a bit new to the whole photography thing here. i have seen some posts here regarding "street shooting" and the like, but my question is about shooting in a shopping mall. has anybody ever done this (that is not a memeber of press or media)? were you greeted with a negative response? i ask because i work at a "mall processing lab", and went out one day to "test" a digital camera, and i was immediatley accosted by mall security, who notified me that it was not legal to shoot in the mall. is this true? or is it just a rule imposed by the mall? any help would be greatly appreciate, or just a point in the right direction for finding some literature in print that i can study about this subject. thanks for your time, Jerry Hazard

-- Jerry Hazard (hazard01@earthlink.net), December 09, 1999

Answers

I guess the problem is that the mall is, in a way, rather a private than a public area. It may be public-access area, but legally, it is probably not equivalent to a free area in the street. Therefore, the mall owner is free to forbid photography. You might try to get a permission, but I guess he won't be too keen on granting it arguing that the customers of the shops in the mall might not feel at ease when being "watched".

Out in the street, no one can forbid you to shoot photos except maybe under very special circumstances (scene of a crime etc.). On the other hand, at least in Germany, we have what is called "the right of your own image", which means that you must not publish (or even show to a friend) a foto of a person w/o the person's consent. Exceptions are only possible where the person portrayed is a well-known celebrity, and thus part of public life. You may also publish pictures of people in a crowd, where the the individual is not the central subject of the picture.

-- Thomas Wollstein (thomas_wollstein@web.de), December 09, 1999.

A mall is private property and security/managment can stop you from shooting there. However, I have found that usually if you will go by and talk to the mall managment and tell them what you're up to they will let you shoot. Talk to the top guy and not some PR person if you can.

-- Joe Cole (jcole@apha.com), December 09, 1999.

Reminded me of a time I was once asked to photograph in a mall.

I was commissioned to create a slide show for a trade group who was hosting their big annual meeting in Houston. They were traveling with the show to other regional areas to generate interest in coming to Houston. I was to create lifestyle photographs of members of the group at numerous and various locations; restaurants, parks, museums, on and on. One of the locations was The Galleria mall. Not only did they want to shoot in the mall but they wanted to shoot in Neiman Marcus. The group was given the task to make the necessary arrangements. Well, you guessed it, they didn't. We went to Neiman Marcus' security office and told them what we wanted to do. They said "No". We asked "Why?". I thought their response was interesting. "What if you accidentally included in your photograph a married man (customer) with another woman...buying furs or jewelry...and the wife found out about it..Blah, Blah, Blah." They also mentioned the fact that they didn't want their entrances or security systems photographed. A thief could use the photos to study how to disarm or otherwise thwart the system which I thought was more realistic.

-- Rick Stiles (rick.stiles@lmco.com), December 09, 1999.

Jerry,

Some of the issues that mall security may rightly be concerned with is anyone with a camera may be scoping out retailers for hidden cameras and planning for criminal activity, even if their purpose is benign.

As an employee of one of the businesses in the mall, however, you should have a reasonable chance of convincing mall management that you are simply testing gear being sold in their mall. I'd suggest speaking first with your boss--since he pays the rent, signed the contract and knows the rules of the mall--and ask him for advice.

I would also suggest that your boss consider the potential for turning this into a marketing opportunity. Perhaps he could hang a sign on you saying "Smile! Your film can be processed while you shop at (Name of Lab)" and you become a walking ad while you're testing digital and other cameras. (OK, so you won't get many candids this way, but it could be fun). Of course, your boss would need to get the OK of mall management for something like this.

Hope this helps!

-- Mason Resnick (bwworld@mindspring.com), December 13, 1999.