How to React to (and Defuse) Confrontations in Street Photography

by Eric Kim on October 31, 2011

(In the video above, I share a story of a recent confrontation I had in Toronto (that got physical) and how I defused the situation.)

Edit: In the video I previously mentioned an issue regarding street photography in Vancouver. I actually meant to say Quebec. Read all about the canadian street photography laws here.

Confrontations rarely occur in street photography. As long as you smile and say “thank you” after taking photos of people, 95% of people smile and say “thank you” back or just ignore you.

However 5% of the time, people typically will react in a negative manner. It is usually one of these below (I will add rough estimates in my experience):

  1. Ask what you are doing: 90%
  2. Ask you to delete the photo 9.95%
  3. Lunge at you: .05% (This has happened only once to me by an old man in Paris. This rarely (if ever) happens).
When people confront you and ask you what you are doing, be prepared to make the right answer and react calmly and speak truthfully about what you are doing. Here are some steps I suggest:
  1. Explain what you are doing (don’t hide anything)
  2. Offer to show them the LCD of the photo
  3. Speak calmly and relaxed
  4. Offer to email the person the photo
  5. Decide whether you want to delete the photo or not
  6. If you don’t wish to delete the photo, offer to wait for the cops to come
The worst that will honestly happen to you  in terms of confrontations is people either yelling at you or cursing at you. Physical confrontation rarely if ever happens. I have never heard of a story of someone getting punched for taking a photo. If this were to happen, you can always sue that person (and probably could get a ton of money).
Keep in mind that I rarely get confronted when shooting (5%) and I shoot really close and use a flash. If you don’t shoot as close as I do and don’t use a flash (majority of people) negative reactions will happen even far less. Watch the video above to get a more detailed guide on how to react to people who get confrontational in street photography.
The photo (I mentioned in the video) that I took:
1x1.trans How to React to (and Defuse) Confrontations in Street Photography
Do you have any stories of people confronting you when you are out shooting? If so, share your stories below and tell us how you diffused the situation.

Tagged as: confrontation, street photography

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  • http://profiles.google.com/thenoiz Shaun Nelson

    Had a young lady approach me after I took a photo of her. She asked what I was going to do with the photo and explained that she was uncomfortable with me having taken her photo. She was clearly dressed to attract attention. I told her in a calm voice that we were in a public place and I was shooting street images for fun. She then tried to tell me that she owned the photo because it was an image of her. When I told her that was not the case, she told me to delete the photo from my camera. I calmly told her no that I would not delete the image. She wanted to argue, so I invited her to contact a local police officer or security guard. She was frustrated with me and walked away. About an hour later I ran into her again. She apologized to me. Here’s the image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thenoiz/6175456564/in/photostream/lightbox/

  • Daniel Acosta

    Once I was taking some photos in Downtown Houston and a very Tall guy came to me and asked in a very rude way: Hey man, what the hell are you taking photos? Do you take a photo of me? Delete it now! And in fact I wasn’t taking any photos o that guy, I Just tell him and I shown him the last photo I’ve took with my camera, The guy left, but he was very rude and aggressive.
    It’s good to know the legal aspect of the street photography!

  • Rory Barr

    Good story and good advice. Could you please explain what is different about the photography laws here in Vancouver versus the rest of Canada? I don’t do much street photography at all, but I thought there wasn’t any regional difference, especially after the 2010 Winter Olympics.

  • Rashied Akrum

    I was considering taking my Ipad along if somebody would ask what I might do with their picture. In that way they could see what might become the result and what street photogtaphy is all about.

  • Sheila Robertson

    Eric is there a place on the net where we can find the photography laws for countries other than the US?

  • Al Leibman

    Eric,
    Terrific advice.
    After snapping a street photo, I smile warmly and walk away quickly. I find subway photography much trickier, as there’s no where to escape. I got caught photographing this guy – attached pict – on the NYC subway. He stared me down, but I just smiled back kindly, then pulled out my newspaper to show him that I’ve moved on – hoping he would to. He eventually did. But if he didn’t, I’m sure I would have learned a lot about myself if I tried to diffuse the situation.

  • Philip Rice

    Good advice, another note – unfortunately the laws in the Canadian province of Quebec are very restrictive: you cannot take a photo of a person on public property, even for private usage, without their permission. There have been successful lawsuits against photographers who used images in an editorial way.
    Check out this interesting article about a street photographer crusading against this: http://www.montrealmirror.com/2005/080405/news1.html

  • K Brown

    Go get this iPod app: Photographers Rights.
    The countries are somewhat limited, but it’s a useful little app.

  • K Brown

    It also depends on the physical size of the photographer.
    A small, short bookish man is far more likely to be hassled than someone larger.
    As a 250 pound, six foot male, I may receive the occasional dirty look, but I have never been approached by anyone (and no I don’t look at them in an intimidating way).Physical size definitely plays a part in peoples reactions, as does appearing “professional” about taking pictures.
    I regularly work in the skid row areas, and I actually have less hassle there than anywhere else. Of course, you need to be able to go into that kind of area without appearing frightened or overly nervous, and be six feet tall and 250 pounds……
    Some people are always wanting to be a pain, but remember…. you can always shoot ‘em. LOL

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=15709737 John Waller

    Eric, it’s kind of like Thomas Hawk’s story with the one security guy in SF that gave him a hard time about taking pictures of the building he was in front of (http://thomashawk.com/). You may have to troll around on the website for it, but its a pretty interesting post. Anyway, NOT to be the devil’s advocate, but honestly I’ve had two incidences like this because of my desire to do industry and city photography. Canada is a bit LESS liberal with photography than in the US and Toronto can be a real hot spot because of activities in the area related to 9/11 type stuff (not going to even go near the “t” word). I’m a a-hole with security folks, because I like them to do their job and challenge me. If they DON’T I get a little concerned. As for regular folks, I am emboldened with my photography rights and I basically state it’s my right and I’m in a public space and generally walk in the opposite direction. The ONLY time you are required to show any identification as far as I know is if you are taking pictures of a federal facility – which if confronted federal law trumps local law. You have to show them ID and your pictures, but NOT required to delete them if I’m correct (someone correct me if I’m wrong) but NOT required to delete them. I just hate how photographers are hassled its I’m a bit colder than you are. Then again, that’s why I rarely do street photography, I guess, but when I DO … I’m very out there and obvious. Actually Buffalo Police have approached me and they are pretty NICE to me … a couple have even talked shop, but they do it SOOO respectfully, it’s surprising to be honest. :) Ok, back to my Lightroom session. :) I do agree with you. I try to follow it, but I hate rude people so I just get really cold and walk away or refuse to acknolwedge them.

  • Kitt

    great post. what i’m most worried about is causing a commotion and other randoms joining to verbally joining in the ‘attack’. has that happened to you?
    also.. have you been confronted while shooting with film? not being able to show the photo, what do you do?

    • K Brown

      Quietly walk away.
      Few ever want to follow for long.

  • John

    I run into a very aggressive guy who was probably a gatekeeper at a bar. He almost put his fingers into my eyes, despite the fact that I didn’t take a picture of him, because I saw he was very disappointed (I was thinking of taking a picture of not only him, but the entire bar with people in front of it). Had I just walked away, nothing would probably have happened, but unfortunately I was trying to be nice and turned around when he expressed his will to talk. So much for being nice…

    I was thinking of calling his bar the day after to complain, but I wasn’t sure which bar that was and that’s in the part of the city I don’t go to often to.

  • ali

    Thanks Eric… Great advices.
    you may like to know, there are situations that no general role is to react whit people! if you had heard about Iran (where i live), really.. really, really.. people are so much unpredictable.. many photographers wish to experience street photography but.. heh! there is no exact right for who photographs and who photographed!
    about physical reaction?! i read in a forum about someone who ended with broken camera after asking for ID card from someone who forbidding him from public place! now, one must have so much DARE to think about taking photo of people :(

    • ali

      correcting : …someone who forbidding him from “photographing” public place…

  • Dominik Mrzyk

    Hi Eric :) I’m writing from Poland.
    Well, in Poland you can shooting people photos IF:
    - you’re in public place AND
    - they are, well, something like unit, part of group. You can’t take photos only (?) if that is portrait of one person…

    In my country people are very agressive. You know, I’m taking photo of my dad’s car and somebody like security guy run to me and he tell: “You are not allowed to taking photos in this place!”. I ask him “why?”. The answer is: “Boss said!”.
    That was a city’s parking…

    In Poland still is somethink like, i don’t know, thinking heritage from comunism times… People think “if you take photo of me, you are from secret service, from UB” (UB was polish KGP).

    I apologize that most of young people think “i’m know my rights, you can’t take photo of me, cuz i’m private person, you must pay me!”. That’s bullshit, but say it to 20y.o. girl or 24y.o. guy, which don’t want to talk, they want only to delete the photo…

    I know people in USA are more friendly than in Poland… And I can’t change this :(
    Regards,
    Dominik

    • JohanLinden

      I wouldn’t want to pop a flash, close up, in anybody’s face; but as long as you use common sense and explain what you’re doing, there aren’t many problems to be had, at least in Gdansk.

      http://www.jpa-photography.com/captures/

  • http://twitter.com/stevenjparkes Steven J Parkes

    You should have taken another photo when he gave you the finger as he walked away!

    It’s always good to hear other peoples point of view on street photography.

  • Mr Gubrz

    in a hobby shop (where outside they were doing rc car racing and tons of people were carrying cameras around) i took a photo of someone videoing someone else
    he looked over in a panic “i dont want my photo taken!”(kinda shocked more than upset) i just said “fairs fair!” and smiled and his friend laughed at him and that was that
    but thats the most confrontational ive had
    not that im super good at getting right up on people, ala ekim! ;)

  • Richard

    Wow, this all sounds really quite aggressive. Surely the first rule is to show your subject respect; no photograph is worth upsetting someone, unless of course we’re talking investigative photography.

    In France one is obliged by law to delete a photograph of a subject if they make that request and, though this has never occurred to me personally (and I do photographic tours in Paris), I fully understand and respect the right to that request. I feel that any winning capture would instantly be devalued, in my opinion, should someone be unhappy with me or my picture.

    The trick is to engage with your environment, blend, be subtle but not sly, talk to people and respect their opinions – quoting the ‘law’ at them will only exacerbate the situation. Don’t treat your subjects like they’re animals in a zoo…

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=618747100 Ludmilla Morais

    I’ve been hitting the streets for a while, and I’ve got into all kinds of confrontation, from being escorted out of places, being grabbed by the neck, having the cops called on me, having things thrown at me… and so on… Usually I can’t offer to show them the LCD, film cameras don’t offer that capability.
    There are times when a simple thing called common sense is your best ally, when someone gets to a point where they are physically attacking you an email offer won’t calm them down. I’ve used far more “aggressive” measures, and some of my friends who have been shooting street for a while have done the same. Reality is, the same way you may have the right of photographing in public, the person you are photographing has the right of confronting you. Legal or not, it does happen in fact more than you mentioned. It is hard to have a plan on how to get out of confrontation when they haven’t happened yet.
    Sorry to hear what happened to you Eric. All your tips are, in some ways, quite valid.

    • http://erickimphotography.com/blog Eric Kim

      Thanks for sharing your experiences Ludmilla. You are right, common sense is definitely important. I also have found a pretty good sense of typically who not to shoot.

  • Isoterica

    So.. the man that you took a photo of became more frustrated as you spoke to him and finally resorted to cussing you out and grabbing for your camera. It is good to know that this is not the norm in street photography..

    When someone behaves like this, in a grossly exaggerated manner, I have to wonder why. What is going on in their life for them to become so upset over their photo being taken? Is it something that the photographer should respect or.. exploit to some ‘artistic’ end? Is this a Magnum quality photo? No. It’s not even among your best.. so why not delete it?

    You said that you finally refused to delete it because of how rude the man had become. That your normal method of operation is to delete a photo if the subject requests you delete their photo.. but because he was so rude to the point of trying to assault you.. you weren’t going to delete the photo.

    You allowed this man to manipulate you, to alter your normally friendly and respectful behavior via his poor behavior [behavior you do not know the meaning behind] and as a result you behaved.. just.. as.. poorly, Eric. You lowered yourself to being just as rude and just as disrespectful as this man and I think the worst part of this video was seeing that little glimmer in your eye and smile of triumph as you speak of how gross his clothing [pants in particular] was, further mocking him.

    Before you get angry at me.. before your more zealous followers attack me, seriously, just take a few moments and think about it. You let this man’s poor behavior manipulate you into being a lesser person. You speak of him like he is beneath you, he doesn’t matter. Yes.. you have the law on your side but where do you draw the line? Did Cartier-Bresson behave like this? Did Vivian Maier? On what list do you want your name to be one day?

  • Tom Giebel

    I had an acquaintance who fancied himself a celebrity. (He had been a host on a short-lived cable access show.) On one occasion I saw him go ballistic at a tourist who took a photo of him. He told me he considered his visage as intellectual property!

    Perhaps the subject of Eric’s photo was also suffering from this kind of delusional self-importance, and was playing the role of the suffering celebrity being chased by paparazzi.

  • Tom Giebel

    One other tactic for diffusing confrontation is to be ready to hand the person a card.

    Like Eric, when asked “why did you take my picture” I also say “because you look very interesting” and then hand them a card with my name, email address and the the words “Street Portraits.” I offer to email them a copy of the photo if they contact me.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1003735321 Brian Bonitz

      Tom, why not provide them a photo printed from portable Polaroid printer. Just a suggestion. 2¢ thought.

  • http://twitter.com/OMHT George L Smyth

    I shoot film on the street, so that makes it a bit more difficult for me to delete it (even if I wanted to, which I cannot imagine).

  • Subodh

    As a photographer and lawyer I am uncomfortable with this approach. The foremost concern of the photographer or artist must be, in my opinion, the respect of the subject. Especially when that subject is another human.

    It is unfair and a misuse of our profession to use someone who does not consent to their use for our own personal gain or artistic goal. If i do not want a photographer to take my picture if I am the sole subject matter of his photograph I should have that right.

    It is also important to understand the origins of the law so as not to misuse it. It is true that a people in public should have no expectation of privacy. But what was the purpose of this law. This law was enacted so photographs could be taken in public. That is it. If it wasn’t for this law, there would be no way for anyone to take a photograph in a city street, at a beach, in disneyland, at a sporting event, since anyone in the background could be able to say I did not give permission for this photograph so please delete it. Without this law photography in public would stop period. That was the public policy behind “expectation of privacy”.

    This law was not created to to somehow enable photographers to have powers to take closeup photographs of unwilling people. That is a misuse of this law. If a person consents then its fair. But when there is no-consent and that person is the sole subject of the photograph its is, in my opinion, wrong to not delete it. It mat not be illegal but it is wrong.

    It is important to differentiate between what is not illegal and what is wrong. Just because something may be permissible by law doesn’t make it right. There is no law against adultery or lying that doesn’t necessarily make them right. Similarly there may be no law against taking a closeup photography of a non-consenting adult. That does not make it right.

    Furthermore, I am not sure if challenged how successful your defense that it is legal would be. The laws were enacted for a different purpose and for that very reason they could be challenged. A court could surely conclude that even in public an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy of not to have a closeup photograph taken without his permission.

    Sorry for the lengthy post, the important thing to remember is simply this. Have respect for your subject. If they do not want their picture taken delete it and do not hide behind a law that was enacted for another purpose.

    • Isoterica

      Well said and it is nice to hear an opinion from a legal standpoint since the ‘defense’ was that ‘it is legal’. This idea of it being someone’s right since it is on public property just doesn’t sit well with my moral compass and morality seems to be a matter of perspective in this photographic field when really it shouldn’t be.

      I’m not an Eric Kim hater, I am quite the contrary and he knows it, but he really messed this one up and this is definitely not a gold standard lesson in how to ‘react and defuse confrontation’ but more one in how to plow over people while waving a very flimsy sign of justification because they irritated you.

  • http://calm7clear.tistory.com John Kim

    To me, I didn’t have experience like you, Eric. One day when I took a photo of a running girl, she said she didn’t like to be photographed. Since I was using film cameras, I couldn’t delete any images. But I apologized that she didn’t feel comfortable and didn’t like it. And I promised that I will not use/upload her image onto any kinds of media at all. And I kept my promise so far. That is my way of respecting her and her feelings. Before we speak about the law(anyway current law cannot play any roles here) for our right, I think we need to learn how to respect people. We do photograph from our heart as you said, then we also had better respect other people wheo aren’t ready for being photographed. There are not one way to diffues this kind of happenings, but if we cannot make subjects(people) understood what/why we are doing this, then just delete your photo. And move on.
    I suggest Eric, you can delete your photo of this man at least from this blog. And
    let it go and forget about it. You are young and you have a long journey left in your future. :)
    You will get more amazing photos soon! :)

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  • Jun

    lol I’d delete every time and use software recovery program afterwards

  • Dinhphoto

    ….should respect people by not taking picture of somebody without asking permission in advance…no matter what you will do with the photos later on….

  • Phil Reece

    Never delete your photos!

  • Allan Winchester

    When I engage in street photography, I adhere to the approach that Henri Cartier-Besson advocated: “Approach tenderly, gently . . . on tiptoe — even if the subject is a still life… A velvet hand, a hawk’s eye — these we should all have.” He sought to capture the unguarded moment, the decisive moment.

    You cannot capture this moment if you approach your subject and ask permission to photograph them. When you do, you then have a street portrait rather than a decisive moment.

    While there’s nothing wrong with street portraits, the unguarded moment is where your subject reveals the true essence of themselves – not the facade that they present to the world in an effort to manage other people’s perceptions of them. Capturing this true essence is a formidable challenge. It is one of the most difficult undertakings in photography. It also happens to produce the the most arresting street photography images – images that have real impact.

    That is my goal in street photography – to produce arresting images and to do it in as unobtrusive a manner as is possible. To capture the true essence of my subject, not merely the facade which they present to the world. My goal is not to “trick,” trap, exploit, embarrass or hurt my subject in any manner.

    My intent is simply to produce the best street photography images I can – aesthetically pleasing images with visual impact that will be meaningful today and will serve as a record of a bygone era decades from now when my ashes have long been scattered.

    That is why I endeavor to create images of my subjects when they are lost in their unguarded moments.

    It is also why I subscribe to the candid approach to street photography. Messr. Cartier-Bresson was on target when he said, “Avoid making commotion, just as you wouldn’t stir up the water before fishing. Don’t use a flash out of respect for the natural lighting, even when there isn’t any. If these rules aren’t followed, the photographer becomes unbearably obtrusive.”

  • hydrabadchik

    I had my picture taken recently when I didn’t want it to be. The person was part of a group activity I was part of. I had never met this man.

    He had a camera and was shooting, I turned my head as I passed him. He then spoke to me for the first time that day. As he was talking he suddenly pulled up his camera and shot the picture. He immediate moved ahead once he got the shot.

    I then realized that the friendly conversation was a ruse to get the shot he wanted. Some might claim that the man “didn’t know” that I didn’t want my picture taken. I guess I can’t argue otherwise – I didn’t actually say it. Good for him, I suppose.

    As I’ve thought of it, I realize that there’s no reason for anyone to care about the opinion of the likes of me: I’m old, fat, black and not attractive in any way. I will always remember this man and those like him as similar to Mr. Eric Kim in the description above. Their operative philosophy seems to be “My rules and ethics are more important than yours – I’m an artist. You’re just overeacting.”

  • PeterJGregory

    Act like a Boss. Even if you are amateur, committing to street photography is saying you are serious about your craft. If you are really working to get an interesting shot, people can tell. I hardly use automatic focus any more, and don’t use Chimp View (i.e. Live View, at least for Canon). I overcame objections quickly when I was moving and working with the camera. People actually try to get me to take their picture. Carry the biz card with your site(s) and phone number to hand out. Actually, all these things help create in your mind the image that you Are a professional photographer. Now, go sell some photos.

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