Sneaky

Written by eklastic

I still love people watching but since the Europe wide law (DSVGO or in English GDPR, General Data Protection Regulation) came into force in 2016 things have changed. It’s possible to take photos of people in public places but you cannot single them out, i.e. it’s okay to photograph groups of people promenading in the Botanical Garden, singling out one person smelling a rose or taking a picture is not. So much for the theory.

I still take pictures of people but I’ve become careful about doing it. The other day I was accosted by a man sitting on a bench who took great objection to me photographing. I wasn’t taking pictures of him at all, he was never in the frame. But he advanced towards me in quite an aggressive manner. I stood my ground and told told him that I had photographed birds in the trees on the other side of his bench, that he was neither interesting nor beautiful enough to take photos of, and that I wasn’t obliged to justify myself to him. But I did retreat. Such encounters haven’t happened often to me but I’m wary of it.

Do I need the written permission of everyone I’m photographing? Mind you, photographing not even publishing. In theory, again, yes. But things have calmed down since the law came in first. Yet, I cannot take pictures of somebody who’s objecting. At the Lärmfeuer I was yesterday, the organisers put on the website that they would take photographs and that they might be used for publicity. If one didn’t agree with that, one should contact the organisers. I have no idea whether that satisfies the law but it shows that particularly clubs and public organisations have to be especially careful.

Lens-Artist Photo Challenge #292: People – here, there, everywhere

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13 thoughts on “Sneaky”

  1. This is such an interesting post and something I’d never thought might happen. I love the way you’ve avoided the new rules but hope we need face them here in the US. Thanks so much for your creative response. Loved the tattooed legs especially

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    1. That’s perfectly fine. Except – it destroys the idea of candid camera shots (you’d have to ask later). And if you were to go by the book you would have to have them sign that they allow you to take a photo.

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  4. The idea that one needs permission (and a release) to photograph people is one that I remember from way, way back when I was in college. That’s one of the reasons I’m still hesitant about taking photos of people. But you came up with some interesting and different photos because of it. I like the tattoo shot and that closeup of the hair in the following photo.

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  7. Well done. I find it very sad not to be able to take school photos, for example. During my whole life, there were school photos taken every year. And we got them in school calendars. Classes and personal photos. I still have all of mine, and sometimes open them if I for example have met an old friend or came to think of…what was her name now again ? – we were in the first class together.

    So children today will not be able to find old friends or remember who were their class mates…Sad.

    You have found reasonable ways to still photograph.

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    1. I have possibly two photos of the whole class in my school career. We never had school photographers before the 70s or even 80s. Nowadays school photographers come once a year to a school and take individual photos but they are for private use only and are never shared, certainly not published.

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