Photographers beware

Interesting thread. I lived in Saudi Arabia back in the 80s and photographing the local people required their consent. Especially taking photos of the Women was not allowed. I have photos, but I either asked people for their approval or took the photos without their knowledge. In some Muslim countries this is an issue.

I have never run into this issue when taking a photo of a famous Cathedral or building and someone just happens to be in the photo. Still, it is nice to know where a photographer stands.

My wife and I have different interpretations of what is acceptable. She believes that I should not take any photographs of children where I have singled them out and they are recognizable. I understand her point. When we are guests in a country, I think it is reasonable for the citizens to go about their lives without tourists sticking their cameras or iPhones in their face.

This did pose a dilemma on our trip to Europe last month. In Basel Switzerland there was a street performer who was blowing gigantic bubbles in the middle of a pedestrian only street. As you would imagine, this attracted and delighted a number of children who loved having these 10 feet long bubbles sail over them. I did take a number of photographs, including one that captured a young girl in the middle of a leap to grab one of the bubbles.

When we were in Kinderdiik and walking through a neighborhood, some enterprising young folks were selling water for 50 cents. Their mother was sitting nearby overseeing the enterprise and acting as an interpreter for us. I also took a photograph of them after asking mom for permission.

These were wonderful moments that we'll cherish. It's nice to have a photograph of the moment to include in our album. However, I understand that the world has changed. In the future, I'll try to be mindful and restrain from photographing children no matter how cute they are.

Interesting reads. The linked article about Spain (and the links in it) make really good points. Generally I do not take pictures of "people" in the sense that they are the subject. I have in rare instances (a music performance in Portugal, a hermit/holy man in India) but those people agreed to be photographed. In the articles quoted above (and the subsequent ones) they mentioned even taking a general picture when someone was possibly identifiable would not be acceptable. Wow, that would be almost impossible to do in many places. I work very hard (usually) to eliminate people from my photos, but a pic of the Taj Mahal through the gate without identifiable people...... when is that going to happen? Or if you take a quick photo of an unusual restaurant and there are people eating. Country aside (in some places that would be acceptable) in many places if it were not okay to have any identifiable people in a photo, that would just about kill photography there. Of course, the reasons for taking a photo (to use it yourself, publish it, profit from it) are different and change the level of permission. I guess I am comfortable taking my (mostly) permissionless photos of people (who are not the subject of the photo) for my own personal use, but even that might get me in trouble in some places!

I think, for me, it's common sense to ask someone their permission if you're taking a photo of them. If they are standing outside a church, and are not the focus of the photo, that's different.

If someone took my pic without my consent, I'd be a little ticked off.

This is good to know. In my experience, asking permission for photographs can lead to learning more about where you are.

One of my favorite travel photos is of a girl about 10 years old in Seville. I asked her mom for permission first and the little girl posed for me. What was so special about her? She was dressed up in her Sunday best and she had a pet rabbit on a leash.

I love dogs, and my husband who was not on my recent trip to the UK, loves Corgis. I asked permission of many people to take pictures of their dogs. In York, on the way back from picking up my laundry, there were 2 people with their 2 Corgis taking shelter from the rain in a side entrance of York Minster.

I walked over and asked permission to take pictures of the dogs. Instead they said they'd take a picture of me with Alice and Gatsby. I love that picture! And during the process I learned a lot about dogs in the UK from their humans.

Please note that discussion boards on Fodors website or even (gulp) wikimedia are not dispositive.

Note further that even the esteemed wikimedia article linked above has the following list of exceptions regarding Spain [I will try to bold the relevant words] :

"The exceptions to the above statement are the following:
There is no illegal intromission:
In case of explicit consent of the concerned person (section 2.2).[100]
In case of predominant and relevant historical, scientific or cultural interests (section 8.1).
It is allowed to capture, reproduce and publish a picture without permission if the person depicted is a public figure[101] and the picture is taken in a public event or in a public space, open to everybody (section 8.2.a).[102]
It is allowed to propagate graphical information about public events or occurrences when the image of a particular person appears merely incidentally (section 8.2.c).
Later commercial re-use of previously published news pictures or public figures' images (lawfully released without permission) is not allowed without the consent of the person(s) affected (see Sentence 231/88 of the Spanish Constitutional Court, dealing with the death of the star matador Paquirri).[103]
Special rules apply to minors and incapacitated persons. If they are under a legal disability, written consent from a legal representative is to be obtained in order to capture or publish or use their picture, and shall be submitted to the local Public Prosecutor's Office for approvement (section 3 of the above law)."

I take this to mean that if I am at a holiday celebration that was listed in the newspapers or online by a public authority, like for example the Good Friday processions in Girona where hundreds of children are dressed in costumes and have been rehearsing all year to participate in the pageant, I don't need to get the consent of their legal guardian in order to take their photo.

If I wanted to take a photo of the pageant participants' sibling an hour later as they were getting back into their car after the festivities were over, that would be creepy. I think that's what the law is intended to discourage--not taking pictures of a parade or a choir or baton twirler. They all put a lot of effort into those performances, and deserve to be preserved and celebrated!

This is a good reminder for all photographers, whether using a full size DSLR or a smart phone. There seems to be an ever increasing number of rules and laws that dictate just about every aspect of life these days, and this is a good example.

Taking pictures of children is a touchy subject in all countries, and something I try to avoid whenever possible. Most of my photography is scenery, historic buildings, etc. but sometimes in a Piazza or whatever there will be children (or other people) in the background and it's difficult to eliminate that entirely.

Yup, sort of unsettling. I travel quite a bit to a country that has such a law but I have never heard of it being enforced. I just tried Googling for cases with no luck. But I suppose anything is possible and as guests we should follow their laws.

Because children are so cute. I took photos of a lovely little girl in traditional Valencian dress and lots of children wearing special garb for the Semana Santa processions. I've found that most parents are complimented by someone asking to take photos of their adorable children. I always ask before clicking.

On the RS Turkey tour, our guide warned us not to photograph any of the people when we stopped at a local village market, so I was only taking photos of the things for sale when a couple of old women approached me and tugged on my sleeve for me insisting that I take their photos.

Recognizable people is a key word here and has been for years in the photography industry.
If you are taking a picture of a cathedral and there are 100 kids or adults in your photo it does not matter if they are merely background and no faces can clearly be made out.

If you are intending on publishing a photo or trying to sell a photo any reputable site I am aware of requires consent forms for any recognizable face no matter what country you are in, where you took the picture or where they are in the world so in that respect it is not a new thing at all or geographically different.
The professional sites even have software that scans a photo when you upload and determines if the photo needs a model release.

Many street photographers will carry with them a model release consent form with them to have adults they photograph sign after they take their picture (assuming they wanted their picture taken in the first place)
Asking them means nothing, you need it in writing.
Kids is obviously a touchy subject and is in the US as well regardless of laws, I can see how the OP of the article in question started out doing something innocent and it escalated into something they should not have done in Spain or anywhere for that matter.

"If you are intending on publishing a photo or trying to sell a photo any reputable site I am aware of requires consent forms for any recognizable face no matter what country you are in"

While that's nice in theory, it doesn't always work so well in reality. For example, if taking photos of a crowd situation for a news organization, it would be virtually impossible to get a release from everyone who could be recognized. In some cases it's a huge benefit to be able to recognize faces, such as in the Stanley Cup Riots in Vancouver several years ago. The Police were able to identify many of the hooligans from both private and news agency photos, and these led to successful prosecutions. It was rumoured that they used facial recognition computers tied to the driver's license database.

I took a bunch of pictures of children in Spain, particularly of children dressed up for the April Fair in Seville. They all seemed to be more than happy to have their picture taken and no one seemed worried that I was taking their photos. It may be that I was with my wife, or that they were all dressed in costume and dancing, riding in a cart or on horseback?

The worst picture from the trip was taken by my wife of an older woman sitting on the steps of the Barcellona Cathedral, her depends were clearly showing. I wouldn't have taken that photo.