Ten years ago, photographer Philip-Lorca diCorcia was sued over an image he made of a man on the streets of New York. He was following in a long tradition of street photography defined by practitioners ranging from Henri Cartier-Bresson to Robert Frank and Garry Winogrand. The rights of photographers to capture images for editorial and artistic use is long-standing. The diCorcia case was dismissed, but it raised a worried eye-brow in the art and photographic community.
I spend most of my photography time on the street. Some friends, unbeknownst to me, were watching me shoot recently in a public square. I was circling around a hot dog stand, watching, occasionally lifting my camera to my eye, snapping a shot or two, then lowering the camera and slipping it behind my back, while I leaned against a tree. (My camera stays in my hand, the strap wrapped around my wrist.) I spotted my friends after a few minutes, eating at the outdoor cafe. They confessed that they'd been watching and commented that no one seemed aware of me. I took that as a compliment. I wish to practice stealth photography, I told them. To Mr. Cohen's comment, I strive to capture my subjects unawares. I want to be the observer, not the observed. Sometimes that is easy. Most of the time it is not.
Is there a problem ethically? If I take your picture while sitting next to you on a bench and you don't know it, have I acted in an unethical manner?
What would this man think if he knew I had taken this shot? That I posted it here?
This gives me no compunction. I have acted honorably, both in taking the image and presenting it. I have, by my measure, done right by these folks. I have upheld my personal responsibility as a photographer. The legal question, diCorcia not withstanding, is settled. The street photographer is within his or her right to practice the craft. Conversely, I saw an image in the making yesterday, on the street, that intrigued me, but I knew it would be problematic. There was no way to make an image of the disturbed man in the wheelchair without appearing to exploit or disrespect him. Ethically could I take the shot? Sure. But I walked on, my subjective measure of appropriateness compromised. I think there are enough troublesome images in the world, without me adding another one. To Mr. Cohen's point, Yes, I wish to document life--and those are my terms.






