Publishing photos of strangers? Etiquette..

[jamie__]

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Hi everyone,

i have a dilemma which I welcome your thoughts on. If you’ve taken a candid street photo of someone which theyre unaware of which turns out to be a great photo, is there an etiquette around publishing the photo?

of course it wouldnt show the subject in a bad light but, feels uncomfortable putting it into an award or making money from it.

 

public spaces etc etc, grey area but does anyone have a rational guide for this? 
 

Many thanks,

Edited November 2, 2024 by jamie__

[Dazzajl]

In public spaces we are all fair game to photographers and as long as you’re not making money by using someone’s likeness without permission, you have no problem displaying and sharing that image. 
 

Beyond that, it’s down to the balance of common sense and conscience. I wouldn’t publish an image if I thought it could end up causing genuine distress to an unknowing subject but that does seem extremely unlikely to ever be the case. 

[pop]

You'll have to consider in which country you took the photograph and where you publish it. Laws vary wildly.

However, this site is run in Germany and laws about publishing images of people are quite strict there.

[jaapv]

It really depends on the country and circumstances.  If I see the leeway that smartphone users have in this respect It is very hard to give any hard advice. In some countries you cannot even use a dashcam… Over here a video doorbell may not show anything beyond your own garden but yet there is an official website that allows uploading the public space. 

[Viv]

50 minutes ago, jamie__ said:

Hi everyone,

i have a dilemma which I welcome your thoughts on. If you’ve taken a candid street photo of someone which theyre unaware of which turns out to be a great photo, is there an etiquette around publishing the photo?

of course it wouldnt show the subject in a bad light but, feels uncomfortable putting it into an award or making money from it.

 

public spaces etc etc, grey area but does anyone have a rational guide for this? 
 

Many thanks,

It depends on which country you are in. Legal provisions vary.

[jdlaing]

3 hours ago, jamie__ said:

Hi everyone,

i have a dilemma which I welcome your thoughts on. If you’ve taken a candid street photo of someone which theyre unaware of which turns out to be a great photo, is there an etiquette around publishing the photo?

of course it wouldnt show the subject in a bad light but, feels uncomfortable putting it into an award or making money from it.

 

public spaces etc etc, grey area but does anyone have a rational guide for this? 
 

Many thanks,

In the US it is permissible, under the law, to take photos in public places. Anything you can see from a public place can be photographed.

With regard to people and street photography: If the person was not the main subject it is fair to publish without a release. If the person was photographed for a newsworthy event the release is also not required. 
 

Trust your judgement.

[jdlaing]

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3 hours ago, jamie__ said:

Hi everyone,

i have a dilemma which I welcome your thoughts on. If you’ve taken a candid street photo of someone which theyre unaware of which turns out to be a great photo, is there an etiquette around publishing the photo?

of course it wouldnt show the subject in a bad light but, feels uncomfortable putting it into an award or making money from it.

 

public spaces etc etc, grey area but does anyone have a rational guide for this? 
 

Many thanks,

https://www.pauldavidsmith.co.uk/photographers-rights/#:~:text=Do I need permission to,public to obtain the photographs.

[jamie__]

Thank you everyone for your input, much appreciated.

i think the lawful angle is valid and I understand that. What I’m really getting at is if there is a ethical angle, which some of you have hinted it regarding using your judgement.

I ask because when taking candid street photos, the images are legally permitted but just because its legal, sometimes I wonder of that person would want that photo being used for my personal artistic gains. A subjective dilemma, just wanted to see what the community thought. Thanks!

[250swb]

Isn't anybody in public already exhibiting themselves in a way to be noticed by other members of the public, from the clothes they wear (or don't wear), hair style, etc. and with all this paraphernalia link to the social group they seek to align themselves with? People want to be seen and to see others, so all you are doing is documenting human life. That is why I photograph trees.

[pgk]

1 hour ago, jdlaing said:

https://www.pauldavidsmith.co.uk/photographers-rights/#:~:text=Do I need permission to,public to obtain the photographs.

I'm not sure that this is entirely accurate. There is no legal right to 'privacy' in the UK as far as I am aware and if you are viewable from publicly accessible land then you are 'fair game'. Private land may well be public under various laws so a public footpath, open access land and suchlike are public spaces in which photography is permitted as it is in any other public spaces (this was amended to be so when open access land was created otherwise landscape photography would have suffered as designation changed). Generally, in the UK, it would be both difficult and expensive to invoke legal action to prevent use of photographs taken in or from such public spaces and there would have to be good legally enforceable reasons for preventing their use. As ever under UK law, the only way to determine individual cases is to establish case law which is a very costly solution.

[NigelG]

I wonder if this is more of an issue that comes with the mindset of being a “photographer”.

Do kids taking images and videos in public on their phones and uploading them to Instagram or TikTok or Snapchat worry about these issues and are they “publishing” the images they capture - which might include pictures of you - by posting them? (Not sure…🤔)

Edited November 2, 2024 by NigelG

[Paulus]

Am 2.11.2024 um 15:20 schrieb jamie__:

Thank you everyone for your input, much appreciated.

i think the lawful angle is valid and I understand that. What I’m really getting at is if there is a ethical angle, which some of you have hinted it regarding using your judgement.

I ask because when taking candid street photos, the images are legally permitted but just because its legal, sometimes I wonder of that person would want that photo being used for my personal artistic gains. A subjective dilemma, just wanted to see what the community thought. Thanks!

There are no ethics involved for me. Just shoot and smile. 
sometimes the person will thank you , some of them will put up a fight. Real good way to get aquanted. 
Shoot first. Ask later. Don’t worry, it will be allright. Shot a little girl in Aquaba Jordan 1997, I was asked to drink tea with the whole family, because they saw it as an honour. 
 

Al my pictures are shot without asking for permission. If you did, the person would not look the same:

https://pauljoostenfotograaf.smugmug.com/Street-Scenes/Wat-zit-u-hier-heerlijk

 

Edited January 12 by Paulus

[Paulus]

vor 14 Minuten schrieb Paulus:

There are no ethics involved for me. Just shoot and smile. 
sometimes the person will thank you , some of them will put up a fight. Real good way to get aquanted. 
Shoot first. Ask later. Don’t worry, it will be allright. Shot a little girl in Aquaba Jordan 1997, I was asked to drink tea with the whole family, because they saw it as an honour. 
 

Al my pictures are shot without asking for permission. If you did, the person would not look the same:

https://pauljoostenfotograaf.smugmug.com/Street-Scenes/Wat-zit-u-hier-heerlijk

 

One exception. I once made a reportage from students and one of them was drinking red wine on a terras. She asked me to remove the photo from exhibition and website because she was Tjetsenian and she was afraid that her father would kill her, if he saw her drinking alcohol. So I removed it. 
 

https://pauljoostenfotograaf.smugmug.com/Exhibitions-/n-XxsQVW/The-Alma-Mater

 

 

[pippy]

There are legal rules in place regarding what can - and cannot - be published.

'Moral Judgement' about whether something should be published however is, to a large extent, up to the conscience of the photographer.

Philip.

[jamie__]

Great, thanks everyone!

[Deeetona]

Put yourself in the shoes of that stranger.

[earleygallery]

In the UK ‘editorial’ publication is OK but you can’t use a photo of someone in a commercial context without their permission/model release (I.e. on an advertisement for some kind of goods or service).

[johnwolf]

On 11/2/2024 at 9:20 AM, jamie__ said:

…sometimes I wonder of that person would want that photo being used for my personal artistic gains. A subjective dilemma, just wanted to see what the community thought. Thanks!

It really is a one-sided social transaction, isn’t it. We take something from the subject (his/her likeness), likely without consent, and use it for our own “personal artistic gain,” also without consent, while the subject gets nothing in return and possibly would object. 

I do it, but whenever I consider street photography in these terms I question the genre. Or at least how I practice it. 

Edited January 24 by johnwolf