The Ethics of Street Photography

The Lip Ring Girl. Barcelona, 2010

I do occasionally enjoy trying my hand at street photography. It is quite a challenge. I always have in the back of mind the idea of catching some unusual juxtaposition, portrait, or interaction that could make a unique image and I keep trying. Ah, the ghosts of Henri Cartier-Bresson!

For some reason, I seem to be much more relaxed about doing this kind of photography when I am in Barcelona (as in the image to the left)–surely something to do with the more relaxed and less paranoid European attitudes. Anyway, I have already written several blogs about street photography, but I thought I’d expand on it a bit as well as give you a link to one of the best articles on the legal and ethical aspects that I have yet read.

First, perhaps the main worry most folks have is the issue of what is legal and what is not. Generally, if you are in a public space, there is no “expectation of privacy” for individuals there and you can make photographs. You can even make photographs or videos of police activity as long as it is happening in public and you are not interfering with what is going on (careful, though, it’s the cops who often decide what “interfering” might mean!). However, on private property (including shopping malls, stores, coffee shops, etc.), the owners make the rules and photography may or may not be allowed. If a person has an “expectation of privacy”, i.e., they are in their home, their backyard, or on their private beach, then photography is not generally legal. The recent controversy over Kate Middleton’s topless photos is a good example–she was apparently on a private balcony and the photographer was almost certainly invading her expectation of privacy by aiming his big telephoto lens that direction.

Now, beyond what might be legal and what is not, there is the question of what might be ethical in street photography. You could certainly photograph random people on the sidewalk with a bright flash from two feet away and, although legal, would that be ethical? Legally speaking, you could also stand next to a children’s playground with your monster telephoto and take pictures of children playing, but would that be ethical given the current climate in this country?

I happened across a great article by Kirk Tuck concerning these very questions. This excellent blog post discusses what is legal, what is not and, even more importantly, what might be a more ethical and sensitive way of doing street photography to get good results. You can find Kirk’s superb article here.

I happen to agree 100% with his point-of-view and plan to put his techniques into more vigorous practice the next time I’m out on La Rambla in Barcelona–and, yes, I may even give it a go on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder!