Brain Droppings: On Photography and Privacy

A candid shot I made of a Muslim woman outside a Mosque in Istanbul.

A fine line is tread by all photographers, professionals and non alike, when it comes to making a photograph of a stranger or private moment. All of us who make pictures on a regular basis have been confronted with the moral dilemma of to shoot or not to shoot at any given moment, especially when a scene inspires us to capture it and freeze it in THAT MOMENT. After all, it's why most of make photographs in the first place: to capture a singular, special moment in time.

Now, I'm not talking about a posed photograph of a subject who is expecting and willing to allow you into their world. What I'd like to discuss is that unexpected moment; the one when you turn a corner and there, right in front of you, is a scene that cries out, "take my picture, PLEASE"! However, if it involves a stranger, or even a friend but in a private moment, are you invading their space, i.e. their privacy?

This happens often to me in both my professional and private work and with both moving and still images. As a news photographer/videographer, I am often called upon to capture images of intensely private moments and, often, of total strangers. The most common example is after some breaking news tragedy. My JOB is to capture the images that best portray the scene AS IT IS HAPPENING. This often involves showing people at their most grief stricken. Some may see this is as heartless and insensitive. It certainly is an invasion of privacy. However, I see it as not only my job, but as my MISSION to have my images convey the true meaning of what is transpiring. I am not an aggressive person by nature, and considering the situation, I certainly feel awkward at moments doing it. However, I always approach the subjects with great sensitivity. If someone is truly upset by my presence and my camera, I WILL NOT shoot them -EVER.

I also know that capturing that gut-wrenching image may, in the long run, have a lasting, positive effect by bringing light to that particular situation. It may also, quite frankly, bring you fame and fortune. These things certainly enter your mind when confronted by these assignments. However, I also wind up thinking about the humanity of it by asking this question: "will the image I've created be more beneficial over time than the pain I've caused by making it in the first place"? If the answer is "no" then I won't make the picture.

Moments of tragedy are the extreme example but the "privacy dilemma" also occurs in more benign situations as well. In fact, it just happened to my good friend and outstanding photographer David Nieves. He posted on FB a wonderful, candid shot of a man sitting on a park bench, reading a newspaper. Next to him on the bench is his dog, disinterested in his owner and doing his own "thing". It is a wonderful "slice of life" photograph that's natural and spontaneous. Someone asked if he used a long lens to get the shot without the man's awareness. David said "no" and that he had to get fairly close to him to get all the detail. David made it seem that he was shooting something else when he actually focused his camera quickly on the man and made the shot. In this way, he could get a candid shot and not ruin the spontaneity by asking for permission to shoot. But he felt that he was invading this man's privacy. He experienced the same angst that I do when in similar situations. David was left wondering that if told the man about the photo would the guy "sue or ask for an 8 X 10"! It's a judgement call.

The best photograph that I never made was because of this very fine line between art and the respect for other's privacy. I was making a documentary in China in the early 90's and traveled there with another producer who happened to be an Orthodox Jew. As part of his religious observance, he prayed or "dovend" (sp) every day at sunrise and sunset. Well, one evening I was in his hotel room at the Crown Plaza in Beijing. Because it was sunset, he covered his head with his prayer shawl and began to pray in front of the large picture window. In the background the sun was setting behind the awesome Forbidden City of the Chinese emperors. It provide an amazing juxtaposition of two, 5,000 year-old cultures. And it was right in front of me! However, I felt that the noise of me tripping my shutter would have been an invasion of his privacy, especially during such a private moment. I raised the camera to my eye but never tripped the shutter. It's the ONE that got away.

In a response to David on his FB page, a photographer named Paul Tuzzolino probably gave the best advice in such situations. It came to him from another photographer he had worked for: "it's OK to to have to ask for forgiveness every once in a while but not to ask for permission all of the time".

I wish I would have heard that many years ago!