Photographing Children

Will James

Will James

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Hello,

Now I've read so many different views on this everywhere, and really want to know the correct answer.

Is it illegal to take photo's of children without their parents' permission?

I recently read that someone was accused of being a pedophile because he was taking photo's of his own children at a birthday party, and other children were in the picture.

I saw a photographer taking photo's of teenagers at a music festival not long ago, and selling them to them - would he have had to have permission from the parents, was he breaking the law?

To my understanding, there is no law against taking photo's of children, as long as you aren't abusing them or they are indecent.

Will.
 
The downloadable PDF here explains everything. You might want to print it out and carry it with you - it's only two A4 sides. Even if you don't intentionally photograph children they can still get in the shot so it's a good idea to know the law.
 
It's not illegal.

As a parent, I would expect my permission to be asked before a stranger started to take photo's of my children.
 
DanTheManc said:
It's not illegal.

As a parent, I would expect my permission to be asked before a stranger started to take photo's of my children.
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Genuinely interested here - why?

And of course what would you do if permission was not sought? Because if the time is spend seeking permission surely the (possibly) excellent shot that just just presented itself of your offspring would be lost :thinking:
 
RichardtheSane said:
Genuinely interested here - why?

And of course what would you do if permission was not sought? Because if the time is spend seeking permission surely the (possibly) excellent shot that just just presented itself of your offspring would be lost :thinking:
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I am a photogrpaher so I am supposed to know better... but in certain situations...I am not talking school play or taking part in sports...but if i was at the swings with a young daughter or out shopping and someone just started snapping away at my kids i would stop them.. I have no idea why.. I would just find it wrong,....it must be a parent thing..

Mine are all grown up now daughters and sons.... so am going by instinct here

its a bovril thing... 20 people might post now saying they would take it as a compliment ... :)
 
Best thing is not to bother. The sooner we stop taking photos of kids the better. If every tog refused to photograph children, this madness would be show once and for all.

I said this before, in the future when people look back at this time in their history they will say this:

'where are the photos of children playing, children with parents. Where is the real life shots on the street'

Then they will say

'why are there so many pictures of teen girls with their boobs out? what sort of people were they'

Dont bother taking photos of kids, dont bother asking permission and wasting your time.

Take pics of naked girls. Thats legal.

Its just not worth the bother.
 
Tokkelossi said:
Best thing is not to bother. The sooner we stop taking photos of kids the better. If every tog refused to photograph children, this madness would be show once and for all.

I said this before, in the future when people look back at this time in their history they will say this:

'where are the photos of children playing, children with parents. Where is the real life shots on the street'

Then they will say

'why are there so many pictures of teen girls with their boobs out? what sort of people were they'

Dont bother taking photos of kids, dont bother asking permission and wasting your time.

Take pics of naked girls. Thats legal.

Its just not worth the bother.
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How is that any less rediculous then the post the mods deleted ?
 
Tokkelossi said:
Best thing is not to bother. The sooner we stop taking photos of kids the better. If every tog refused to photograph children, this madness would be show once and for all.

I said this before, in the future when people look back at this time in their history they will say this:

'where are the photos of children playing, children with parents. Where is the real life shots on the street'

Then they will say

'why are there so many pictures of teen girls with their boobs out? what sort of people were they'

Dont bother taking photos of kids, dont bother asking permission and wasting your time.

Take pics of naked girls. Thats legal.

Its just not worth the bother.
Click to expand...

I'm with you 100% here. Archives in the future will have no images of kids at all. We'll be the poorer for it too.
 
KIPAX said:
I am a photogrpaher so I am supposed to know better... but in certain situations...I am not talking school play or taking part in sports...but if i was at the swings with a young daughter or out shopping and someone just started snapping away at my kids i would stop them.. I have no idea why.. I would just find it wrong,....it must be a parent thing..

Mine are all grown up now daughters and sons.... so am going by instinct here

its a bovril thing... 20 people might post now saying they would take it as a compliment ... :)
Click to expand...

I agree. I'd like to think, "They obviously see my daughter's beauty and I'm happy for them to just take photographs!", but I just don't think I could allow them to take photographs without speaking to them. Unsure why.

Cheers.
 
Tokkelossi said:
Best thing is not to bother. The sooner we stop taking photos of kids the better. If every tog refused to photograph children, this madness would be show once and for all.

I said this before, in the future when people look back at this time in their history they will say this:

'where are the photos of children playing, children with parents. Where is the real life shots on the street'

Then they will say

'why are there so many pictures of teen girls with their boobs out? what sort of people were they'

Dont bother taking photos of kids, dont bother asking permission and wasting your time.

Take pics of naked girls. Thats legal.

Its just not worth the bother.
Click to expand...

I've read thios several times and I'm still unsure what you're saying...:thinking:
 
I take pictures of kids at our events all the time - However our organisational policy ( I worth for the National Trust) requires that we get model releases for anyone whos readily identifiable in the pictures (from the parents in the case of minors) - But I've never had a parent ask me not to photograph their little darlings - Thogh I imagine that it helps to be uniformed staff member with a clear reason for taking the pics.

In general terms If I was with my nephew in the park and a stranger started taking his photo I wouldnt necessarily have any issue with it - but i'd probably have a quiet word with them to satisfy myself that their motivations were on the up and up
 
I think he's saying there will be a gap in the documentation of our social history, although to be fair a lot of that has to do with the fact that kids these days are inside playing on the xbox rather than outside on penny farthings.

I don't care if my children are in people's pictures so long as I'm not in the photo as well, I really will make people delete those pictures because I don't want my bat **** insane ex-husband being able to identify or find them. (I'll give a reason in case I get jumped on, he has Marijuana induced psychosis, something flipped inside his head and never flipped back, don't do drugs if you already have mental heath problems kids)

Am I alone in finding a large majority of other people's photos of children really dull? I'm not talking about portraits, those are different. Parents find it really hard to be subjective and harsh when throwing out pictures of little Johnny so include the photos of him posing or being super aware of the camera and doing something he thinks is cute.
For me there needs to be a reason for the picture and something in it that makes it pop. I would much rather see a photo of a child crying because they have dropped an ice cream than standing there gurning at the camera with ice cream in hand as it's just fake and smug.
 
KIPAX said:
I am a photogrpaher so I am supposed to know better... but in certain situations...I am not talking school play or taking part in sports...but if i was at the swings with a young daughter or out shopping and someone just started snapping away at my kids i would stop them.. I have no idea why.. I would just find it wrong,....it must be a parent thing..

Mine are all grown up now daughters and sons.... so am going by instinct here

its a bovril thing... 20 people might post now saying they would take it as a compliment ... :)
Click to expand...

I guess it is right to question the motives of some folk.

Would you say there was a difference between someone taking a couple of shots of a unique moment vs someone taking a lot of shots of one child? My gut feel is the former is a non issue and the latter is a problem for parents.

Something that sticks in my mind from last weekend at waddington airshow. While one of the big displays was on my friend took a few shots of random kids either looking bored rigid, or in awe of the display. Now I genuinely don't see how anyone could object to what he did - but I don't know how a parent would feel. :thinking:
 
RichardtheSane said:
Genuinely interested here - why?

And of course what would you do if permission was not sought? Because if the time is spend seeking permission surely the (possibly) excellent shot that just just presented itself of your offspring would be lost :thinking:
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Just for my own peace of mind. Saying that, if I was at an event then I probably wouldn't mind. If I was in the park or something like that, then I would expect the person to ask my permission.

If my permission was not sought, I would go over and ask a few questions. Then I would probably ask what equipment they were using and talk tog :D

It's a funny one this. I appreciate photography and enjoy candid street shots so I'm not overly sure why it should bother me. But, first and foremost I'm a protective parent. If anything is happening involving my children, I want to know about it.
 
I'm a mom of 3 so I feel qualified to comment here. Lol. It really is a minefield these days and some people seem to lack common sense.

I don't like people taking photographs of my children because I don't know how they will be used. Saying that we were on the beach and were approached for permission to photograph the children, I agreed.

Sports days or school plays etc, its ridiculous to stop parents taking photos. I will take photos of my children and their friends but saying that the parents are offered a copy of my photos so they get to see the photos for themselves. If I intend to use them on line , for instance in my 365 project, I do get permission first.

If there is a shot just screaming out to be taken and it involves children, there's no harm in taking it and then speaking to the parent/ carer and asking if its ok.

As someone who used to work with children, I try and follow these guidelines - are the pictures demeaning to the child in anyway, are they embarrassing, do they take advantage of a vulnerability? Respect is the key for me.
 
I always take lots and lots of photos, school play, sports day, tennis club, just now at a birth day party with big SB900 flash on it.

I totally get what tokellosi says, they are children. It is good to have a record. Most post willingly even. And as Decca says, just took about 120 pictures, 3 might have a real moment in it, the rest are too dull to share other than a record for memory for a little girl that turned 5.

I've never had a parent or anyone else come up to me taking issue, had many a request whether I could should their little Johnny as well and email them.

One time I remember it was a little interesting, we were in Sirmioni, my daughter just started walking and had a lovely dress and sun hat. She was photographed a lot, and willingly posed. Bless here.

I find it so hard to see what issue anyone can take with it.
 
Our school has a blanket ban on any school event pictures going on the internet.
 
Decca said:
Our school has a blanket ban on any school event pictures going on the internet.
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Do you know why? What are the reasons for it?
 
They don't give a reason, "YOU VILL NOT TAKE PICTURES! TVENTY DAYS IN ZEE COOLER"

I ended up getting prints of the photos I took of our school sports day, given the class photo fiasco am I knickers going to give them the full rez versions - I'm going to offer to print up 10x8s for cost (£3) for any parents who want them or I'll do a collage for £1 (snapfish)
 
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I'd ignore it in that case, will be interesting to see what they are going to do about these silly rules.
 
You would be surprised at what they would do about it (why yes, yes there is a story to be told at a point when my kids have left)....no point complaining to the school authorities as they are worse than useless when it comes to things like this and probably put the guidelines together in the first place for 'elf and safety reasons
 
Sorry to hear. I'll keep shooting away, there is no guidance either from the school and we have now experienced 4 schools for our children all were exactly the same and relaxed about it. Which should be the norm in my opinion.
 
This is kind of apropos to this thread, and especially to Tokkelossi's post in a way. I took it at the "I'm a photographer, not a terrorist" demonstration at Trafalgar Square back in January 2010. The boy's father took him there to make a point about the current and ongoing paranoia about children and photographers and allowed everyone there to get their own photos of his son.

 
Great job Garry :)

My point is very simple. Im over the park, no camera, watching kids play. Im left alone. Should I have a camera .... im a problem.

Here is the simple fact. When you the parent come to me because i 'might' be some sort of evil person and after you have asked me what im doing, i will tell you this 'fact'

If you are looking for a child abuser my friend, look in the mirror. Because the simple fact is most children are abused by people they know. Go question your own family about who is doing what. See what reaction you get from them.

Then come back a see the tog you dont know sitting on the bench over the park taking photos.

Im sick of the 'bogey man everywhere' syndrome. It is uncle Pete sitting your kid while you out, it is his camera and not mine that is the problem. It is the woman in day care, her camera is the problem. How about a priest over the park?

A teen care home in Jesrey? At no point has there 'ever' been a street photographer done for child abuse or their computer looked at by police because of imagies of kids playning.

Lets get real. The images of your kids you fear the most are the ones we dont dare imagine ....... not them over the park on the swings. The images you and i fear are done at home, in a class or changing room ....... im going to shout now

'not over the park or high street'

:wacky:

garryknight said:
This is kind of apropos to this thread, and especially to Tokkelossi's post in a way. I took it at the "I'm a photographer, not a terrorist" demonstration at Trafalgar Square back in January 2010. The boy's father took him there to make a point about the current and ongoing paranoia about children and photographers and allowed everyone there to get their own photos of his son.

Click to expand...
 
KIPAX said:
but in certain situations...I am not talking school play or taking part in sports...but if i was at the swings with a young daughter or out shopping and someone just started snapping away at my kids i would stop them.. I have no idea why.. I would just find it wrong,....it must be a parent thing..
Click to expand...

i thught i would re quote what i wrote because some of you are so thick you missed it.... the only people mentioning perverts and terrorists are the people wanting to take pics of other peoples kids.... i havent mentioned it once.. i have said i ahve no idea why i would ask them..


some poeple are going way over the top wiht there reactions here....
 
posiview said:
I agree. I'd like to think, "They obviously see my daughter's beauty and I'm happy for them to just take photographs!", but I just don't think I could allow them to take photographs without speaking to them. Unsure why.
.
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exactly.. i take it thats your daughter in your avatar.... i dont think any of us are bothered about having our childrens pictures taken or displaying them on the web for everyone to see... and as said most situations no problem.....just if soemone blatently came up and started taking pics right in front of us we would say wooo what ya doing and why...instinct would kick in as parents....

i cant believe the responses in this thread ...some people going way over the top...
 
Personally I think it is you who goes way over the top in stopping anyone taking a photo of of your child. As you say it yourself it is irrational you don't know why you do it and put it on a parent thing.

What is so bad, so wrong about a captured photo? I thought the myth it captures your soul has be debunked a long time ago.
 
RichardtheSane said:
I guess it is right to question the motives of some folk.

Would you say there was a difference between someone taking a couple of shots of a unique moment vs someone taking a lot of shots of one child? My gut feel is the former is a non issue and the latter is a problem for parents.

Something that sticks in my mind from last weekend at waddington airshow. While one of the big displays was on my friend took a few shots of random kids either looking bored rigid, or in awe of the display. Now I genuinely don't see how anyone could object to what he did - but I don't know how a parent would feel. :thinking:
Click to expand...

re read my post.....i said in sme situations... no problem with school plays or sports days or if my kid was saving someones life :) i was clearly talking about me and a child on a normal day and someone appearing wiht a camera and just start tkaing pics of the kids in front of me... i would 100% stop them and ask them what the heck!

most parents would

so many poeple twisting this into somehting it isnt... Tom.. you need to wind yer neck in son...seriosuly .
 
dejongj said:
What is so bad, so wrong about a captured photo? I thought the myth it captures your soul has be debunked a long time ago.
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woooooooosh

please show me where i said it was wrong to take pics of my kids.. in fact i can show you where i say its great and no problem.. please show me where i say its bad...


have a debate yes but please dont put words into my mouth.. there is nothing wrong wiht pictures of my kids..nothing wrong wiht them being on the internet

try again and eplain how i am going over the top by asking a complete stranger who for no reason i know of may just walk up and take pics of my kids in front of me... i cant even explain why... but its got nothing to do with perverts or terrorists
 
The problem is parents are far too full of their own self importance to consider that the child in the lane next to their darling may be subject to a child protection order and their parents might not want the pictures to be published over the internet, or that the play may be subject to a copyright notice which means you cant video it, or the school may feel that you are supposed to be there to watch the play that the teachers have been practicing for the last 2 weeks rather than clicking away like a **** with your shiny 400mm zoom and putting off Johnny to a point where the play goes wrong.

Some people find it extremely easy to critisise the work of a school - I just hope those parents are all fulfilling their responsibilities as well as screaming about their rights. And as for what the school can do - well hold a sports day without inviting parents - would be quite easy and much less hassle for everyone I would think.

As for the original post - I'm with Kipax - If I saw a stranger snapping photos of my kids in a public place I'd confront them, they are minors and have a right of protection - dont give me all the social history crap - I have plenty of social history in my own albums which I am happy to donate to the nation
 
KIPAX said:
woooooooosh

please show me where i said it was wrong to take pics of my kids.. in fact i can show you where i say its great and no problem.. please show me where i say its bad...


have a debate yes but please dont put words into my mouth.. there is nothing wrong wiht pictures of my kids..nothing wrong wiht them being on the internet

try again and eplain how i am going over the top by asking a complete stranger who for no reason i know of may just walk up and take pics of my kids in front of me... i cant even explain why... but its got nothing to do with perverts or terrorists
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Flipping heck mate are you drinking this time a morning or something. You have quoted me out of context and you are the one making a big deal out of it. And, just like I highlighted before, and you state it again, you can't even explain why.....
 
cornishboy said:
The problem is parents are far too full of their own self importance to consider that the child in the lane next to their darling may be subject to a child protection order and their parents might not want the pictures to be published over the internet, or that the play may be subject to a copyright notice which means you cant video it, or the school may feel that you are supposed to be there to watch the play that the teachers have been practicing for the last 2 weeks rather than clicking away like a **** with your shiny 400mm zoom and putting off Johnny to a point where the play goes wrong.
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That is quite a nasty assumption you make on behalf of parents. Sorry but if anyone is in a protective situation then they should not put themselves in a public situation, it is tough but hey the other children would like to have some memories captured of childhood too.

cornishboy said:
Some people find it extremely easy to critisise the work of a school - I just hope those parents are all fulfilling their responsibilities as well as screaming about their rights. And as for what the school can do - well hold a sports day without inviting parents - would be quite easy and much less hassle for everyone I would think.
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Yep boy wonder, some of us are very involved. Ever heard of governing bodies and parents association, heck grand parents even doing ground maintenance.

cornishboy said:
As for the original post - I'm with Kipax - If I saw a stranger snapping photos of my kids in a public place I'd confront them, they are minors and have a right of protection - dont give me all the social history crap - I have plenty of social history in my own albums which I am happy to donate to the nation
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What invasion of their right to protection gets broken? I really would like to understand that bit.
 
dejongj said:
Flipping heck mate are you drinking this time a morning or something. You have quoted me out of context and you are the one making a big deal out of it. And, just like I highlighted before, and you state it again, you can't even explain why.....
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this is what you said "Personally I think it is you who goes way over the top in stopping anyone taking a photo of of your child." and you also asked why i thought it was bad or wrong... every word you wrote is complete and utter rubbbish when directed at me because i dont have a problem wiht having pictures of my kids and i dont have a problem wiht them being displayed and i dont think its bad or wrong

i really cant see how i have missquoted you at all.. but as always am happy to be corrected if what youw rote isnt what you meant? :) However my reply was to what you wrote.... when you asked whats wrong or bad about having my kids pics taken what did you mean? when saying i am going over the top what did you mean? seems quite clear to me...
 
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