. If they did, they'd probably be horrified. Now 99% of photography is created with good intentions, but as is the case with many other things in life, that sour 1% makes some of us look bad. I hope you don't think all of us photographers have bad intentions like I fear this gentleman has.

I hope nothing too bad comes of this, and wish you the best of luck in whatever happens. I would be glad he put it in a private gallery, though, cause I'm pretty sure he didn't have to. Nonetheless, I feel for you.

ive · Jul 7, 2008

Senor Hound said:
I can definitely understand how upset you are. When someone is YOUR child or someone you know personally, there is a level of emotion and feeling none of the people on here can understand (and some are obviously not empathetic).

This is not what you want to hear, but its perfectly legal for him to do this. Its really no different than someone looking at them, except he's captured it on film. And its not illegal to do that. The law basically says that if a person is going to be in a public place wearing something that covers as little as a bikini, they shouldn't be upset when someone takes a photo of them. Obviously there's more to the issue than that, but unfortunately courts don't recognize the fact there's more to it than that, you know?

This is why dads don't want their daughters wearing bikinis to the beach-- very few 16 year old girls understand how some older men look at them. If they did, they'd probably be horrified. Now 99% of photography is created with good intentions, but as is the case with many other things in life, that sour 1% makes some of us look bad. I hope you don't think all of us photographers have bad intentions like I fear this gentleman has.

I hope nothing too bad comes of this, and wish you the best of luck in whatever happens. I would be glad he put it in a private gallery, though, cause I'm pretty sure he didn't have to. Nonetheless, I feel for you.

yea I agree. As I to would be upset if someone took a picture of my son w/o asking first. But then again I also understand there is a risk every time he walks out that door he might be photographed w/o knowing it. If you have concerns w/ the photo you should also be talking to your nieces as she was wearing something that maybe she shouldn't be wearing out in public. If your so concerned. It was nice of that guy to take the pics off and put them on private. As I'm sure not many people would have honored your request. So instead of bashing that guy I'd be thankful and leave it be. If you don't want pics of her to surface on the internet then talk to her about what she wears and make her more aware people are taking pics and could possibly post them on internet. or else you might find yourself having to be ticked off w/ another internet photographer. thats my 2cents. and yes I understand you being upset,but think you should realize he had ever right to post them and wasn't a jerk and did YOU A FAVor by taking them off.