Is it illegal to shoot nudes in public? in Denver?

[BrettN]

I am a Denver Student Photographer, wanting to know if I would get in trouble for shooting nudes in public or would just the model get in trouble for being nude? I know the nudity laws and indecency laws, but nothing says anything about photographing them.

 

[Overread]

I'm not a lawyer, but my view is that if you were jsut walking along and someone nude ran past you wouldn't get in trouble for taking a photo. However if you've organised a shoot as a photographer and are taking photos of a nude person chances are you will get in trouble if you get caught (at the very least if the police don't get you in trouble the model will when they get caught and its "your" fault because you organised it).

That said if you want proper legal advice on various situations its best to talk to a lawyer - online you'll get random guesses, theories and unreliable info.

 

[MiFleur]

Well I don't think that hiding behind your camera will do you any good!
No nudes in public places, camera or not!

 

[KmH]

Being a "Denver Student Photographer" why not ask at school? Better yet - ask the Denver police!

 

[tirediron]

Being a "Denver Student Photographer" why not ask at school? Better yet - ask the Denver police!

Or at the Denver City Hall - that's likely to get you a more accurate answer then the "make the law up as we go along" police attitude.

 

[KmH]

Sad. But true.

However, a cop will likely be the first contact out in public.

 

[BrettN]

My issue is, I don't want them to be looking for me either. I could put a vague call in I guess

 

[Overread]

I doubt that asking clarification of laws regarding nudity in public with regard to an organised photography event would raise you very high on the police's watch list.

 

[tirediron]

I doubt that asking clarification of laws regarding nudity in public with regard to an organised photography event would raise you very high on the police's watch list.

That I suspect depends almost exclusively on how attractive the models are!

 

[Mike_E]

This is one of the reasons they made green screens.

 

[bratkinson]

I and perhaps 150 other Univeristy of Wisconsin students got arrested one drunken Halloween night 47 years ago on the State Capitol steps in Madison while mooning the capitol. Fortunately, other than writing our names down in their books, being drunk back then was usually a 'get out of jail free' ticket, as this was. We were just a bunch of college kids having harmless, drunken fun.

I have no doubt whatsoever that the police today are far less 'forgiving' as they were back then...

 

[skieur]

Whether legal or not the usual approach is location and time. As a summer job I looked after a beach park close to a major city. Late summer evenings, after a rainstorm, early Sunday morning, on a holiday weekend when everyone left the city, early Monday morning, a cool windy day, etc. those were the times that photographers and videographers came out of the "woodwork" to shoot, uninterrupted by police.

 

[Josh66]

My issue is, I don't want them to be looking for me either. I could put a vague call in I guess

LOL. They're not going to stakeout all the parks or whatever because somebody called asking questions about taking nude photos in public.

Just tell them you're doing an art project, and you would like to do it legally. There may be a permit or something you have to buy...

I'm sure there is a legal way to do it, but it might involve you paying the city a small (hopefully) fee.

 

[gsgary]

Just do it, it's only illegal if you get caught

 

[ABJayce]

Would be more Epic to have an officer as your model. Big conflict of interest for the department.........oh yeah