Street Photography Legalities Revisited

[Martin Miller]

About a year ago there was an extensive thread about the diCortia decision in NY, http://www.largeformatphotography.in...ad.php?t=16810. In a couple of days I plan to do some street photography in nyc and am wondering what constitutes "public". In diCortia's case the "offending action" clearly took place on the city street. What if one photographs customers or sales people through store windows? What about photographing inside the store? Are these gray areas or clearly the same thing as being on the street?

[Martin Miller]

Sorry, diCorcia not diCortia.

[Turner Reich]

Screw em, photograph were you want to. The moment you edit your behavior your photography is minimalist and isn't worth the look.

[Ralph Barker]

My impression would be that photographing through a store window from the street might be a gray area, depending on a variety of things. Shooting inside the store would be subject to authorization from the store and the parties, as it is on private property, I'd think.

[Steven Barall]

Just do what you want to. No one is going to shoot you.

[C. D. Keth]

My impression would be that photographing through a store window from the street might be a gray area, depending on a variety of things. Shooting inside the store would be subject to authorization from the store and the parties, as it is on private property, I'd think.

As far as I know, anything you can see from public property is fair game, whether it is a "private" setting or not.

[Dave Parker]

As far as I know, anything you can see from public property is fair game, whether it is a "private" setting or not.

Depends on the location in the country you are, I know here in Montana, I can not take pictures through street store windows, any more than I can set up my 600mm lens and take pictures through a living room window, if you want to avoid real or perceived privacy and associated hassles, it would always be best to check.

Dave

[Brian C. Miller]

Screw em, photograph were you want to. The moment you edit your behavior your photography is minimalist and isn't worth the look.

Public bathroom stalls! That's the ticket! It'll give your photos the edgey look, and they won't be able to chase you because they'll have their pants down.

[Dave Parker]

Sometimes,

I really have to wonder, if our attitude as photographers, contributes to our problems we have as photographers, be damned and push forward!



I have been taking pictures for a long time now and the one saying from the movie Mary Poppins always come to mind...

"A spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down"

sometime a simple 30 second conversation can give you a day worth of joy!, I know very well what my rights are, as I carry a press card, and have shot for many different press organizations over the years, but I also know that the image is always easier to get, if I am not an ass, spontaneous image making is always so much easier, if you don't have to do it, looking over your shoulder, and it always pays to seed your environment, before hand, talk to the owners of the shops, before you shoot, it works quite well and will smotth their perceived or real fears.

It seems we as photogs, have far more problems than we should, or need, this seems to be one area, we might be able to control.

Just my .02

Dave

[Turner Reich]

I used to live in a nice neighborhood until one day crime stopper alerts on posts went up. Then a long time neighbor started a long adventure of failures and we, the neighborhood, became supportive in his mind. His place became run down and the place got over run with a circus of individuals of differing interests. This last week this military trained electronics person started bringing in batteries and 55 gallon barrels and truck loads of tires and other materials along with a hoard of individuals. The police are staking out the place. This normally good neighbor hood is now in the middle of a drug manufacturing, distribution, weapons manufacturing, who knows what business. The city turned off the lights but the lights are still on. The police won't say what they would be willing to do, after all they live somewhere else and won't be around when the owner with his AK 47, shot gun, and all of the hand guns he has been collecting over the years goes over the edge and starts WW III in our back yards.
I was told that the public should take pictures and video by the police to show that we won't put up with it. So for the first time I took a couple of pictures of some female buyers. They got out of a car with a big child's toy sticking out of the trunk and saw me in my back yard washing my truck and taking a couple of pictures.
They had no problem with the language, mostly F*****g salty segments as they approached and demanded the F*****g camera and film. It's a digital, as I showed the images to the officers who came a little later. He was impressed and said he would have no problem recognizing them from the pictures. They had left and then came back as on cue and he did recognized them and a police women was called and had them bending over. Apparently it's harassment to approach a person in his or her yard taking pictures of what ever they want and verbally assault them.