I wonder what is the law on photography in the place that everyone lives.Is there law that says you can't take photos of people and specifically childrens in public,buildings etc?

I knew that doesn't allowed to take photos of military and sensitive goverment buildings,but i didn't know that included the ports,railways etc.
I have not had any problem in Greece so far,but twice i was asked to stop taking photos in London,once was a street musician which actually not just ask me,but yelled at me and the second was a security guard which very polite asking me to stop photographing the underground.

Have you had any problem so far?Can you take public photos of everyone or everything without problems?

Hi Douma -

I don't know of any laws in the USA like that. If you are in a public place, you can snap away (with exception if you are at a concert or theatre performance).

However, these days if you are caught taking pictures of sensitive places (government buildings, commerecial aircraft, etc..) with terrorism fears I believe you may get in trouble. :rolleyes:

I am suprised that the street musician had such a problem?

Things vary so much depending on countries...
In France to be on the safe side you need to ask for written permission when you take photos of people (adult/kids) but with adults it should be no problem. Be still careful as it depends on the use of the photos: if I take a photo of people drinking, why not. But if that photo is used for an anti alcohol ad, the people won't be happy ;)
Privacy is taken too strictly in France, you were not even allowed to take photos of private houses and there were cases where photographers were sued for taking photos of historical houses privately owned that were in a postcard. Things are changing now.
You have privacy issues but also copyright issues: per example you are not supposed to take photos of the Eiffel tower at night with all the lights on. A company owns the rights, you need to ask for permission.

Sophia: I am surprised the musician yelled at you, but if he asked for not being taken, he has the right. As for the underground, I don't know why the security guard came as I see many times photographers taking photos there using tripods :) The only thing you can't use is the flash.
Personally I think in places like museums/castles the UK is very annoying as they rarely allow photos indoor. In France, no problem for taking photos inside Versailles castle (without flash/tripod).
I have several articles about it from magazines I will check this evening. One of the reasons I do not take portraits of people (excepted for the guards at Windsor etc) is because of the law :)

Olly

Some years ago I was visiting Oaxaca, Mexico and walking through a marketplace with many indigenous people selling their wares. In Oaxaca the indigenous have strongly preserved their language (not Spanish) and cultural traditions. My friend quickly snapped a photo of this wonderful woman who then proceeded to chase after us (actually hitting me as she saw I had a camera although I did not take the picture!). We found out that in her culture pictures damage a persons "soul" by taking some of it away and my friend felt so badly. Of course, she felt even worse because I was the one chased through he marketplace by a very angry woman :o

Lisa what a bad experiance that you had!!

Olly reading your post i realized that it's worse than i thought.I can't understand how we should know which of the historical houses is a private house and for example how we should know the times that allowed to take photos of the Eiffel?Are there instructions out of places like these?

The musician didn't ask me not to take photos,just he saw the camera and as
i tried to focus he started yelling.As for the underground it was a modern,brand new station on North Greenwich,function electrically (or something like that)and the security told me that doesn't allowed to take photos,because it would affect the system,maybe due to flash i don't remember.

When i read Roosje's post that you were studying law i said to myself,so that is why Olly has many photos of landscapes and not of people :)

Finally street photography is a risk :rolleyes: