RE: [Leica] Paris & Tripod

["Jean-Claude Berger" <jcberger@jcberger.com>]

Hi Ted,

I missed your first post about this affair (am I alone to receive messages in
random order?), so I hope I will not be off-topic.

I'm surprised that a "gendarme" could ask you to stop taking pictures because:

1) A "gendarme" has no authority in Paris

2) The tripod restriction rule has been cancelled at least three years ago. You
may use tripods as far as you're alone and don't use other studio accessories
for your shooting. Of course, if you have 2 supermodels, a giant fan, an
assistant to load film and another one to set exposure for you, you'll still
need an authorization.

There is NO restriction on taking pictures in public places nor on taking
pictures of whatever you want. But there are restrictions on what you publish.
You can't publish a picture of an easily recognizable (?) person, that excludes
groups where nobody is pointed out, without his/her clearance. You can't publish
a picture where a private real estate property (yes, including a field) is the
main subject without clearance of the owner, you can't publish a picture where
an object is protected by an "intellectual property" right without an
authorization (and paying royalties) of the author (for example, Pei, the
architect of the Louvres pyramid, could sue Pete for his picture at
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~psu/paris-louvre.jpg).

But beware that all places are not "public". For example, the Eiffel Tower
belongs to a private company, so they may have specific rules (sorry I don't
know them). Same thing goes for museums, churches, gardens and railways stations
(though I've never seen anybody having troubles for shooting there).

I understand that the Louvres director and the Versailles president do not want
tripods on the wood floor. And understand too that if you deploy a tripod in
front of Notre-Dame at 10 AM when zillions tourists run in all directions a
policeman may ask you to go and trouble "public peace" elsewhere.

Anyway, should future Paris visitors consider how convenient it is to carry a
tripod in a city where 12 millions people mind their own business franticly and
how comfortable you'll be with it in a subway wagon designed to carry 120
persons and actually receiving 300 at least.

All the best,
- --
Jean-Claude Berger (jcberger@jcberger.com)
Systems and RDBMS consultant (MCSE)
Lyon, France
http://www.jcberger.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of Ted Grant
> Sent: Monday, May 22, 2000 2:41 PM
> To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Paris & Tripod
>
>
> Laurent SAMINADAYAR wrote:
>
> > in France, for a reason I could not conceive, photography is
> > forbidden in public places (railways satation for example). <<<<<<<<<<
>
> Bonjour Larurent,
>
> Merci.  It seems the Paris of old may have gone mad with over protection
> of itself and life of the Parisian.  Imagine HCB of the past being
> confronted by the local constabulary everytime he wished to photograph
> such a wonderful city as Paris.
>
> I can only assume there were no gendarme in the Paris railway station
> while I killed time photographing  people like myself waiting for their
> train departure.   I found the station a gold mine of lovers parting
> from, what obviously must have been an amorous weekend in Paris, or if
> it wasn't they sure as hell were making great use of the station. :-)
>
> Suggestion to LUGNUTS visiting Paris:  make plans to spend at least a
> morning or afternoon in the main railway station, Gare du Nord. It's
> like nothing else you've seen for smooching and hugging and ?, well not
> quite,  but damn close in quiet little corners.  Vive la difference! :-)
>
> It's a veritable heavan for people pictures with an M6 or any other
> rangefinder Leica! Lots of soft light from overhead skylights that one
> woud be plain out and out stupid to think flash. And if a gendarme
> (police officer) tells you to stop, even if you don't understand what
> he's saying you'll get the message,  play absolutely dumb tourist, big
> smiles and say, "Merci, Merci!" a lot.  At least they wont throw you in
> the Bastille and behead you these days! ;-)
>
> >>>>>>>But you can ask for an authorization at the proper service of
> Paris mayor.
> > Just a little story : a couple of month ago, journal had to pay a
> > fine for he did publish photography of ... "les volcans d'Auvergne".
> > The same thing happened to the magazine "Réponse Photo" because he
> > published picture of the brand new "Bibliothèque François
> > Mitterrand": as a creation, the architect owns the copyright for any
> > picture of the building.<<<<<<<<<<<<
>
> So there you have it folks. First stop on arrival in Paris a visit to
> the Mayor's office for what I assume is a "picture permit to photograph
> whatever you like."  (I bet they charge a hefty price for the
> priviledge)  But this seems to only apply if you use a "TRIPOD!" As  I
> was told by the gendarme that I could use my camera all I wanted, but
> "could not use a tripod as that made me a professional!"
>
> Heck folks even without a tripod it's sure one great place for picture
> taking.  Beautiful women, (notice my first choice priorities), all walks
> of life and street locations. The food and wines are incredible, which
> makes relaxing at a sidewalk cafe such a wonderful picture taking
> experience. It's a great way to spend an afternoon clicking away as the
> world passes by! :-)
>
> "Paris. Vive la difference!" :-)
>
> Merci Laurent.
>
> ted
>