The premise of anonymity is among the things that allow street photographers to do their craft freely amidst GDPR laws. In a nutshell, they can photograph people as long as their subjects retain adequate anonymity and privacy. But, with technological advancements such as facial recognition, is it still the case with street photography? How can this controversial technology potentially affect our freedom to photograph people or include people in our street photos?
As always, Jamie Windsor asks the right questions and opens the most interesting discussions in his latest video. First, he reminds us of the current rules when it comes to street portraits and people in street photos. As long as you keep the person anonymous — i.e. don’t mention their name and other pertinent personal information — you should be fine.
However, as technology continues to shape and change the world we live in, it could potentially affect the level of anonymity that people have in the online world. As Windsor noted, in facial recognition shifts the search parameters from someone’s image to someone’s face. So, if anyone can potentially identify anyone else through photos, he then asks, “Could this change the way we view and share photography?”
How would you answer the questions that Windsor asked in this video? Share your thoughts and insights with us in the comments below, or in our group discussion if you’re already part of the Photofocus Community!
This is probably more a perversion of justice issue than street photography issue.
If everyone went back to wearing masks, my street photography would be unaffected. It might also help to remove images of you connected to your real name from online platforms if you’re truly worried about it.
If you won’t wear a mask and you won’t scale back doxxing yourself online, then I don’t know if you have a leg to stand on complaining about street photography.