A while ago I made a post on hear asking if it was OK to post pictures of people in street photography, the general consensus was yes and its legal in England.
For some context I’m building a portfolio for uni and wanted to show off all my images.
Well my frend mentioned today it was super creepy and run as I didn’t have their consent.
I’m torn, it was in a public place, its completely legal, you can’t really tell who thay are in most of them,
Idk, I feel super bad, but I don’t wanna delete them as they really add to my uni application. All photos have some people in If you’re taking street photography.
What should I do?
Debatable
I say if they’re the main subject and they’re just trying to live their life, then don’t. If they’re in the background, fine. If they’re like some street performer, fine. If they’re a person with a megaphone at a rally, fine.
But if you’re just taking a photo of someone on a bench eating a sandwich then no. Or if the person sees you and asks you not to do it, then respect their wishes.
If they can be easily identified then it’s tricky.
My 2 cents.
and they’re just trying to live their life
Some of the greatest photographs of all time are candids of people just trying to live their life. That’s the whole point of documentary photography. If you ask first you’re killing the moment and the whole point of the practice.
I don’t do street phitography. But on the rare occasion that i do. I just ask the people or person.
unfortunately, most of my non-photogrpahy friends find it rather strange to take pictures of strangers
If a person is the sole subject, take the photo and ask them if it’s OK. Offer to send the finished product to them for free. If someone took a candid photo of me and it looked good, I wouldn’t mind so long as I had a copy
I mean I took a picture of someone in the park the other day watching a skyline from a bench. Their face isn’t show in the picture and it is just their silhouette. I think stuff like that you don’t need consent really because they won’t know it’s them anyway. But if it is blatantly obvious then I would ask. It is very hard to do but I am always respectful and I always offer the picture to them if they would like it.
“Well my frend mentioned today it was super creepy and run as I didn’t have their consent.”
Your friend’s view is subjective. Some of the best photos in history and most important were all taken as candids technically without consent.
Your friend doesn’t own your field of view; if they’re in public you can take and post their photo. Imagine the ego of someone thinking they own the cityscape just because they’re standing or walking in it lol.
There are a ton of different ways you can show them your portfolio without it being on social media…
I don’t think you’re a horrible person, but I’ve seen IG accounts that feature a lot of photos like this and I do think it’s a bit weird and not to my taste.
It’s not fair, nor ethical to put someone’s face or identity on the internet without their consent, no matter what the law says. If they are obscure and unremarkable in identity then probably. It isn’t about deleting, once on the internet is always, not even if it’s free.