Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/08/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Ron K. Miller wrote: > > I've been recently chastised by relatives for taking an opportunistic > snap of a minor media celebrity (mirror reflection in dark restaurant) > with my M6 35mm. Apparently I needed his/her permission for taking a > snap. While I do this discretely (as quietly as an M6 can whisper) and > quickly shooting one frame, I suspect this may infringes on people's > privacy eventhough the person did not know he/she was being > photographed. How else can one get a candid of anyone if you have to go > up to the person (stranger) and when you dont have the time to strike up > a conversation and have that person get comfortable with a camera in > his/her face? In the US (and elsewhere, I suspect), when you are in a public place you are open to the public. What if the photo you took just happened to be because you liked the light, the reflections, whatever, and you didn't even know there was a celebrity in the frame? Of course, you can't use the photo for advertising where there is implied concent, but it is open game for editorial or personal use. Also, when a person takes up a public life, they do give up some measure of privacy. You can't have it both ways. Most of the recent whoopla is really the publicists desire to control useage--meaning they want to determine the image of their client to the public. The public is not well served by such manipulation and restriction to information. donal - -- Donal Philby San Diego http://www.donalphilby.com