Theme for the Week – Walking the Streets

– – – EXPLORING THE COUNTRYSIDE AND LANES OF DORSET – – –

My theme for the week is ‘Walking the Streets’ which is somewhat different to my usual posts which involve countryside and nature and landscapes aplenty. In terms of exercise, walking the streets can be beneficial, although tests have shown that mentally walking in the countryside with the quiet of nature around you rather than the noise of traffic has a better effect. But, hey, variety is the spice of life…..plus of course you can’t really do street photography in the countryside 🙂 !

Yesterday I said that in the UK generally, it is legal to take pictures of anyone in a public place but of course some places might appear public but in fact be private, such as shopping centres. Also, there are restrictions in some places such as Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square, the Royal Parks etc. But what about the moral side? Is it an invasion of privacy to take pictures of people just going about their normal everyday lives? Some of the iconic photographers of the past such as Cartier Bresson, Vivian Maier etc spent their lives doing it and became famous for their ability to record everyday life, and their pictures are a fantastic resource showing us how people lived. But what about in the 21st century? Will my pictures be seen the same in 100 years time? Probably not, because these days so many people take pictures, but you get my point.

I guess the answer to my question above is perhaps partly down to what the subjects in your pictures are doing. In the case of the picture above, the guy is a street performer so he would expect to be photographed, as would musicians, human statues etc. However, it would also depend on what you were intending to do with the picture. In my case, I take these pictures just for fun – in fact I don’t actively market any of my pictures. If you intend making money out of candid pictures, especially if they are used for advertising rather than editorial, it is a different ball game as the people featured could justifiably claim a share of the proceeds unless you asked them to sign model release forms. But is it an invasion of privacy even if you are doing it just for fun?

Well, perhaps we will think more about that tomorrow!

So, about the picture itself, it was taken in a city and this guy was crooning the old songs using, as you can see, a retro mic. I captured the shot with people in the background and then toned the final image to fit in with the retro feel. What caught my attention though was the way the people were showing no interest in the singer or his song at all. But more about that in a future post too.

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next tomorrow,
Your friend The Dorset Rambler

If you would like to contact me, my email address is terry.yarrow@gmail.com – comments and feedback are always welcomed.

All photographs, poems and words in this blog are the copyright of The Dorset Rambler and must not be reproduced without permission.