7/17/2006
Moving Walkway, Paris
Darlene from Indiana wrote:
"My biggest question is this; when you photograph people do you first ask their permission? Has anyone ever become angry with you for taking their picture?"
This is the most common question I get asked: do you ask for people's permission?
No. It isn't possible. As soon as you ask permission - you have changed the picture. People may say that it's okay to take their picture but they will pose, make faces, and be on guard as far as how they will be portrayed.
You usually can't ask permission afterwards either as most of the time you don't even know if you are going to use the photograph - or how it turned out.
A couple of points:
It's easier for a woman to point the camera at a stranger than a man. The woman is usally less threatening.
The photographs can be taken either by putting the camera to your eye and snapping at the right moment when the subject isn't aware; or shot from the hip where you try and guess about what you are going to get. You need a lot of patience to do this sort of work because you will fail to get something good most of the time. For every image of people you see on my site, there may be a thousand other shots that were never posted. Maybe more.
It is also the least financially rewarding (money) form of photography because 99% of people would rather have a shot of a beautiful sunset then some scene on the subway or wherever.
You need to be very comfortable in the scene that you're shooting; i.e. your intentions need to be "good." If you are nervous - somehow that will be perceived when the subject realizes that you've just taken their shot - so you need to be prepared to smile, and talk with whoever after the shot. In fact, it's not a bad idea to have a business card on you and tell the person that if their shot does turn out well they can see it on your site...
In all the years I've been doing this I have never had any one get really angry. But it could happen. And as I say - it has to do with knowing and being a part of the community - even if that is New York. If I were to go to Indiana and try the same thing - I would probably get into trouble because I would be a stranger there. In other words - the very best place to practice this technique is in your own neck of the woods. If you come to NY and do this - you will be spotted as an outsider and could get into trouble.
Although if you arrive in New York as a tourist - maybe that could be an advantage as well. I'm not sure. Almost all my Paris shots were taken during the course of a one week visit to Paris. In some ways that may have made me feel "safer" since I actually was just another American tourist.
[Note the photograph taken above was shot with a 21mm lens. The second I shot this the guy in front of me turned and the guy with the girl turned around and gave me the usual what the heck are you doing stare. I wish that my shutter speed had been lower because in that instant I thought it would be good if I could blur the surroundings and keep the subjects sharp. There is a little bit of that effect in the shot, but not as much as I wanted.]
Hope that's helpful to you --
Oh, one more thing - if you are planning to come to NY - it doesn't matter anymore what you are shooting you will at some point run up against security. Don't get into anything with them as they are just doing their job. Of course their job is often an insane one - but so be it. If you don't want to be bothered by security head off to some area where the banks aren't lined with marble.
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