"Did you take my picture???!!!"

When I don't want my photograph to be taken, I just stop reflecting photons. Why don't people use this approach more often?

doug
 
jmarcus said:
I was in a bar, with a bunch of people who had just gotten laid off from my company, and I was waiting for someone to move so I could get my shot. Two women and a guy where way in the background and they motioned for me to come over. I walked over and they said "Who are you shooting for?" I said I was just shooting some friends from work and if it looked like I was photographing them I'm sorry I wasn't. At some point one of the women said give me your camera and let me see. I said I'm sorry I can't do that, at which point I motioned to get up and the woman dug her long finger nails into my arm and the guy motioned as if he was going to start a fight. I walked away, with some scratches. On their way out they said "if those ****ing pictures end up on the internet you are ****ing dead!" Anyway this kind of thing just pisses me off and gets my adrenaline flowing, I didn't reply but its hard to be accused of something you haven't done. Its hard for me to be threatened by people because they were in the corner of my frame or far off in the distance, or in this case not.

My point is, I feel for you Jack.
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Guess they were doing something they should not be doing in public :rolleyes:
 
Rick Waldroup said:
My friend over there is very, very paranoid about having his picture taken and he has a good reason for that."

I promptly deleted the picture. He thanked me and walked away. I saw him nod to his friends.

So, sometimes, people may really have a legitimate concern about having their picture taken in public.
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Hmmm... do you really think that was a legitimate concern?
 
The most memorable time this happened was when I was in Fallujah, Iraq (yeah, another Iraq story) patrolling down a street parallel to one of the main supply routes. I was shooting overall compositions of the rubble that our engineers were removing from the street in a before-after kind of way.

Possibly 30 meters beyond a large pile of twisted metal was a group of 4 soldiers and one of them yelled at me "Hey! No photographs of this unit!" but I kept shooting and he aggressively approached me telling me that I couldn't take any photographs do to his "mission" (which was looting, by the way). I answered him respectfully and said that I couldn't delete them as they were documentary for the work that our combat engineers were doing and I was responsible for the archive and delivering it to my commanding officer. Then I pulled out my laminated copy of OPNAVINST 3104.1 which basically gave me carte blanche to shoot whatever I pleased while in the theater regarding the execution of my duties. He insisted and I refused then I had the .50 gunner in my squad watch what was going on as I said no and walked away.

Phil Forrest
 
35 or 50mm

35 or 50mm

Phil_F_NM said:
The most memorable time this happened was when I was in Fallujah, Iraq (yeah, another Iraq story) patrolling down a street parallel to one of the main supply routes. I was shooting overall compositions of the rubble that our engineers were removing from the street in a before-after kind of way.

Possibly 30 meters beyond a large pile of twisted metal was a group of 4 soldiers and one of them yelled at me "Hey! No photographs of this unit!" but I kept shooting and he aggressively approached me telling me that I couldn't take any photographs do to his "mission" (which was looting, by the way). I answered him respectfully and said that I couldn't delete them as they were documentary for the work that our combat engineers were doing and I was responsible for the archive and delivering it to my commanding officer. Then I pulled out my laminated copy of OPNAVINST 3104.1 which basically gave me carte blanche to shoot whatever I pleased while in the theater regarding the execution of my duties. He insisted and I refused then I had the .50 gunner in my squad watch what was going on as I said no and walked away.

Phil Forrest
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hey you can take my picture anytime,just leave the .50 pointing somewhere else please:rolleyes:
 
actually, i find that if i carry a rolleiflex for street shooting, i get a lot of positive reaction, however it is a dilemma: is it considered street if people pose for you ?
 
(In full-throated Orson Welles voice): Madam, I don't "take pictures." I make photographs. GREAT photographs – and you should be lucky enough to find yourself in one of them.

Gotta try that one someday.
 
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one time I is in some red light district.
a group of gangster asked for my roll remove from camera.

i guess things like these happens.
 
I travel through Paris every year before and after the 24 hours of Le Mans.
In 2010, I used the convenience and bought myself a new lens - a 35mm.
Being it the first fast 35mm prime, I used, I took pictures through it every few meters, on my way through the city.

At one point, I shot this bike, parking on the sidewalk:

L1036139-la%20moto.jpg

"La Moto"

Immediately after me taking this shot, the woman, out of focus with big hat, large sunglasses and secretive clothing charged straight upon me with an aggressive tone, questioning me in French.

Well, I don't speak French and so after first polite attempts of calming her down were not effective, I just walked away, leaving her high pitched voice behind.

I too feel in certain situations, if I should shoot a person or not and which area to walk or not.

In this very case, I was just trying out that lens, not at all interested in her.
The sidewalk was busy, so it was hardly possible, to frame a shot without pedestrians walking through the frame - I made this unwanted detail fit and composed her as a prop.
She could have been an old man, a kid, a dog or even a trash bin, I would not have seen a difference for me in the picture.

After this incident, this rather unremarkable picture of a motorbike parking on the sidewalk has grown some value to me, making it even into my favorites from Paris that year.

I call it "La Moto", as she frantically repeated the words, I remember as "le moteur, le moteur" shouted at me by her that day …

I never confront with somebody, when shooting.
I never delete pictures (although the situation described earlier with the bikers sounds as a good thing to do - out of respect and politeness, not out of a threatening).

I am pretty stubborn - if people approach me in an inappropriate way, I usually not react in a way, they might liked or have wanted - mostly just ignoring.

It is extremely seldom, I end up in such situations.
In my experience, one can most often turn a first aggressive reaction by a suspect into a polite and nice conversion by raising their interest in what you actually are doing - most people just don't know, there are people, other than criminals, terrorists and perverts, who are interested in taking pictures of other people on the street.
 
Menos; doesn't the French have really strict rules about photographing people candidly? could explain her reaction.

I'd really love to hear why the country is the way it is when it comes to street photography and photographing strangers.
 
keep in mind, i have been arrested numerous times (in places you don't want to be arrested), shot at, chased by boys with machetes and accosted by a mob wanting to lynch me.
 
Street vendors are the most paranoid in NYC. I never understood this. If I was some sort of authority, then I'm going to make the photo anyway. If I'm not, I don't get why they care...especially when you are not even photographing them. I took a photo of a newspaper headline on one guy's cart and he went crazy. He said blah blah blah, that is my property, etc. I tried to explain he was on a public sidewalk and that I simply photographed a paper. He wouldn't be quiet waving some cooler / icebox top at me, so I slapped it out of his hands and told him to f-off.
 
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