[Leica] Reassuring the public

[chefurka@magma.ca (Paul Chefurka)]

I hope some of you will have helpful suggestions about resolving a
situation that many amateur street photographers face in their work.
It's about the concern that parents have when they see some stranger
snapping pictures of their children in a public place.

I'm strictly amateur these days, and I've given myself the assignment
of producing a photo-essay on the human activities in a local
river-edge park, to be shot in evening light during the summer.

One of the features of the park is a very popular play structure -
slides, ladders, swings, climbing tubes, all set in a sand pit -
basically a kids' heaven.  Of course, such a setting is a natural for
shooting our future captains of industry at their least
self-conscious.  And this is one of the things I did this evening.

However.

I discovered that it's not the 70's any more, and some parents are
very concerned about a strange man with a couple of Leicas snapping
pictures of their kids.  I was not approached directly; my wife told
me about a man who had expressed to her his apprehension about my
activities.  I went up and spoke to him, explaining my amateur status,
emphasizing that the photos were for my own enjoyment and that they
would not be published anywhere.  He said that basically he didn't
know me from Adam, and had no way of knowing whether his son's
pictures might appear next week in some scuzzy L.A. publication.
Ultimately he accepted my expressions of good will, and nothing more
came of it.

I understand his concern, however, and want to do something to address
it.  As I see it, I have two choices - find some way of allaying his
fears, or stop taking these sorts of photos.  Obviously I'd rather try
the first option.

As I see it, there are two ways of allaying concern - talk to people
either before the fact or after the fact.  Before the fact doesn't
work in this situation - I can't single out a child, find their parent
or guardian, get permission, return to the situation, and expect to
get any kind of spontaneous photo.  So that leaves me with figuring
out how to alleviate concerns that are expressed to me either after
the photos are taken or during their taking.

Tonight I tried relying on my honest face, my obvious lack of guile
and my willingness to speak to the concerned father.  While this goes
a long way, it will not satisfy everyone, and I have no desire to be
assaulted over my hobby or have my cameras damaged through an excess
of protective zeal.

The best idea I've come up with so far is a business sized card. It
would have printed on it something like the following:

My name is Paul Chefurka
My address is 1020 Barwell Avenue, Ottawa
My telephone number is 613-829-2651
I am an amateur photographer - taking pictures is my hobby.
None of my photographs are intended for publication.

I could hand this card to anyone with concerns, to supplement my
honest face and guileless demeanor :-)

Has anyone here used a similar technique, and if so does it help?
Are there any other suggestions about how to defuse this potentially
unpleasant situation?

Paul Chefurka