Photography is not (yet) a crime

[David Brazil]

Thought I would share this interesting article I was reading today about the legal situation re street photography in Australia.

The link:http://4020.net/words/photorights.php

This article is written from a New South Wales perpsective but most of the legal issues would apply throughout Australia.

Has anyone has issues with dealing with agressive or threatening responses from people when taking their photo in public? Do you try and gain permission from the subject before taking their photos? Has anyone been threatened with legal action?

Just interested to hear from others who may have more experience in candid street photography about how they deal with this issue.

David

[Oliver Thompson]

Thanks David, I found Interesting and a practical read, I never even thought about it till now.

 If you look like a tourist with a big camera wondering around the place, no one has seemed to mind as I’ve seen plenty of those. If your taking photos of the indigenous, that’s a different story you should always ask, even if your shooting from the hip or not, as it is solely out of respect of their culture and beliefs same with NZ. You are not allowed to take photos in the PICA gallery; unlike the rest of Australia where it is ok to do so with flash off, I’m not 100% sure about the main gallery tho. In general everyone here is looking down at there phones anyway in a typical city fashion. Fero has a relaxed way about it compared to central Perth and if anyone asks, it’s a good time to promote fotofero and Magnum! I took photos down at the beach of the Sculptures by the Sea and no one seemed to mind, at the same time my discernment of what I was shooting was the key, like any public place.

Rgards

Oliver

[Gary Cockburn]

NSW is a bit different, due to the Harbour foreshore and Olympics regulations, but from my previous readings of that site and discussions with legal friends, I think most of what Andrew Nemeth says applies here in South Australia.

The fact that I've discussed all of this with lawyers, albeit in pubs rather than chambers, rightly indicates that it is something that photographers need to be aware of. I've been working on a huge street-based project for the last year, and there certainly have been problems, though thankfully none have been particularly serious. Happy to talk about them at or around the workshop, but don't particularly want to post them here.

I can't find the links at the moment, but there was an interesting development in the UK late last year, when the government published a set of guidelines on the subject, basically acknowledging that security guards and the police have been overstepping the mark.

Would be interested to know if there have been special laws implemented for the London Olympics along the lines of those introduced in Sydney.

[Gary Cockburn]

Those guidelines, and a report on them. Having been prepared by the British Home Office, the guidelines obviously aren't applicable in Australia, but given the underlying similarities in the two legal systems, they probably aren't too far away from the basic situation here.

[David Brazil]

Thanks for the links Gary. I think the guidelines are pretty sensible and provide a balance to some of the hysteria about this issue. Obviously respect and discretion and important - and cultural sensitivity particularly when dealing with indigenous people.

[Greg Lindsey]

I think Trent would be a good person to ask about this, given that a lot of his work is street photography. 

[dawne Fahey]

I heard this guy speak some years ago at a conference, he is on the ball.....and you can obtain a copy of street photographers rights from artslaw.com.au - download it - I always carry it with me......hope to see you at the opening tomorrow night at the Breadbox, cheers, dawne