In April this year I wrote a post where I mentioned being cautious photographing children without parents or caretakers prior permission:
Its a sad statement of our society and times but as a male photographer Im aware that taking photos of children, even innocently, might be construed wrongly.
A recent article published at “Photography is Not a Crime” goes to support my caution–an innocent photographer has a random photo encounter leaving him being wanted by the police.
As male photographers we have to be aware that our intentions concerning children may be questioned by those who don’t know us.
I read the article and plenty more, especially about his legal battle with the police for taking pictures in public! There is so much fear in our society and photographers are getting a lot of it taken out on them. I love to take pictures of children, but, like you, won’t even put my camera up to my eye when they are around. It’s just too much hassle. One one hand, I know that I’m giving up a right that I’ve been granted by the Constitution, or at least one that has not been specifically denied. However, on the other hand, I just don’t want to be hassled at all. I’ll ask, sometimes, and if they say no, then it’s no.
The stories that I read on his site are downright frightening. So are some of the responses. Some people were saying that if someone took a photo of them without asking and they saw it, they would punch the photographer or break his/her equipment because they have ‘no right’ to take a picture without permission, which is patently untrue. I shudder.
@Paul: Yea, there doesn’t seem to be much trust left in our society…I wonder if “innocent until proven guilty” still really applies? Certainly 9-11 and the erosion of freedoms that followed played a part in this.
You and I growing up knew more innocent times but children born now may never experience it–it’s sad!
I think that now, unfortunately, the burden of proof is on you. Prove that you were doing something innocent! 9-11, the Patriot Act, and the media have done great damage to our freedoms. Also, parents raising their children up with a steady diet of fear and mistrust.
What I wonder, sometimes, is if the levels of child abduction/abuse are about the same as in the 1950’s; Now with the advent of 24 hour news, the media just keeps repeating over and over again until we are in a constant state of fear and anxiety.
I agree with the comments above about the repeated “bad” news that generates fear and mistrust in parents. It’s one of the sad conditions of our culture. I like the river picture by the way. Nice water flow.
The real villain is the media. Everyone in the media has done everything in their power to make parents and children paranoid. And, let’s not forget the role played by the sicko child pornographers who, thanks to our “understanding” culture, are not shunned from society at least and all jailed at best. They are scum and we aren’t as tough on them as we should be. So, just as is true in so many cases, we walk on eggshells with the guilty and trample on the innocent. Makes me crazy.
I love those rocks. On my monitor they have a purple tone. It’s gorgeous and and looks so cold, yet inviting.