street photography confrontation

FrankS

FrankS

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It hasn't happened to me yet, but I worry about when it does.

Questions: "What are you doing? Why are you taking a picture of me? What are you going to do with my picture?"

Inappropriate answer: "I'm a photographic artist attempting to illuminate the human condition by capturing the sublime in the banal in a slice of life street scene that you happen to be an integral part of. If I get something good, I'll post it on the internet to share with my friends at RFF."

How do you/would you answer those specific questions if confronted by a somewhat angry/aggressive type who presses for answers?

"I am within my legal rights to do so," sounds rather defensive. I'm looking for a more positive spin that normal folks could understand and accept.

BTW, I'm 50 years old, so saying, "I'm a photo student at the college doing an assignment," doesn't fly.
 
With Leicas having such a quiet shutter I would hope you could merely offer assurances that no photo has been taken with Mr or Mrs Angry included in the frame. This could be another example of where film holds an advantage over digital!

Peter
 
I just say "I'm just taking pictures" in a non-chalant way then when I'm done I walk away. Never had anyone say or do anything after that.
 
"Ma'am/sir, I'm glad that you asked. I'm just testing out this antique, funny looking, obscure, foreign camera, that I just attempted to repair myself with a butterknife and duct tape, it probably won't work anyway, because I process my own film in my bathroom. Nothing to worry about, I'm not a freak. Trust me". (smile, and slip away)
 
I'm 42 and do follow a course in documentary photography. It does help to say you are on an assignment. Smiling helps a lot. Ignoring sometimes helps. And if nothing helps assure them you will not use the photo although you are in your right.
Cheers,

Michiel Fokkema
 
Best response so far is, "I'm jsut taking pictures," but what if the offended keeps pressing for answers. The best way to win a fight is to avoid it.

"What are you doing? Why are you taking a picture of me? What are you going to do with my picture?"

How would you respond?
 
These days you are more likely to be challenged by some officious security guard. I've been chased away from the public street facing a location like a power plant. The recent paranoia in the US may now even be incorporated in the law.

A typical example is signs on NYC bridges saying no pictures. There are probably thousands of pictures of every bridge available, so what purpose does this prohibition serve?

I've also been chased away from spaces that appear public but are private. A good example is the shoreline next to the World Financial Center in downtown Manhattan.

You can't win these arguments, these people are on a power trip. There is a nice card with your rights on them. Some people carry it around:
http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm
 
I'm a photographer. (hand them my business card) I normally shoot weddings and portraits but I often enjoy doing something called "street photography". Have you got a computer? If you google the phrase you'll soon find a lot of very interesting photos. None of my photos are for profit though; they're merely for me in an attempt to help improve my ability to shoot weddings in a similar fashion. Smile and offer to buy them a coffee if they want to talk further.

I'm a lover not a fighter :D

Dave
 
I've never been negativly confronted either, but I've always wondered how well it would work to just carry a stack of business cards with a web url on it. Anyone confronts, give them one, tell them that "I'm just out documenting life in <whatever> city in <whatever year>. If you contact me through the website, I'll let you see the image(s) with you in it, and give you a free 5x7 print of them."
 
dcsang said:
I'm a photographer. (hand them my business card) I normally shoot weddings and portraits but I often enjoy doing something called "street photography". Have you got a computer? If you google the phrase you'll soon find a lot of very interesting photos. None of my photos are for profit though; they're merely for me in an attempt to help improve my ability to shoot weddings in a similar fashion. Smile and offer to buy them a coffee if they want to talk further.

I'm a lover not a fighter :D

Dave
Click to expand...


Now we're getting somewhere! This is more what I'm looking for.

Thanks Dave. BTW, I have heard that about you. I think the word used was, "play-yah!"


Thank you KP. (How did the M3 vs Canonet turn out? Perhaps you could start a new thread on the results when you have them.)
 
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FrankS said:
Now we're getting somewhere! This is more what I'm looking for.

Thanks Dave. BTW, I have heard that about you. I think the word used was, "play-yah!"
Click to expand...

hehe.. don't hate the play-yah.. hate the game.. *does the back and forth finger snapping thing* :D

I'm always apt to explain myself - I don't think I'm confrontational by nature and in person I would like to think that people are generally more "curious" than "suspicious" ya know?

I may go downtown tomorrow and try my luck at the Santa Claus Parade.. the issue of course is "What's a single guy, without any kids or girlfriend but only a dog, doing taking photos at a parade???".... at that point I may say "I'm not into pedophilia.. I'm more a necrophiliac myself... " :D

Dave
 
I amost never had a problem with anyone while doing street photography.
when asked by strangers why I am taking photos, I just say that "I am a tourist who is captivated by this beautiful city and we have nothing like this at home".
 
Just curious-what do y'all do with these pictures of strangers? I found I was dumping mine-then I realised it was because I had no connection with them-so I stopped taking them.
 
aad said:
Just curious-what do y'all do with these pictures of strangers? I found I was dumping mine-then I realised it was because I had no connection with them-so I stopped taking them.
Click to expand...

If you have a picture of a person that you know, it can be a boring picture but you keep it because it is of a person you know. A street shot which includes no person/s that you know, needs to show something interesting, or else it is boring with no redeeming qualities.
 
Shooting film? Nothing easier. Tell them you never took the picture, ask them if they are important, and at last show them the back of the camera and give it a good tap and say "see, nothing there!" and move on.

My own approach is usually vert discreet but if someone confronts me, I confromt them right on the spot. If it's an obvious mafia guy or criminal beast, I just fake I took a snapshot of someone very far away and move on.
 
"I'm trying out a new camera. I just got it and I'm shooting just about everything."

Most people are so conditioned by consumerism and instant gratification that they understand this IMMEDIATELY. If it's not strictly true and you don't like lying, tell them you're trying out a new film (well, you're not going to be re-using an old one, are you?") or checking that some new accessory/memory card works. Even the ones who are unhappy will usually say that they understand, but they'd rather you didn't shoot them/their children/whatever, so you smile and nod.

The few that want to carry on complaining are mostly paranoiacs and drunks (leave, quickly if necessary) or security guards -- and the recent Rent-a-Cop thread showed perfectly how to deal with them.

But in 40+ years of street photography, I've had surprisingly few problems. One was a religious loony who screamed at me (in Russian) that I would go to hell for taking pictures of the Holy Spring at Zagorsk...

Cheers,

Roger
 
If I get the vibe someone is focused on me, I just start framing a bunch of stuff around me like I'm taking pictures of everything. I think it helps them feel I'm not focused on just them.
When I have been asked, I also go with the, "I'm trying out an old film camera from 19xx, I'm kinda afraid of what the photos are going to look like." If they seem stable, I'm might throw in a "Have you ever seen one of these?". Being talkative and cordial has always diffused things for me.
 
aad said:
Just curious-what do y'all do with these pictures of strangers? I found I was dumping mine-then I realised it was because I had no connection with them-so I stopped taking them.
Click to expand...

I am not taking pictures of strangers. I am more often taking pictures of particular arrangements of things in the city - houses, pavements, shops, street lamps, parked cars - and humans often come in as a compositional element. Very rarely do I take clandestine portrait shots - if I shoot a portrait of a stranger, it's only after talking to them. Otherwise it's just about the elements of photographic composition and the light. I often take pictures of apparently insignificant things like a decrepit barn with my view camera - but I never feel that it's boring because it isn't my barn or related to me in any personally significant way. It is a photographic composition. I treat street shooting exactly the same way.

-Anupam
 
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