pinions of buddy don: street shots

yesterdy i sed i wood rite sumthin bout takin n publishin picthers of folks that are out in publick but dont know thar pitchers bein tuck. tiz sumthin i add mitt i luv doin. the questchuns cum frum a good friend of mine name of meathead n a fotogruffer i add mire name of fletch.

thays three mane questchuns that cum up in all this but furst a importunt disclaimer: i aint no lawyer. fack is, ifn ye read this site keerful lack, ye mite coulda notissd this statement:

pay tenchun now: buddy don n everthang he ever rites is all made up stuff. inny resemblunts to reel peeple is jes blind luck on the part of the author.

so ye kin tell by that how i aint no lawyer n ifn yer seekin legal add vice, ye need to move on frum here. all im a'gone do is splain why i bleeve (1) tiz my rite to take pitchers in publick of folks thats in the publick domain, (2) tiz my rite to publish them pitchers here on wandering hillbilly as my attempts to make art outta real life n (3) such pitchers have grate value as a form of fotograffick art.

furst thays the questchun of whuther ye gut the rite to take pitchers of folks in publick, speshly thonly kind i lack, witch thar candids n that means ye caint ast permisshun ere ye take yer shot. i take cumfert in these articulls:

New digital camera? Know how, where you can use it by a feller name of andrew kantor. this articull is quoted all over the place by folks claimin thar rite to take pitchers in publick. heres two of the points he makes:

1. If you can see it, you can shoot it:

   Let's get the easy stuff out of the way. Aside from sensitive government buildings (e.g., military bases), if you're on public property you can photograph anything you like, including private property. There are some limits — using a zoom lens to shoot someone who has a reasonable expectation of privacy isn't covered — but no one can come charging out of a business and tell you not to take photos of the building, period.
   
   Further, they cannot demand your camera or your digital media or film. Well, they can demand it, but you are under no obligation to give it to them. In fact, only an officer of the law or court can take it from you, and then only with a court order. And if they try or threaten you? They can be charged with theft or coercion, and you may even have civil recourse. Cool. (For details, see "The Photographer's Right.")
   
   It gets better.
   
   You can take photos any place that's open to the public, whether or not it's private property. A mall, for example, is open to the public. So are most office buildings (at least the lobbies). You don't need permission; if you have permission to enter, you have permission to shoot.

2. Chances are you can publish it:

   Publishing photos has some different restraints, although they're civil, not criminal. Break one of these "rules" and, while you won't go to jail, you could find yourself on the short end of a lawsuit. (Although, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, "the subject's remedy usually will not include the ability to bar the publication of the picture.")
   
   Revealing private facts about someone is a no-no. As the American Law Institute put it, "One who gives publicity to a matter concerning the private life of another is subject to liability to the other for invasion of his privacy, if the matter publicized is of a kind that A) would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, and B) is not of legitimate concern to the public."
   
   Here the private property issue comes a bit more into play. Publishing a recognizable photo of someone at an AA meeting could be a problem, even if that meeting is open to the public. (An elected official, perhaps, but not of Joe Citizen.)
   
   You also can find yourself in civil court if you publish a shot that places a person in a false light. That might be more of an issue with the caption than with the photo; running a shot of the mayor and his daughter labeled "Mayor meets with porn star" could land you in hot water. (Assuming his daughter isn't a porn star.)
   
   Finally, you can't use someone's likeness for a purely commercial purpose — using a photo of someone in an ad, for example. That isn't to say you can't publish a photo in a commercial environment, such as a newspaper or a blog that accepts ads. If the photo is being used in a news or artistic sense as opposed to a commercial one you're OK.

tuther good articull to have is one name of The Photographers' Right writ by Bert P. Krages II, witch he is a lawyer even ifn he aint trine to offer legal add vice.

finely, thays the questchun bout whuther thays inny value in takin such pitchers, witch ifn ye ever herd of a feller name of Henri Cartier-Bresson, ye know tiz a major form of fotogruffy name of Street Photography.

ifn ye foller them lanks, ye know aint nuthin rong with takin candid fotos of folks thats out in publick.

thay wuz a nuther questchun implied by the furstns, witch tiz whuter folks gits upset when ye try to take thar pitcher without them notissin it. fack is, sum duz, sum duznt. ifn innybidy ever objecks in inny way, even by makin a ugly face round my camera, then i leave em out of inny pitcher i take.

but the mane thang is i try to make shore they dont know i am takin pitchers on a counta i lack pitchers of folks that aint posin or puttin on airs fer the camera. that means i shoot a minny a pitcher 'frum the hip,' meanin that i dont lift the camera to my eye n sumtimes frame the pitcher by practissin frum the hip n then ackshly lookin tuther way whenever i shoot. ifn sumbidy reacks to the sound of the shutter, i ignore em n keep on walkin. aint nobidy ever sed nuthin to me ceptn fer a securty guard in frunt of a trane stayshun, witch he claimed i dint have no rite to take the pitcher. i pall gized n walked on, but taint nuthin in the law agin takin the pitcher n i cum back a nuther day n shot my fill of that same bildin.

my favert place fer takin pitchers of folks at the moment is the subway. tiz grate on a counta tiz a publick place whar everbidy acks lack thar in thar own lil worl, almost lack they wuz in thar personal car. tiz a loud place so taint as lackly innybidy will here the shutter slick off. i also lack gittin close to the subjecks n ye kin be rite on top of em in the subway stayshun or car.

ye also git a lot of movement ...



(ifn ye wonta make a comment, ye gut to click on 'link' below.)