Street Photography -Privacy vs. Free Speech Rights

Pieter12 · Jan 18, 2025

Without the legal right to photograph strangers on the street without asking permission (either before or after the fact), we would be denied the life work of such photographers as Henri Cartier Bresson, Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Gary Winograd, Vivian Maier, Nick Ut and almost all photojournalists, and so on.

NiallerM · Jan 18, 2025

Pieter12 said:
Without the legal right to photograph strangers on the street without asking permission (either before or after the fact), we would be denied the life work of such photographers as Henri Cartier Bresson, Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Gary Winograd, Vivian Maier, Nick Ut and almost all photojournalists, and so on.

That's a very weak justification. Positive outcomes presented as examples have to be offset with the negatives.

NiallerM · Jan 18, 2025

Don_ih said:
Which is bizarre. Your "image" is nothing until it is established in some way. You get dressed, comb your hair, walk outside - you're just a stumbling bundle of cloth and meat. That's not an image. Someone else takes a photo of you, that's their image. They decided how that should look - you're set-dressing. It's especially true if the photographer doesn't know who you are. You could just as easily be a statue or a mailbox or a dog from the photographer's point of view because your identity - your person - doesn't matter for the photo.

It isn't bizarre. It is a very well-tested legal principle, being supported by highest tribunals in the ECHR.

Pieter12 · Jan 18, 2025

NiallerM said:
That's a very weak justification. Positive outcomes presented as examples have to be offset with the negatives.

I'm not making a legal argument. I really don't give a rat's ass about that. As far as I am concerned, your with to privacy ends at your front door (or wall or hedge or whatever delineates your property), otherwise you're fair game. What about all the security cameras taking photos of passers-by all around the world?

NiallerM · Jan 18, 2025

BrianShaw said:
Don, have you even scanned (reviewed, not digitized) the EU GDPR? The person you are attempting to correct seems to be using words in accordance with the specific EU regulation context rather than common English language usage. Definitions and word usage differences are important…

An astute observation. I have been responsible for implementation of GDPR in a couple of large banks in Europe and am now working on DORA. That is not what informs my position on this topic, though.

NiallerM · Jan 18, 2025

Pieter12 said:
I'm not making a legal argument. I really don't give a rat's ass about that. As far as I am concerned, your with to privacy ends at your front door (or wall or hedge or whatever delineates your property), otherwise you're fair game. What about all the security cameras taking photos of passers-by all around the world?

That's as far as you are concerned. It's not the view of many who - perhaps unbelievably - prefer not to live in the US. I should add that you are incorrect regarding security cameras - at least here in France. CCTV cameras are not allowed to be positioned such that they have a view of any public spaces.

Perhaps worth mentioning is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - to which the US is a signatory - does recognise privacy as a human right.

Pieter12 · Jan 18, 2025

NiallerM said:
That's as far as you are concerned. It's not the view of many who - perhaps unbelievably - prefer not to live in the US. I should add that you are incorrect regarding security cameras - at least here in France. CCTV cameras are not allowed to be positioned such that they have a view of any public spaces.

Perhaps worth mentioning is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - to which the US is a signatory - does recognise privacy as a human right.

Privacy is available to all who seek it. However, being in public by definition one relinquishes privacy.

koraks · Jan 18, 2025

BrianShaw said:
SOAPBOX topic…

That's correct. I'll lock it for time being and will bring it to the other mods' attention, but I expect the odds of having it reopened are slim. The question posed in #1 is loaded, but despite this, the thread seemed to develop sort of OK. This changed at #14, which is not in accordance with forum rules.

Street Photography -Privacy vs. Free Speech Rights

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