Photographing children in modern society

M

Moron noodle

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2004
Messages
166
Reaction score
0
Location
.
A couple of months ago, while driving home I saw such a great scene:

A group of about 10 coloured kids and their dog, playing soccer on a dusty fenced patch of grass on the side of the highway. Difficult to explain but it was the perfect shot. Everyone of them (dog included) was having such a ball.

I would have loved to have been able to capture the moment. But I know that as an adult male, any contact with children I don't know is taboo in today's society.

Which is sad because: A) child abuse and abuse against children is NOT on the increase (at least not as a worldwide phenomenon) - what has increased is the media hype and fearmongering regarding child abuse.

B) The person who will abuse your child is not some stranger - it is your brother, priest, uncle, neighbour, son. Abuse is nearly always commited by someone the child knows.

C) We are teaching children to be afraid to interact with others, sheltering them unnecessarily.

I am reminded of that 4 yr old lost Austrian girl who died recently after falling into an icy river. When cops queried a man who had passed her just prior to her falling into the river as to why he had not helped her home, he replied that he felt it was not acceptable to approach an unaccompanied minor.

I hate feeling uncomfortable taking shots of my god children in a public space where there are other children in the background of the shot.

Any comments?
 
This is something that frustrates me immensely too. I don't claim to know the ins and outs of child molestation and/or paedophilia, but as far as I can tell, the guy collecting naughty pics of minors is generally the one that don't have the guts to approach them, so his sordid mind aside, I'm not convinced there's really a problem there. By the same token, I don't recall any of the priests or Josef Fritzl getting caught with kiddie porn pics. So the connection between photographing kids and real problems involving child abuse seems to be about as real as the connection between photographing government buildings and terrorism. I.e. the stuff of movies.

The media does play a significant role in this, and travelling to different countries, I can certainly see the difference. In the UK and US people are paranoid like nowhere else. I read a bout a guy who got accosted by a woman in a park while he was taking pictures of his daughter playing on the swings or something. The woman took issue with him taking pictures of a child - immediately assumed he was up to no good. In stark contrast, I was in a small town near Paris a few weekends ago, and the missus and spent some time chilling on the grass in a small park that was packed with mostly mothers with their kids running around. We were taking loads of pics and while we were clearly noticed, no one seemed concerned.
 
I'd have just taken the picture. Its only nefarious if you make it so.
 
Modern society is in the grips of a "witch hunt" when it comes to paedophilia, to such an extent that they become paranoid about men alone with children/photographing children etc. It reminds me of the middle ages, when witches were burnt at the stake without proof. The media has made this into a mass hysteria phenomenon.
 
bwana said:
I'd have just taken the picture. Its only nefarious if you make it so.
Click to expand...

This.

Sometimes we are far too over-sensitive. In no way can someone taking photos of a group of kids playing soccer ever be perceived as dodgy.
 
Moron noodle said:
A couple of months ago, while driving home I saw such a great scene:

A group of about 10 coloured kids and their dog, playing soccer on a dusty fenced patch of grass on the side of the highway. Difficult to explain but it was the perfect shot. Everyone of them (dog included) was having such a ball.

I would have loved to have been able to capture the moment. But I know that as an adult male, any contact with children I don't know is taboo in today's society.

Which is sad because: A) child abuse and abuse against children is NOT on the increase (at least not as a worldwide phenomenon) - what has increased is the media hype and fearmongering regarding child abuse.

B) The person who will abuse your child is not some stranger - it is your brother, priest, uncle, neighbour, son. Abuse is nearly always commited by someone the child knows.

C) We are teaching children to be afraid to interact with others, sheltering them unnecessarily.

I am reminded of that 4 yr old lost Austrian girl who died recently after falling into an icy river. When cops queried a man who had passed her just prior to her falling into the river as to why he had not helped her home, he replied that he felt it was not acceptable to approach an unaccompanied minor.

I hate feeling uncomfortable taking shots of my god children in a public space where there are other children in the background of the shot.

Any comments?
Click to expand...

maybe you should offer them sweets to take their pic
 
Sweets doesn't sound like a good idea...
 
Saw on a friends facebook pictures that she was asked to stop taking pictures of kids, 15-18yr olds, playing basket ball by the police in New York... nice...
 
The first thing that came to mind was this news article:

A man who took a picture of his son while they were out shopping was accused of being a paedophile and threatened with arrest.

(...)

"I took the picture on my phone and suddenly this security guard came up and told me it wasn't allowed because I could be a paedophile.

"I told him Ben was my own son. But he said I couldn't prove it. He said there is a real problem with paedophiles and that if I didn't like it, he'd call the manager.
Click to expand...

Source: Sky News - Dad Branded A Paedophile Over Pic Of Son

Personally, I completely avoid taking photos of people (I don't know), young or old. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for people who do street photography.
 
I've often thought about this, and the only creative solution I could come up with, was to wear a badge of some sort, with a message:

example:
Cape Town Today
www. thegallery.is.here

The above clearly identifies what the person with the cam is doing and cannot possibly be seen as predatory photography.

Alternatively to gather a friend or two and take to the streets with cam together, which is what I plan to do as soon as I replace my old digital Pentax.

I want to photograph ordinary South Africans and residential environments (around Cape Town where I live), I would love it, if someone joined me, it is far easier to take the photo when you don't stick out like a sore thumb on your own - and it will be safer.
 
Photographing people in public can be risky. Some people get very upset or demand money.
 
Society is just fscked up as far as I'm concerned. We fear almost everything these days.
 
I would guess that it depends on how or with what you take the photos.

I mean if you are standing there taking pictures on your old Nokia with a 1.2MP camera then there is no way you took that picture as a photographer :D
Obviously if you have the gear, taking of such random pictures should not scare or be of a concern to anyone. I know it won't bother me.
 
bwana said:
I'd have just taken the picture. Its only nefarious if you make it so.
Click to expand...

Well said!

I take pics of whatever I think is the right "shot." But, when taking pictures of people you HAVE to request permission. You may NOT take a picture without permission or else you could end up dealing with the consequences of your actions. A friend of mine tried to take a pic of a Rustafarian and ended up in some hot water..

The only problem with kids is to ask them to act "natural" once they know you want to take their picture :)
 
the_don46 said:
Well said!

I take pics of whatever I think is the right "shot." But, when taking pictures of people you HAVE to request permission. You may NOT take a picture without permission or else you could end up dealing with the consequences of your actions. A friend of mine tried to take a pic of a Rustafarian and ended up in some hot water..

The only problem with kids is to ask them to act "natural" once they know you want to take their picture :)
Click to expand...

+1
 
the_don46 said:
Well said!

I take pics of whatever I think is the right "shot." But, when taking pictures of people you HAVE to request permission. You may NOT take a picture without permission or else you could end up dealing with the consequences of your actions. A friend of mine tried to take a pic of a Rustafarian and ended up in some hot water..

The only problem with kids is to ask them to act "natural" once they know you want to take their picture :)
Click to expand...
Legally speaking you don't have to do anything of the sort unless you're planning on profiting from the image and even then its often easier to ask for permission to use the photo after you've taken it. I've found that the easiest way to smooth things along is to promise them a copy of the photo, and then to deliver on that promise.

With kids playing there is usually a parent or guardian in attendance whom you can ask permission from without distracting the kids.
 
A few years ago while visiting Australia, I made the biggest mistake you can make in Australia.

I photographed a group of locals standing in front of an old victorian building, a very large and strong woman stormed me, screaming and shouting, she was furious.

I tried to convince here I was photographing the building, but she was furious, at least I wasn't assaulted, but it was close, this was in the days of the Sony Mavica.

Here is the pic: http://www.heksie.com/photos/attack.jpg
 
The energy people waste going around hoping not to offend by doing something which could be construed as "racist" or "pedophiliac"

It's result of this political correctness insanity. Just take the damn pic. If somebody is so dimwitted to consider it dodgy that's that idiot's problem.

*facepalm*
 
Well, you could always have a "press badge" around to make people bugger off --> http://bighugelabs.com/badge.php

But that's a lot of effort. I usually find that having reasonably professional looking EQ helps - people tend to just do what you tell them to and not worry too much.
I take a lot of photos at school events so I've at least managed to not be worried about this stuff anymore.

I dunno what happens if you just have a little compact camera... I guess take it and make damn sure it doesn't look dodgy ;)
 
wrathex said:
A few years ago while visiting Australia, I made the biggest mistake you can make in Australia.

I photographed a group of locals standing in front of an old victorian building, a very large and strong woman stormed me, screaming and shouting, she was furious.

I tried to convince here I was photographing the building, but she was furious, at least I wasn't assaulted, but it was close, this was in the days of the Sony Mavica.

Here is the pic: http://www.heksie.com/photos/attack.jpg
Click to expand...

You forgot to mention you where taking photos of the Aborigines. Looks more like they are waiting for pension payout so they can get pissed by the bottle store. God bless the Aborigines, the worlds laziest nation. Bet you if you paid them $50 they would gladly allow you to take photos.

(Live in OZ as a child and we had a large Aborigine population).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X