DiscussionIs shooting strangers still OK now everyone thinks you're filming them with smart glasses?

Had a woman on the subway platform ask me yesterday if I was "one of those glasses guys". I was holding a Leica. An actual camera, in my hand, in plain sight. Her point was she'd seen people posting secret videos of strangers and she was sick of it. Fair enough honestly.

But it's made me think. For years the argument for candid street work was: it's public, there's no expectation of privacy, the camera is visible, you're not hiding. Now there are people walking around recording everyone with zero indication and posting it for clicks.

Does that change the ethics for those of us doing it the old way? Or does it make visible cameras more acceptable by comparison? I'm genuinely not sure where I land. Not interested in the legal answer, I know the law.

The law's the easy bit. The question was always whether you'd be comfortable showing the person the photo. Glasses haven't changed that.

mfrost said:

whether you'd be comfortable showing the person the photo

Agreed, and I would be with nearly everything I keep. But the person on the platform doesn't know that. All she sees is a guy pointing something at her, and after a year of glasses videos she's assuming the worst.

streetsofjon said:

Or does it make visible cameras more acceptable by comparison?

Honestly I've noticed people being more twitchy this year in London. Had a bloke ask me to delete one at Borough Market which has never happend to me before. Deleted it, no fuss. But I think visible cameras are less of a problem than they were, everyone's worried about the glasses now

OneMoreLens said:

everyone's worried about the glasses now

i get asked if i'm filming for tiktok like weekly. i just say no it's a camera and show them, usually fine :)

Business angle, since nobody asked: commercial clients are asking about releases a lot more than they used to, even for people in the background of a shot. A couple of years ago a brand wouldn't blink at a recognisable passer-by in a lifestyle image. Now their legal team wants a release or a retouch, and I've had to reshoot a whole sequence because one face in the back was too clear.

The culture is moving toward consent whether street photographers like it or not. That doesn't make candid work wrong, and I'm not saying you all need to start carrying release forms. But I'd expect more people to push back in the street, and I'd expect the platforms to get stricter about faces.

If anyone's hoping to license street work commercially one day, that door is closing fast. For personal work and books it's a different conversation. Shoot what you think is right and be ready to defend it.

cdalton_photo said:

The culture is moving toward consent whether street photographers like it or not.

Which would have killed half the photography we all grew up on. That's what bugs me.

Half the photography we grew up on was made by men photographing people who could not say no. Not all of it needs saving.

petra_n said:

Not all of it needs saving.

That's... a fair hit, actually. I don't agree with all of it but I'm not going to pretend it's wrong either.

Same as it ever was in my view. Visible camera, normal distance, delete if asked, and don't photograph anyone at their worst. That's been the unwritten rule since before most of us were born and it still works.

The glasses lot are a different problem entirely. They're hiding, we're not, and the answer to them isn't for the rest of us to start skulking about apologising for having a camera round our necks. If anything the old way looks more honest by comparison. A bloke with a Leica at eye level is about the least sneaky thing on a station platform these days.

I do take Petra's point, mind. There's plenty in the old books I'd not want to have taken myself. But that was about how they used the camera, not whether people could see it... just saying

cdalton_photo said:

I'd expect more people to push back in the street

tbh the glasses thing made me more careful about kids. i just dont shoot them anymore unless a parent is clearly ok with it

Mod hat on briefly: good discussion, let's keep it about the ethics and away from rants about specific people or groups. Carry on!

GR at waist level. Nobody's ever asked. Not sure that's an argument for anything.

gr_diaries said:

Not sure that's an argument for anything.

Honestly it might be an argument against. The less visible I am, the closer I am to the glasses guy. Which is uncomfortable to type. Still thinking about that one.

For me it is about the result. If the picture is about the person looking ridiculous, it is a bad picture. If it is about light, place, the person inside it, it is fine. The tool is not the question.

i do ask more now. lost a few good candids, gained some really nice portaits, and a couple of people have asked for a print which never used to happen. dont think its worse honestly, just different

kind of new so maybe a dumb take but people my age assume everything is being filmed all the time anyway. a camera you can see is almost polite lol. when i'm out with my x half people mostly just ask what it is

theo_v said:

a camera you can see is almost polite

Not a dumb take. Might be the most hopeful thing in this thread. I'm going to keep doing it the old way, visible, close, delete if asked, and I'll ask more often than I used to. Thanks all, this was more useful than I expected.