Candid Photos & Social Networking

[Darkhorse]

A couple of weeks ago I was at an event at a local Buddhist temple. Lots of people were taking photos, nobody really bothered me, and many were willing to have their photos taken.

I took photos of many people, and one nice shot was of a few teen aged guys goofing around. I liked the shot so it was part of the series of photos I uploaded on flickr. Tonight, I noticed the views for the photo increased and there was a message stating "take this photo down you ****ing faggot".

Could this be a peril in candid photography in this age of social networking? It stands to reason that one could be browsing local photos and see themselves, not realizing that their photo had been taken. Could this have been one of the guys in the shot? Perhaps.

I took it down. I didn't want to waste time on this person by explaining if they had actually asked me calmly (like an adult) to take it down I would have, or not to automatically presume my intentions were malicious or even perverse. Besides it's just stupid flickr.

 

[f16sunshine]

Sorry to hear that. I think one thing that is becoming very true for me is photography is and being photographed is scary and threatening to some. I notice it by the endless posing that some go into when a camera is raised. They might otherwise appear quite relaxed. I think you should consider this incident isolated and go on as before. The same person may be quite happy to see this same photo in a few years. People change but I don't think this should change what you did or how you handled the incident.

 

[Darkhorse]

The same person may be quite happy to see this same photo in a few years.

I had the same thought. I mean if I discovered a photo of me having fun with my friends when I was 16 that I didn't know about, I'd be happy to see it. Then again when I was 16 phones didn't have cameras.

 

[Keith]

That's a shame Darkhorse ... I can imagine how it made you feel. It's probable that the photograph was seen by someone who knew these kids and was conerned with the intention of the pic.

Guilty until proven innocent it seems ... sad really!

 

[sig]

Your candid photo would not be a problem if you did not put it on flickr, maybe candid photos should be printed, looked at and put in a drawer (where most prints ends anyway).....

In a larger audience (flickr) there are more difficult people, and it will never be tucked away in a drawer

 

[Darkhorse]

Perhaps you're right. I'm not sure why I really use flickr anymore, everyone had it so I got an account. I'd much rather have people in this forum see and give feedback to my photos than pretty much anyone on flickr.

 

[bolohead]

Sorry that you had to go through this. It sounds like you were fully within your rights to take and share the image. I'm sure if they had taken the high road and respectfully asked you to remove the image, it wouldn't have been a problem. However, since they acted in this way they have made a problem where there wasn't one.

I use the privacy controls on Flickr for a lot of my work. I use "Friends" for casual acquaintances I have never met in person and "Family" for more of my IRL friends. I share some of my candid work and a lot of family images within my friends and family group of contacts.