Expert: Don Wood - 6/9/2002

Question
i travelled to amsterdam recently and during my stay there, i decided to take some pictures of how the people spend their time, for example, sleeping in the parks, drinking in an alfresco cafe, etc.

i hadn't met any problems until there was once i decided to ask the mother of a child if i could take a picture of her child playing in the park. the mother was rather hostile and rejected me.

i began to wonder what are the rules (if there are any) of taking pictures of people. when should i ask for permission and when need i not? if i were to ask for permission everytime, i may not be able to capture some spontaneous pics of people. but if i do not ask, would i run into danger of being beaten up, at the very worst?

thank you for your time and attention and look foward to your prompt reply.  

Answer
In general, if you are photographing for a newspaper and it will be used in a journalistic way, it's ok. If as you describe it, it will be used strictly as a visitor taking souvenir photos you need not ask permission. The mother could have been suspicious because pedophiles may take pics of the prospective victims, perhaps there was good reason for her to be hostile. In certain religions,there are reasons for prohibiting the photographing of their members.
If you are photographing for possible future publication then it is always advisable to obtain a model release especially if the faces are recognizable. There is the outside chance that the young people you photographed should not have been together, parental ban, perhaps they are not married to each other but to other people and the kiss they shared would lead to problems. The best way to photograph people as part of the scene is to be far enough away to not draw attention to yourself, use of a long lens is good here. If they do object just smile and apologize reassuring them that you are a tourist and the pix are for personal use. Always remember that the issue of privacy is part of this equation. If you are focusing on the people to exclusion of the background images, they may object. If they are there because you have photographed the scene and they were there incidentally, you should be OK unless they might object. If you get an objection, stop photographing, put away your camera, apologize and walk away. It's called being respectful of the people and they'll respect you. Some people in exotic countries are used to getting something for their poses so they would object to you getting the image for free.
I hope I haven't discouraged you, if I can help you further, please let me know.
Don