I agree with this completely. As I’ve said before, there’s a chasmic gulf between “no expectation of privacy” and “reasonable expection you might end up having your pic taken for who knows what reason and end up on the internet for half the planet to see”.
It is unreasonable to say to people “lol don’t go out in public if you don’t want your pic taken”, because it’s simply impossible to go about your business without going out in public, unless you’re Howard Hughes.
In Ye Olden Days of photography with portable cameras, photos were taken on film and had to be developed into prints from the negative. Once taken, a non-news photograph would likely end up in someone’s photo album or maybe end up as a print in a temporary exhibition at a local art gallery and that would be it, generally.
However, in the modern era of digital photos and instant uploads to the internet and social networks, the potential is there for thousands - or even millions - of people to see a photograph. Which is great for the photographer, who can say a million people saw the photo they took - but less good for the shy or privacy-conscious person who has no say in having their pic being seen by a million people and may genuinely be upset by it.
I, for example, do not like having my photo taken as a general rule because (among other things) I don’t like the way I look in pics. I just don’t think I’m photogenic, and I say that as a photographer. I would be genuinely distressed if someone took my pic without my permission and stuck it in their online art exhibition (for example), and I would think the photographer who did that was an astronomical asshole.
It’s one thing if someone’s taking a crowd shot and I’m in that crowd and could even be identified if you looked - that’s part and parcel of “being in public”. But a shot specifically of me in that crowd, especially if I’m doing something unflattering like sneezing or something? Not cool at all.
So he’s doing something legal and proper and you tell him to fuck off and chase him away, but when the shoe is on the other foot, it’s “Tough luck it’s legal and I’ll do what I like?”
He was disturbing my tennis, and that was the problem. It was not the fact that he was taking photos. I should have clarified this. I told him to stop and he would not. Then I yelled and chased him away, physically confronting his sorry ass with my Wilson Kramer. I happened to have seen him before and knew that he (like most photographers) was a jerk.
So why is it OK for you to disturb someone in public by taking their photo - an act which can cause distress to people - but it’s not OK for a newspaper photographer to disturb you whilst playing tennis?
And when you say “told him to stop”, did you just tell him not to take pics, or did you go over and say “Mate, I’m trying to play an important match here and having you taking pics is really distracting and putting me off my game. Would you mind putting the camera away for a few minutes and getting some pics in the next set?”
No, I already knew him vaguely and didn’t like him. I don’t like most photographers because most photographers are assholes (I am the sole exception, LOL). This just gave me the excuse I had been waiting for to cuss him out, and I did! And he did not just take a quick one, he stood there for quite some time snapping away until I chased his sorry ass away. I should have called the newspaper and cussed them out too.
But you’re a photographer too, despite not calling yourself one. You can’t play the “No True Scotsman” card, especially when the newspaper photographer you chased away was basically doing exactly what you do - photographing people in a public place.
Why is what you do “special” and acceptable, whilst he’s just a jerk by virtue of working for a newspaper or whatever reason you’ve developed for not liking him?
Consent afterwards is fine - and if people say no, show them as you are deleting the photo so they can see it’s gone. If someone took my photo in public and then asked my permission and I didn’t like the pic, I’d say no, I don’t want my photo used and if they showed me they were deleting it I’d have a lot of professional respect for them and could go about the rest of my day in peace.
No, one of the three girls asked. I usually nod and gesture or something to show I mean no harm, smile a little. If they smile back I take a lot. If someone turns away I get the message. Again, I work with long lenses precisely so that I don’t bother people.
