Would you want someone to take random pictures of you as you are walking down the street, minding your own business, or maybe you are eating hurredly in your car and some one snaps you? The next thing you know, your picture is dispalyed on the television, or in a magazine.
This takes us to the issue of public privacy. There are millions of photographers out there that take "street photos", that is, pictures taken of random people without their permission. For example, I was touring in New York in the spring of 2005, and came across this issue. I was on Wall Street and snapped a picutre of a near by street newspaper stand. The lady-customer standing at the stand turned around and shouted, "Hey! You can't do that!" I was startled! I had never thought of offending someone as such before. I thought I was simply taking a picture of my interest. Is this so wrong?
Celebrities deal with this constantly. We see numerous picture that give either negative or positive conotations of politicians simply by a snap of a facial expression made. Where is the line drawn? What is the boundary? One photography stated that it "is not good or bad, it is a matter of respect."
Whether you will be running down the street purposefully taking awkward shots of people or enjoying yourself in Hawaii taking pictures of the culture, look around and be aware of the stakes. What would you do?
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