It seems to be an eternal debate: 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 can photograph anything you want. Of course, it is sometimes diffuse whether something is public space, but my own interpretation is that if it is an indoor shopping centre, the koopgoot in Rotterdam or Nijmegen, then it probably falls under a shopkeepers' association and different rules apply.
At Piazza in Eindhoven, a security officer told me that shopkeepers don't like it when their windows are photographed. They don't want that free promotion? These are things to consider.
Friend Charlotte from Charlotte's Law & Fine Prints (highly recommended, source of information and inspiration) told me that covert photography is also not allowed. That involves sneaking photographs inside a home or non-publicly accessible place. Actually, you are just not allowed to photograph people in places where people should expect privacy, including the terrace of a café, for example.
The Law of the Street
Charlotte and I wrote an e-book about it together. If you want to know all about The Law of the Street, please especially check here.
Have I never done that before? Of course you have. Street photography is ultimately just balancing on the dividing line of what can and cannot be done. That's why it remains exciting, that's why it remains fun.
My overriding maxim is that I don't photograph people the way I don't want to be photographed. I think, and it is my experience, that people don't mind at all if a nice photo is taken of them. With the respect that every person deserves. And that's rete-personal, I know.
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