A bit of irony

Isn't it ironic that father of street photography, Henri Cartier-Bresson, the famous French photographer, would be thrown in jail today for nearly every photograph in his portfolio due to France's law against taking someones photograph without their written consent?

I'll bet Henri is rolling around in his grave...

Not only is it ironic, but also very sad for photographers.

scratch that place off my list! Guess that means privacy but no freedom, sad.

Actually, I don't know how I'd feel about a stranger taking a picture of me. Rights and freedoms go both ways. And at what age of the subject is it ok?

Dave- Congrats on getting your Moderator "wings"!

Isn't that same law the reason celebs move to Paris - to get away from photographers? However, it's not illegal to take a non-resident's photo without their permission, right?

Dave_W said:

Isn't it ironic that father of street photography, Henri Cartier-Bresson, the famous French photographer, would be thrown in jail today for nearly every photograph in his portfolio due to France's law against taking someones photograph without their written consent?

I'll bet Henri is rolling around in his grave...

Click to expand...

Actually, what's ironic is, in the same universe, Homeland Security is floating drones with cameras, and filming American citizens every day in this country without their permission, and installing audio recording devices in buses in American cities... :mask:

The celebs go for the sophistication of it all. Here is the question, if you are non-resident photographer taking pics of a non-resident celeb is someone even interested?

Rick M said:

Actually, I don't know how I'd feel about a stranger taking a picture of me. Rights and freedoms go both ways. And at what age of the subject is it ok?

Click to expand...

That's a great question for which I have no idea the answer. There's a fine line between artistic endeavors and creepiness. While I was taking photos at Ocean Beach a few weeks ago I caught out of the corner of my eye a guy sitting in his truck with what looked like a 400mm or longer lens, who while parked in the shade would quickly raise his camera up and take a few shots and then lower it and pretend like he was doing something else. It seemed he was shooting the under-14 crowd and it wasn't too long before he saw me watching and drove off. I wish I would have had the wherewithal to have written down his license plate number. He gave me the creeps and made me very self conscience the rest of the day's shooting. It's one thing to be walking around with a big camera at your face and another to be lurking in the shadows taking shots.

I just finished a class on photography by the National Geo guy, and he stressed the need to include people, but in today's age, seems risky, so,, nature is better, and well dogs. to my knowledge, don't need letter of consent for dogs of the street series.