A scenario I frequently see.
- News article, blog post, or forums discussion about Street Photography starts.
- Avalanche of comments from people who say they could never do Street Photography because they are too scared of getting punched, or too scared of getting their gear smashed, or worst of all, being forced to delete an image.
Do these things happen? Of course. Does it happen at a rate that any serious street photographer should just stay indoors? Doubtful.
So how dangerous is street photography?
Compared to other activities which are considered socially acceptable, I feel like Street Photography is rather safe way to spend my time. Digging around in the tubes for a bit gives me these numbers regarding a few common pastimes which are popular in my neck of the woods.
American Football: 33 Fatalities between 2000-2007. 460,000 injuries in 2006.
Cheerleading: …approximately 25,000 cheerleaders ended up in the emergency room in 2007
Snowmobiling: 21 fatalities in the 2009/2010 season in Wisconsin alone.
Skateboarding: Do I even need numbers?
Street Photography: Occasional boo-hoo forum post followed by social media outrage any time a stranger so much as asks a street photographer what they are up to.
My money that the biggest injury risk most street photographers face is a black and blue ego when some cop or bystander doesn’t fully understand that a Leica M9 should be taken as a big sign that says “Leave me alone!”
Really, I remember there was that one incident in about 07 or 08 where a guy got punched when he took a photo on a subway escalator, and then used the photo he took of the guy to track him down to bring assault charges. (Ack! Can’t find link) Aside from that, rarely do I ever seem to come across a story where altercations actually get physical. Excluding situations where there is an elevated risk for everyone involved, such as war zones and riots, I don’t think I’ve come across any account where the act of Street Photography has left the photographer with wounds worse than anything in the aforelinked skateboarding videos. (Please link me to any articles if you have seen them.)
I can think of a few non-war photographer deaths in recent years. But all of those were cases of either unfortunate luck, or not paying close enough attention in potentiality dangerous urban exploration environments. None came as a result of the human subjects of the photographs getting violent.
While I have received verbal threat from people on the street multiple times, I myself am yet to be punched or have my gear smashed. Sometimes though, I feel that a bloody nose or black eye would be quicker and less painless experience than my own boo-hoo moment when a police officer was publicly accusing me of being a threat to woman and a child predator in front of the general public. The whole Photographers who aren’t landscapists must be perverted terrorists looking to snatch your children in the night angle is one that I do fear and let get to me. That subject is several posts in it self though, so I’ll stay away for now.
I will say this though—every time I hit the street I am fully aware and accepting to the fact that I might get swatted at. I’m also well aware that the gear I have slung over my shoulder may not make it home if Lady Chance sees fit to frown at me on that given day. I think as a street photographer, one needs to look at these risks in the same way that the skateboarder looks at a skinned knee. Expect them at some point, and If you can’t, stick to photographing mountains. They never care. Just don’t fall off a cliff.
Have you ever been attacked?
Have any of you photographers out there actually ever been physically attacked due to your art? If so, what were the extents of your injuries?
Unrelated photo from my archives of a tough looking individual in a very small town who surprisingly didn’t beat the snot out of me after I took his photo from a few feet away without asking.
11 Archived Comments
I’ve never had any aggression from subjects at all – if they indicate they don’t want their photo taken I just lower the camera, smile, and move on, but I have been hit by someone who thought it funny to ‘nudge’ me as I took a photo of people reacting to a team scoring.
Being drunk he misjudged badly and effectively elbow slammed me through the group of women in front of me – The people i got banged into were pretty relaxed about it thankfully.
I do think that some people who get hassled do ask for it though – You can still be polite even when not asking permission. Photographing someone after they ask you not to for instance is asking to be hassled.
I’ve had a workman give me “the bird”, and that hurt my feelings a little …
http://www.flickr.com/photos/damens/6079024067/in/photostream
I remember a funny situation in Barcelona some years ago. I was shooting in a popular square and a ugly woman selling some products in the street thougt I was taking pictures of her. She insulted me a lot and things became worse when she attempted to hit me with a plastic inflatable hummer. I run to save the camera and myself from the agression. What I didn’t know at that moment is that she was decided to pursue me for 2 blocks with the hummer in her hand. Fortunately, I found a metro station in my run and was protected by the multitude. Absolutely bizarre.
Most of the time, it seems to be photographers dealing with law enforcement people. In 2009 I filmed some San Diego Trolley guards arresting a guy for smoking. The guards told me I was not allowed to film them, but I did anyway, posted it on YouTube & it made the news. My blog post with the video can be seen here: http://www.theworldisraw.com/san-diego-trolley-police-prohibit-photography/
That situation lead me to find a site run by Carlos Miller that has documented HUNDREDS of instances of people engaging in photography in public, being arrested & assaulted, mostly by police. His site is: http://www.pixiq.com/contributors/248
Here is a story about a Street Photographer getting “assaulted.”
http://www.ericspiegelphotography.com/2011/07/21/how-a-photograph-got-me-assaulted/
I use assaulted lightly since it pretty much only meets the minimum legal requirement. Pretty much in-line as Eddy’s old woman story from above.
Eddy you could sue them 😉
I agree. Cars and bikers are by far the most dangerous things for Street Photographers.
No the cane didn’t hurt, I’m a nice guy and always ask now, but part of the fun a couple years ago was being a bastard to be completely honest, once I got over the initial awkwardness of shooting large or medium format with a big flash on the fly, I loved getting up in people’s faces, flashing drug dealers and security guards just to egg them on,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/raijsi/1937839131/in/photostream
I always did it on densely crowded streets and never felt unsafe. I was addicted to the adrenaline rush for a while, now I get my kicks from knocking of people’s doors and talking myself inside.
Nice rundown Eddy. I’ll assume the car hit wasn’t someone actually swerving at you because you had a camera? Thus, can it be chalked up to environment hazard that could have happened to anyone doing anything in that location which would divert their attention off the road?
Cane hit? Did it even bruise? For some reason that reminds me of the old woman with a cane I street shot who gave me a hug afterwards.
An old man hit me with his cane once in downtown boston, I got escorted out of the mall by security guards on christmass eve for taking pictures and banned for 6 months (the horror!), people have said they were going to sue me but nada so far. An older woman basically dragged me by my elbow to some Boston Cops who backed up my right to photograph in public. The worst thing that ever happened was when I got hit by a car taking a picture too close to the curb at revere beach, just the passenger side mirror but it still hurt.
it depends on the situation. A guy a know was warned by the cops about walking through a bad neighborhood with this nice camera.