this was last week in the green line. the girl in pink was sketching fellow passengers, without trying to hide it in any way. i therefore felt more free to take a picture of her in return.... :)
my post about the subway legs got posted on a boston news site with quite a bit more readers than i generally have (it actually happened once before with this post). flattering... but.. suddenly i worried.. did i write something that i shouldnt have? is it ok, even though i didnt ask those girls? normally, they would maybe be seen by maximal 50-100 people, now it suddenly were 2000.... does that make a difference?
and then someone posted a comment on that site "good thing he took the picture in the station as opposed to the train, there would be tweets out demanding his arrest!" (the MBTA here has a twitter site where riders can post for example pictures of people behaving indecently in the T; this has helped arresting some people already). and that did make me wonder.... i know you are allowed to take pictures of strangers. but when they are dressed like that, does it make a difference? does it make a difference that i am a she, would it have been less OK had i been a guy? what if they had worn jeans? what does it say about our society? why is there a difference in the first place, is there a difference, since they were "dressed like that"? and what does that mean, "dressed like that?" didnt they themselves choose to be dressed like that? and am i judging them, just by picturing them? and... so on and so on.. then, even... could i be arrested? :) how to explain? ah well... i have this blog, you know, and i like to take pictures of strangers...
hmm..., i am just an observer, and try to capture what i find fascinating/typical or otherwise interesting.... be it women in short skirts or ice on a fence.... :)
7 comments:
Nice pic!
Just shoot ;)
It is a great photo, it is difficult to take pictures of strangers. I always feel a bit inhibited, but love to see the result of others. Do you know the blog of "New York Portraits"? You can find it in my sidebar. She makes beautiful photo's of people in the street and subways.
What a fuzz about your photo of the girls, what is it all about? You are not the only one seeing them? Americans are sometimes a bit narrow-minded.
what are they thinking?
there is only THE LAW. and the law states that you can take pictures of people in public places. There are also laws against taking pictures off people's private parts, which is forbidden. That's what those people were arrested for, taking pictures up lady's skirts and down into their blouses, or exposing themselves. However commendable it is to arrest those people, i think it's wrong to let people "take the law into their own hands" by sending in pictures and such of perverts, in such a routine fashion; i feel this kind of vigilante procedure should be restricted to very important investigations where the police are at a loss.
thanks all!
i feel more reassured... by.. europeans... :)))
but, as tim can express better than me; there is a thin line between whats acceptable and whats not. and if ordinary people (i.e. not police) can just end pics in from whoever they think behaves indecent; where does it start and where does it end? how to explain you did nothing wrong if other passengers think you did? it makes you afraid to look at anything, do anything, or say anything, as someone else might be offended by it, and turn you in! :)
they even have a slogan here; "see something, say something", and they continuously encourage people to report ANYthing you feel is suspicious... which, again, can be good, but also bad, sometimes...
Public place, so I think you should be OK. I used to shoot a few candid portraits a few years ago. If anyone noticed I used to wave at them and that would be that. Most people don't mind, but it's more fun to ask and get a story!
I'm selective about what pictures I post of people, but the one you posted I don't see what the big deal would be. Those girls don't dress like that because they want to be wallflowers, they dress like that to get attention and attention they got.
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