sneaky pics - what's the law?
I had a personal incident arise this week and thought I'd re-post a little info on the legalities of strangers taking your picture in public places.
First off, there is NO LAW preventing you from being photographed in a public space or at a public event by anyone. When you hire a photographer, there is usually some kind of binding contract regarding the legal end of things, but if you're walking down the street, going to a festival, playing at the beach or swimming pool, or playing at the park with your kids, if someone came along with their camera and started taking pictures of you with or without your knowledge, without your consent, you really have no legal recourse. Obviously if they were harrassing you, you would be entitled to contact the authorities to have the person removed, and if the person were photographing you in a changeroom or washroom that would be a whole other story, but for the most part, if you're out in public, you're game.
Speaking as a photographer, I tend not to take pictures of people without their permission but sometimes it happens. Typically, it's because you were in the background of my shot - I go to take a picture of my daughter on the slide and yup - you might be in the background chowing down on a burger or picking your nose. I've also taken pictures of the crowd during parades and festivals. And, if I wanted to, I could sell those pictures back to the festival owners, who could then blow it up to a billboard and there would be nothing anyone could do about it.
Part of the reason there is no law preventing people from taking pictures in public is because you're out in public. Whatever you're wearing, whatever expression there might be on your face, whatever you happen to be doing, people are seeing it. A camera is merely recording you as you are, and therefore, if you've gone out in public you've made an unconscious agreement to 'be seen' so a still or even a movie of you is merely a record of what happened. If your facial expression is unflattering, if you're wearing bad clothes, if you're having a bad hair day doesnt' make a picture more or less lawful. They're ALL lawful. But the number one reason there is no law is frankly because it would be impossible to enforce it. Can you imagine taking your kids to the park and having to get a model release from everyone else there (or their parents) in case you got one of their kids in your shot? Can you imagine a news reporter having to go and get permission from 10,000 people at a football game?
So, no law exists against photographing people in public spaces because it's simply not a) logical or b) enforceable.
NOW. Speaking as a Mom, and a woman who personally HATES having her picture taken at any time in any place, there's a big part of me that thinks this really sucks. The butt shots I've been taking are probably a great example of an unflattering picture I'm OK posting, because you'd be hard-pressed to identify the owner, so anonymity is present. (Frankly, if you don't want people taking pictures of the crack of your butt, wear pants that fit... but I digress...) In the case of taking unflattering pictures of people, well - this would be bad business for me since I am a portrait photographer, and who would hire me if I wasn't able to make a person look and feel as beautiful as possible in their photos?
In all honesty as much as I enjoy street shooting I do feel a bit weird taking pictures of people without them knowing, and in the bigger scheme getting verbal or written permission is always the safer route whether you're going to sell the pics to a newspaper, blogging them, or making personal prints to put in your own album.
To you, the general pubic, rest assured that the truly creepy photographers out there are far and few between in relation to those of us who approach shooting in public spaces with some degree of artistic integrity and genuine respect for humankind.
Now you all know.
~H.
First off, there is NO LAW preventing you from being photographed in a public space or at a public event by anyone. When you hire a photographer, there is usually some kind of binding contract regarding the legal end of things, but if you're walking down the street, going to a festival, playing at the beach or swimming pool, or playing at the park with your kids, if someone came along with their camera and started taking pictures of you with or without your knowledge, without your consent, you really have no legal recourse. Obviously if they were harrassing you, you would be entitled to contact the authorities to have the person removed, and if the person were photographing you in a changeroom or washroom that would be a whole other story, but for the most part, if you're out in public, you're game.
Speaking as a photographer, I tend not to take pictures of people without their permission but sometimes it happens. Typically, it's because you were in the background of my shot - I go to take a picture of my daughter on the slide and yup - you might be in the background chowing down on a burger or picking your nose. I've also taken pictures of the crowd during parades and festivals. And, if I wanted to, I could sell those pictures back to the festival owners, who could then blow it up to a billboard and there would be nothing anyone could do about it.
Part of the reason there is no law preventing people from taking pictures in public is because you're out in public. Whatever you're wearing, whatever expression there might be on your face, whatever you happen to be doing, people are seeing it. A camera is merely recording you as you are, and therefore, if you've gone out in public you've made an unconscious agreement to 'be seen' so a still or even a movie of you is merely a record of what happened. If your facial expression is unflattering, if you're wearing bad clothes, if you're having a bad hair day doesnt' make a picture more or less lawful. They're ALL lawful. But the number one reason there is no law is frankly because it would be impossible to enforce it. Can you imagine taking your kids to the park and having to get a model release from everyone else there (or their parents) in case you got one of their kids in your shot? Can you imagine a news reporter having to go and get permission from 10,000 people at a football game?
So, no law exists against photographing people in public spaces because it's simply not a) logical or b) enforceable.
NOW. Speaking as a Mom, and a woman who personally HATES having her picture taken at any time in any place, there's a big part of me that thinks this really sucks. The butt shots I've been taking are probably a great example of an unflattering picture I'm OK posting, because you'd be hard-pressed to identify the owner, so anonymity is present. (Frankly, if you don't want people taking pictures of the crack of your butt, wear pants that fit... but I digress...) In the case of taking unflattering pictures of people, well - this would be bad business for me since I am a portrait photographer, and who would hire me if I wasn't able to make a person look and feel as beautiful as possible in their photos?
In all honesty as much as I enjoy street shooting I do feel a bit weird taking pictures of people without them knowing, and in the bigger scheme getting verbal or written permission is always the safer route whether you're going to sell the pics to a newspaper, blogging them, or making personal prints to put in your own album.
To you, the general pubic, rest assured that the truly creepy photographers out there are far and few between in relation to those of us who approach shooting in public spaces with some degree of artistic integrity and genuine respect for humankind.
Now you all know.
~H.
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