[Leica] BD PAWS

[feli2 at earthlink.net (Feli)]

I'm sorry Karen, but this is ridiculous. If everyone followed these 
rules, a large segment of
photography would be dead on arrival. I agree that we should be 
considerate when we shoot
and not act like a bunch of paparazzi. Most of us know when we are 
crossing the line, and as photographers we should abide by societies 
unspoken rules, but what you are proposing is
so politically correct and utopian that no one could do any serious 
work within this framework of rules.


Feli

On Apr 19, 2005, at 8:50 AM, Karen Nakamura wrote:

>> Very rarely do I ask for permission---most of the time it ruins the 
>> moment.  If someone sees I'm shooting and says, "No pictures," I 
>> respect that, otherwise, I take my shots. Am I taking advantage of 
>> people? I guess I am. Geez, now I feel like a criminal...
>
> That's fine. Ask for permission *after* the photograph was taken, 
> especially if you are going to post it to the web. Get to know the 
> person whose photo you were taking and make sure they know what you 
> are going to do with it.  You should make an honest effort to get to 
> know your subjects otherwise you really are just stealing a photo. I 
> scoff at the notion that you're doing documentary photograph if you 
> can't even be bothered to ask the person what their name is or what 
> they are doing.
>
> If you saw someone taking secretive pictures of your daughter in 
> public with a telephoto lens and later found those photographs on the 
> web, how would you feel?  Like her privacy was violated? Like he was a 
> creep? It's the golden rule: do only what you would have others do to 
> you. But again, if you have different ethical standards, that's fine.  
> The fact some folks  are getting in a hissy seems to indicate that 
> they do feel guilty about what they do.
>
> I believe in guilt-free photography and the way I try to make sure 
> this happens is to make sure that  I am operating as ethically as I 
> can. You don't have to adopt this standard if you don't want to. My 
> own role model in this regard is Eugene Smith. He was also accused of 
> posed photographs, but they didn't detract from the powerfulness of 
> his work, especially in regards to Minamata.  Recall the photo of 
> Tomoko bathing (google for it if you have to). That was taken with 
> permission, the bathtub was set up as a mini studio for it. It still 
> remains for me one of the most powerful photographs of all time.
>
> If you think of all of the really good human photographers on the LUG 
> and look at their work, I think you'll find more than 90% of the 
> photos are ones where the subject has given the explicit consent to 
> shoot.  Tina Manley's wonderful work comes to mind immediately.  In my 
> own photographs of disability protesters, people know that I'm taking 
> their photo. I try to make sure all of the organizations involved have 
> my business card and know what my work is for. It's the right thing to 
> do. Having permission allows me to take my time taking the photograph. 
> If you think that permission means posing, you haven't really tried to 
> do documentary photography.
>
> I'll say it one more time: This is my own standard for behavior. You 
> don't have to follow it if you don't want to.
>
> Karen
>
> Karen Nakamura
> http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/
> http://www.photoethnography.com/blog/
>
> -- 
> _______________________________________________
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>
>
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feli2@earthlink.net                     2 + 2 = 4                      
www.elanphotos.com