Freedom of Expression, the right to privacy, and the publication of photographs

[NewNovelty]

I'm really looking to experiencing this event and photography is my favorite art form. I would never take a photo without a persons consent, especially if they are in the nude. I would think its just plain old respect to ask a person, this place is going to have many great photo opportunities that would sadly be missed if we weren't allowed to take photos, but I understand that there could be those who would abuse it

[icetiger]

So I'm one of those who completely shies away from having any sort of photo taken, for personal and professional reasons (and sanity) however I like to take photos to remind me about what I experienced at AB and I wouldnt want to give that up, so for me this is all about balance..

How about we have photo-free zones and/or times and allow people to take photos in all other areas/times as they want and everyone will have the knowledge that if they decide to walk around in a photo-zone or -time then there is a very good chance that they will end up in someone's album. Everyone knows that the burns, for example, are photo-feasts and if they go, then they're in one or other photo somewhere and if they dont want to be photo'd then they say further back or watch from a distance.. same goes if people *want* to be photographed, then they'll know that there are areas/times that will increase that chance..

There are obviously still acknowledgements that would need to be signed and penalties to be put in place for people who transgress the times/zones and it will only take banning even just one person for people to realise this will be taken seriously and be handled as such. This will draw the line in the sand so to speak and make this a non-issue for the future years of AB and ensure that the people who do go are genuinely free to express themselves how they want to without worrying about some inconsiderate person posting a photograph somewhere inappropriate..

at the end of the day, nothing that is put in place will be perfect, but if nothing is put in place then you're sure to have this issue coming up again and again, keeping the shy artists away from Afrika Burn and more media companies paying for their staff to go and take exactly those photographs we're trying to avoid..

[Mickey]

Here's a link to a document I wrote, before reading this thread, dealing with the very same idea but also exploring the concept of journalistic "participation" vs "attendance".

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/62552049/Fea...wa%20Town.docx

Please have a read if you get a chance.

I must say my biggest concern is the lack of information specifically aimed at photo-journalists on the AB website. There should be a big link on the main page "attention media" so that they can be made aware of what we expect of them as set out above.

[Ranger Bob]

thanks for this Mickey

I agree Communications needs to highlight this

Will ask Monz to get onto this and get some comments from the camera fraternity