I'm posting this question because I would like to hear everyone's opinions on the matter. Being RFF, I imagine candid photography is one of the genres most of you are very passionate about. I won't put in any specifics because my purpose isn't trying to reveal anything about this particular photographer, but rather asking if my photographic and artistic vision is too short-sighted.
Basically, on another forum, I found a photographer who particularly likes to take photos (or at least show on the internet) of young women. These aren't model shots, portraits, or anything like that, but just random young women he bumps into wherever he may go. Some of these places include on the street, some indoor social activity, but also at the beach. The photos aren't of all types of young women either...I'll describe them as young women who probably take care of their bodies. The street photos aren't invasive or anything (nothing like pointing down a blouse), but the beach photos obviously have young women in swimsuits, bikinis, etc. His photo website is pretty much (90-95%) comprised of these types of photos.
My gut reaction is that this is pretty darn creepy. I wouldn't appreciate my wife being photographed in that manner. If I see some guy trying to sneak shot of my wife from the back when she's wearing her swimsuit at the beach, I'd go up to him and have a word or two. I imagine a lot of people with daughters in college would not want their kids being photographed and put up on the internet like that either.
Now, I'm not asking about the legality of the situation, but rather the morality and ethics of it. Seeing as how a certain demographic of young women is his target, I feel uncomfortable with this type of guy walking around.
The point of my post is, what do you guys think of this? Is my reaction normal or too conservative? Am I possibly missing some purpose where this is part of a bigger project that makes it artistic? By the way, the photos look pretty much like snapshots to me. I can't see any artistic touch to these the candids.
I'm very interested in everyone's responses - thanks in advance for the discussion.