What is Your Opinion? – Photographing Strangers in Public

I’m not going to give any names in this post, or links to any blogs, because I want to concentrate on the topic rather than the person and get some opinions.

Recently I was reading a blog that I had bookmarked a while back when looking for diet buddies. On her blog she was looking for opinions on a topic that had recently come up on one of the forums she frequents. The topic was taking photos of people, and putting them on the internet, without their consent. In this case, it was ‘fat people‘ (her words).

During her public transit travels she had taken some photos (with what looks like a camera phone) which was titled “Photos dealing with public transit in all its forms.”.

She claimed that people on one of her weight loss forums got upset because of the photos she had taken, which she considered to be artistic and perfectly fine. So I decided to go have a look.

When I looked through the photos, there were various photos… people waiting for busses, bus tickets, signs and yes, photos of women who are overweight. As I was looking at them I noticed that the photos of the thin people had no comments, they were just dated. The other photos, of the overweight women did have comments.

Some examples:

1) A photo of a large black woman, around 50-ish, sitting on what looks like a bus. She’s wearing a one piece dress which looks like it would be just above the knee when standing up, which has ridden up somewhat as she sat down. Her face is plainly visable in the photo and she obviously has no idea her photo is being taken. The comment below states:

Just wanted to point out that mini dresses really aren’t flattering – especially on…er…bigger…people. The bottons were straining and looked like they might pop off, and if it weren’t for the size of her thighs, I could have seen her crotch! That’s just WRONG. Cover your privates, people! Or at least cross your legs.

2) A photo of another large black woman in her late teens or early 20’s. Nicely dressed in a pair of jeans, a white shirt and a pair of sunglasses and listening to an mp3 player. She does not look very happy. The comment below states:

This girl saw me and moved seats! Gotta keep the flash turned off. This is an example of how TO dress. Unlike the lady with the mini dress, this woman not only looks good, but has her private parts COVERED.

3) A photo of two young black girls standing on a sidewalk talking with a third person who is off the side of the photo. One girl is shown from the front and is wearing somewhat tight 3/4 lenth jeans, a red sleeveless top and red sneakers. The other is seen from the back wearing a pair of loose white summer pants and a matching loose white top. The second girl’s face can’t be seen, but the face of the girl facing the camera is visable. It’s obvious that neither of these girls know they are being photographed. The comment below states:

Two girls wait for the bus in Oakland. Look at that one girl’s thighs. Eek. And they were so young – far too young to be heading toward diabetes and heart disease. What has America come to that diabetes now appears in teenagers? We’re ruining our health. This is the result of the low-fat diet that’s been pushed for the last 30 years.

On her blog she asked people for their opinions. She didn’t understand why people would be offended by it or think she was wrong to do it, and saw herself as being no different from reporters or journalists who report things on TV every day.

I replied and was quite candid with her. I told her that I thought it was wrong of her to take photos of people in that manner. In every country the laws differ in regards to what is legal and what isn’t when it comes to taking photos, but my comments came from my thoughts and feelings personally. I felt that taking photos of people in a public place is fine, but taking photos of people and including their faces then proceeding to post them online with comments like the above was just wrong. Period.

I also told her that if I was the young girl in the jeans and saw her trying to snap a photo of me on the sly and got up and moved my seat, and then saw her trying to sneak another photo, she’d probably end up eating the camera. I didn’t mean it literally of course, I was just trying to get my point across on how irritating and frustrating it would be for the subject of the photo to have a complete stranger on the bus repeatedly trying to sneak photos of you.

On her blog other people posted stating that her photos were artistic and beautiful, which I failed to see. In all honesty they were just quickie pics snapped with a camera phone and were obviously quick and trying to be hidden. In my opinion there wasn’t really anything tasteful or artistic about them at all, but then again that could just be my view of it.

So, summary? I think taking photos of people in public in many cases is fine… if they see you and don’t try to stop you, that’s great…. but taking photos of people and posting them online with their faces plainly visable and proceeding to criticize them is pretty dangerous territory.

The ‘discussion’ ended in her deleting my comments and making posts on her blog about giving me lessons on debate and a big spiel about people reacting emotionally. Which I was, of course… as a big woman I could easily put myself in the place of the women in these photos and I found myself angry on their behalf, but I don’t think it made my points any less valid.

What are your thoughts on photographing people in public?
Would you continue to photograph a stranger if they made it clear they didn’t want you to?
Do you think it’s ok to photograph people on the sly and then post their photos online?
Do you think it makes a difference and is ok if their face isn’t in the photo?
What would you do if you found your photo being used on someone’s blog like the examples I gave above?

Please reply, I’m very curious about what other people feel about this…