When it comes to taking photographs, yes!
It was an early December day and the winter was setting in late, the trees were still a beautiful hue of red as I sat in the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden park in Tokyo. We were due to catch our flight back to Coolangatta later that day and my partner and I were out enjoying the last crisp air we’d feel on our faces for at least six months. We explored for longer than we should have and finally found a bench overlooking a little lake and closed our eyes. Our heads leaned in until mine was resting just beneath his… serene Silence in the biggest megacity in the world. CLICK! We were startled by a man with a big camera and from the look of the yellow strap it was a Nikon. I was still intrigued and wondered if he wanted to talk. He asked in broken English if he could take our photograph. Initianlly, although awoken, I was thrilled and gave permission (please always get permission before shooting). So he asked us to resume our pose and crouched down several metres in front of us with a wide angle lens. He was kind enough to review the image and show us. My partner and I don’t get many images together as I am usually behind the camera and he is not particularly fond of being in front of it. Our Japanese friend then fled the scene, he had been so kind and just as I wanted to ask for an email address or to somehow make contact, because for all I know he could work for the Times or have a successful blog, he was gone.
I've learnt from this experience that offering a card with details on how to find your photo is a very important component of street photography.
I somehow couldn't shake the feeling that I had been ripped off. We were in this beautiful serene setting and I feel like my soul had been violated. I know he asked, but I wanted the opportunity to share the image, to know who else would see it and somehow felt the right to have it.
I could have run after him in a huff, but I was happy he’d gone out of his comfort zone to do something I only wish I could. But I guess what I learnt from him was also as meaningful-a-lesson.
In the internet culture we live in we all feel that we need validation of where we've been, what we’ve achieve and who was there to celebrate with us. Perhaps I am being unreasonable but as a photographer it is only natural to consider what your permission-seeking process is. And ask yourself – is this person happy for me to take their portrait, - will this person feel validated and important by me doing so?
What are your opinions? Have you ever been approached for an ad hoc photograph?