Following a post on the legal situation conc. the publication of street shots, I would be interested of the opinions of the street shooters in this forum on the following issue:

In principle, one might say that whatever one does in the public should be suitable for the public. So if you shoot someone say in an embarassing pose, it's her/his own fault, because he shouldn't have behaved that way out there.

Is it really so simple? How do you feel about being photographed? Have you ever been the unwilling subject of a street shooter?

I am not a street shooter myself, possibly because I would be too embarassed to do it, as people sometimes feel it is an intrusion into their privacy.

-- Thomas Wollstein (thomas_wollstein@web.de), December 16, 1999

Answers

Hi Thomas,

That's one of the issues that I'm hoping to discuss during the live chat on street photography, which will be taking place on Tuesday Dec. 22 at 4:30pm ET(US) which is 9:30pm in England (and Germany?). The chat will take place in the PhotoHighway Auditorium and will be unmoderated. I hope you and anyone else interested in this issue will join us.

The direct URL for the chat auditorium is http://chat.photohighway.com.

BTW, the entire chat will be transcribed and the transcript will be available on B&W World for those who can't make it or want to take a second look.

Cheers!

-- Mason Resnick (bwworld@mindspring.com), December 16, 1999.

As for the need for a release, see the preveious question/answers. As for photographing someone in an embarrasing situation, that is somewhat fuzzy. In upstate New York a photojournalist photographed a mayorial candidate leaving a bar and staggering out the door and down the sidewalk. In the photo cutline it mentioned the candidate was in a drunken stagger. The candidate sued the paper and photog. and proved that he staggered due to a medical condition. The court ruled that the candidate in fact did stagger like he was drunk and dismissed the case. While working for newspapers and wireservices I always found the the photo would pretty much take care of its self, but where you had to be careful was in the cutline. If a photo shows a guy stealing something that's OK but don't call him a thief in the cutline.

-- Joe Cole (jcole@apha.com), December 16, 1999.

Thomas,

The answer to your question from a strictly legal point of view would depend on whether your jurisdiction has a law of privacy that applies to dealings between individulas (as opposed to individual vs the state).

I have contributed a posting on this topic to the thread immediately prior to this one.

Regards

-- Tim (Timothy_Bolotnikoff@justice.qld.gov.au), December 16, 1999.