Photography is a way of capturing moments for eternity, we take photos for many reasons and they allow individuals to visually enter a world that may not have existed in there lifetime. For example photographs of wars that happened years before an individual’s existence provides them a brief snippet of what it was like. Street photography more than any other genre encompasses the essential components of photography instantaneity and multiplicity, and has been crucial in the documentation of our history (H.Shuker, 2011). Shuker states that street photography is “a type of documentary photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places such as streets, parks, beaches, malls, political conventions and other settings” (H.Shuker, 2011).
Whilst street photography is a celebrated art form it does have its critics and not without justification. Ethics in photography has always been a topic of debate and there are very loose laws that surround taking photos in public. The issue is not new and an example of this is when The New York Times published a feature article in 1884 titled ‘The camera Epidemic’ which criticized street photography by relating it to a disease. It constructed an idea that no one could feel certain that at any moment a camera could be sprung on them, “even when walking quietly in the public street a person is not safe” (New York Times, 1884).
Ethics are primarily based on individual’s morals and everyone has different moral beliefs, these beliefs are what shape our behavior and our interpretation on what is right and wrong (H.Shuker, 2011). In the street photography world there are no organisations that enforce any code of ethics, however there are professional bodies for photojournalists that have established codes of conduct for their members. So does this make it okay for street photographers to go out and take photos of whoever and whatever they like or is it up to the photographer to make their own moral judgements on whether the photograph there taking is an invasion of privacy.
I believe that if you implement common sense when taking photographs in the public space then you should be safe from getting yourself into any trouble. Try and put yourself in the shoes of other individuals and understand that there are boundaries you should respect when taking photographs in public places.
References:
H. Shuker, 2011. Street photography: rights, ethics and the future, MA Practice AGM63. Accessed online at http://www.heathershuker.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Street-photography-Ethics.pdf (24 Aug 2015)
New York Times, 1884. The Camer Epidemic, accessed online at http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F07E4DD1338E033A25753C2A96E9C94659FD7CF (24 Aug 2015)
jacobhoskins 