Photography in Public Places?
Posted on October 03rd, 2008 in photography
“The lady concerned was entitled to her privacy and not to have a passing stranger take a photograph,” said the sheriff.
[From BBC NEWS | Scotland | Edinburgh, East and Fife | Man fined for taking photograph]
Caught this to day on BBC News… and then thought it might be worth having a look into what the legal ins and outs of street photography actually are – one of the best resources I’ve found is Simon Moran and Linda Macpherson’s Photographers Rights in the UK. Have a read – in this case I’m not actually convinced that the fine was warranted.. what do you think?
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October 4th, 2008
I may be misreading the BBC article, but it sounds like the woman was outside vomiting on the pavement after too much to drink, and got annoyed that her picture was taken. It could probably equally be phrased in the photographer’s favour, ala Daily Mail – “Aggressive drunk caught on camera, vigilant photographer harassed by police” (especially if it was the Pole drinking and the local taking pictures??)
Drunk people throwing up outside pubs, while it may look bad to their next employers, are hardly an unusual sight in major cities. Maybe if she doesn’t want people seeing her throw up, she shouldn’t be drinking so much? I’ve read a fair bit about photographer’s rights too (for obvious reasons) and this seems to go against everything I’ve read – photographs of public acts, taken from a public space, should rarely be seen as controversial.
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