Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/06/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi Christer, > I _think_ , at least in Germany, it is not as simple as that with > taking a photograph of a stranger in a public place. If you want to > take a picture showing just the stranger, then that is a no-go if the > stranger does not want to be photographed. Public place or not. He > holds the right to pictures of him. If he is part of a street scene > like a demonstration, then what you photograph is Zeitgeschichte > (history of the moment) and not primarily him, and nobody can legally > prevent you from taking photos in that situation. Thanks for the clarification. My only real experience with street photography in Germany was during last year's Oktoberfest in Munich, and those pictures (see my PAW last year) are obviously within the definition of Zeitgeschichte. > I generally obtain permission before taking photographs. That does > not mean I go up to the person and introduce myself and formally ask > for permission. I just catch the person's eye, making sure he sees I > have a camera, smile, and if I get a smile back, then everything is > OK. I have two recent cases with kissing couples (with permission). > If there is one situation where the subjects forget the photographer, > then that is kissing couples. Or they were not really in love. While walking around Lisbon during a visit last year I made several photos of kissing couples in parks or outdoor cafes. In such stationary situations it is indeed possible to obtain permission in the tacit way you describe, and I did on several occasions, at least from one of the parties. But as I look at my picture of a kissing couple on an escalator in the Paris metro (one of my PAWs from April 2001) there is no way I could have obtained even tacit consent, since we were on escalators moving in opposite directions. By the time any consent would have been given, the scene would have passed me buy. In this case I subscribe to Ted's maxim, shoot first, ask later. > (I either ride an 18 speed Koga Miyata or a 28 year old BMW 75/6, > none of which are popular amongst ..... big guys wearing gang logos > on their backs. Please advise what to do.) I am sure you know the answer. I ride a rice burner and when I see a bar with only Harleys parked outside, I ride on. Actually, I hardly ever go to a bar when riding my motorcycle since I stay religiously sober when on two wheels and it seems a waste to go into a bar to drink Coke ;-) > But Nathan, you surprise me. This is private property. In most cities, the public transport system is public property in the sense that it belongs to the government, i.e. the taxpayers, i.e. the public. I know that legally it may be set up as a separate corporation but it is still owned by the state one way or the other. If there are posted rules against photography (like in most airports' security control areas) then I observe them, of course. Nathan - -- Nathan Wajsman Herrliberg (ZH), Switzerland e-mail: wajsman@webshuttle.ch mobile: +41 78 732 1430 Photo-A-Week: http://www.wajsman.com/indexpaw2002.htm General photo site: http://www.wajsman.com/index.htm - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html