Two men in Siena.
I’m trying to learn a little more from @maique’s examples.
@crossingthethreshold That is absolutely the vibe I get when I imagine a city in Italy. Great photo.
@timapple @crossingthethreshold @maique That always makes me nervous about taking photos of strangers.
@pratik @timapple @crossingthethreshold Sometimes a nod will do, and people won’t mind, but asking can also mean the whole dynamic of the photo will change. Other times I’ll go for a photo from the back. And, on some others, I’ll just shoot away and ask later, or don’t at all.
The way you do the actual shooting also matters a lot, I’ve found. A lot of times people will see me shooting, and I’m looking at them, and say nothing, or smile. If they let me know they’re unhappy I’ll apologize, and move on.
@timapple thanks for asking the question. I was thinking about it as well. And usually don't take pictures of strangers for this reason.
@timapple @maique @pratik I'm sorry for taking so long to reply to your question. I am traveling and wanted to give time to compose an honest reply.
To be honest, this was the first time that I had taken a photo of others and posted it. The questions that you ask were going through my head.
I had wanted to take photos of local people just being where they lived. I take photos of things, of scenery, but have always wanted to take photos of local people. To my mind, they are what bring a place to life and tell a story. It makes me think of the images that photo journalists capture. I don't claim to be one of them, but love the stories that they tell through their photos of ordinary people living their lives.
Many years ago when I owned a big camera with a telephoto lense, I would spend sometime sitting away from people, until I was a part of the scenery. Then I would use the lense to capture images of people. Not many, just a couple, and they have remained in my own private collection.
For all of that I have felt reticent of pointing a camera at people. When @maique and I met up we chatted a little about this, as I was curious what Maique's professionally informed experience of this was. He has already spoken to that in this conversation.
Based on Maique and my conversation, when I saw these two gentlemen I decided to try and capture a photo in a way similar to how I had seen Maique do when we were walking the streets of Lisbon. I did not ask their permission to take the photograph, but quietly snapped the shot. I was happy with the result and decided to post it.
I understand your reference to feeling angry if your image was posted online without your permission. I get that. Was I invading privacy? I understand that question, even though I can spend all day just sitting and watching people. I have now captured and frozen them, as it were, online.
This does not really answer your question, more it shares the questions going through my mind. I would certainly take it down if one of them asked. If there is something that I have missed, please ask. I appreciate this discussion.
@crossingthethreshold Oh no! I love the photo and don't mind you sharing it. I wouldn't even mind people taking my photo (when in public) and sharing it without identifying me. After all, once we are in a public space, full privacy is already undermined. As @maique said, he does sometimes seek permission with a nod and in my limited experience, people often don't mind. That said, I use a telephone lens to shoot candid photos too but I do keep in mind why I'm doing so and hope I'm not being a creep. Women especially may not always appreciate.