Respect on the street
It looks like an endless discussion: are you allowed to photograph people on the street or not? Leaving aside that there is a difference between publishing and photographing, the rule for now is that in public space you may photograph anything you like. Of course it is sometimes murky whether somewhere really is public space, but my own reading is that if it is a covered shopping centre, the Koopgoot in Rotterdam or in Nijmegen, it probably falls under a retailers’ association and different rules apply.
At Piazza in Eindhoven a security guard was able to tell me that the shopkeepers do not like their window displays being photographed. They do not want that free promotion? These are things to keep in mind.
My friend Charlotte of Charlotte’s Law & Fine Prints (recommended, a source of information and inspiration) told me that photographing people covertly is not allowed either. That means secretly photographing inside a home or a place that is not publicly accessible. In short, you may not photograph people in places where people can expect privacy, including a café terrace, for example.
De Wet van de Straat
Charlotte and I wrote an e-book about it together. If you want to know everything about De Wet van de Straat, have a look here (in Dutch).
Have I never done it myself? Of course I have. Street photography is in the end a balancing act on the line between what is possible and what is allowed. That is why it stays exciting, and that is why it stays fun.
My most important rule is that I do not photograph people the way I would not want to be photographed myself. I think, and it is my experience, that people do not mind at all when a good photo is made of them. With the respect every person deserves. And that is intensely personal, I know.
Once you have a strong series to show, you can put it out there. I wrote about exhibiting street photography, and about fine art prints and books if you want to sell your work.
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