Street Photography: Children — law, morals & ethics, commonsense

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a 20th century French photographer. He is considered the father of photojournalism and perhaps the most important pioneer of street photography.

Cartier-Bresson was more than a street photographer. His images transcended the genre in a way that street photographers aspire, but rarely achieve. Cartier-Bresson was a humanist photographer. His photographs tell the stories of human endeavor, customs, social and economic class, human character and characteristics, behavior and distinctiveness. His photographs purposefully witness human nature.

Cartier-Bresson walked the streets of the world from the 1930s through the early 1970s, after which he retired to drawing and painting until his death in 2004.

There was little fear of public photographers while Cartier-Bresson walked the streets of the world with his 35mm Leica, unlike the last four decades which have seen increasing fear of public photography, rising almost to hysteria after 9/11. Today, street photographers, particularly those photographing children, must balance their desire to capture candid storytelling moments, with the potential of physical attacks, and social media witch hunts with the potential to destroy one's reputation and career.

GDPR explained and vacation photo hacks to deal with it

In recent weeks you've likely received dozens of updated privacy notices. They're due to the implementation of the European Union's (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It went into effect on May 25. For some time to come, we'll be learning how far it reaches into daily life.

GDPR was written to strengthen European citizen's privacy rights and stop abuses by social media enterprises and other businesses who collect personal data and share it, often without the knowledge of users and customers.

Unfortunately, GDPR seems to have some unintended consequences.

Vacation photography is a staple of travel. Today, more photos than ever are made by travelers of all kinds. In the 21st century, travelers whip out their cellphones to photograph everything and anything they see. Sometimes, within seconds of making them, their photos are posted online for all to see.

Arkansas Senate Bill SB-79 assault on photographer's rights vetoed

Today, Arkansas Governor Hutchinson vetoed the Arkansas Senate Bill SB-79, “The Personal Rights Protection Act,” which the Arkansas legislature had worked hard to pass.

The bill, which passed the Arkansas legislature last week was designed to protect the privacy and rights of Arkansas citizens, but unfortunately, in that effort, it would have effectively made street photography illegal for making or viewing, even from out of state via the Internet in the state of Arkansas, unless the photographer was able to obtain a written release from each and every person recognizable in each photo, with a few exceptions.

The bill, sponsored by friends of longtime Arkansas football coach Frank Broyles' family, in a far reaching, unfair way, would have, in my opinion, unconstitutionally expanded the definition of “commercial photography,” well beyond what has been settled law in the US for decades.

Do I need “model” releases, and if so, how can I easily obtain them while traveling?

Generally, when people are located in public spaces, they have no expectation of privacy, so the photographer doesn’t violate their right of privacy when taking their photo in a public space.

While that’s generally true in the US, I hasten to add, however, that different states have passed their own laws regarding personal privacy, and the laws of other countries often are considerably different than the US, so you need to know the laws in your specific location.

The “rule of thumb” above, has to do with taking photographs, however, not using them.

After the photo is taken, new concerns of privacy come into play, and one’s person right of publicity. For example, generally, a photographer violates a person’s right of publicity when, without permission, the photographer uses a photo of a person for the photographer’s own benefit, sometimes referred to as “commercial” use as opposed to an “editorial” use. Like many concepts in law, this one isn’t precisely straightforward.