Some Recent Photographs - Vol. 1
This is the first in a series of posts inspired by my personal Instagram account. I'll be regularly sharing some of my favorite recent photos with you. The first set is from a trip to London where I shot a couple of rolls of Ilford HP5 on the Leica M7 with a Voigtlander 35mm f1.4.
Confrontation in Street Photography
In the first shot, a man shares a moment with his son. I took another shot of this from the front, and the man became visibly angry and confronted me.
“You are not allowed to take photographs without asking for permission,” he claimed, even going as far as to ask me to remove the film from my camera.
When I refused to ruin the roll, he stood up and started to become aggressive. This doesn’t happen often, but I managed to de-escalate the situation by sympathising with his point, but also defending my right to take the image. I told him that whilst I couldn’t delete it, I wouldn’t share that photo out of respect, and he shook my hand and apologised. It’s a shame because I’m really happy with how it turned out, but it feels wrong knowing I promised not to share it.
I’m slightly wary of sharing the image I have, but as they are unidentifiable and you can only see the back of their heads, I think it’s okay. I’d be curious to know your thoughts on the ethics behind this.
Ilford HP5 developed by Come Through Lab in Manchester.
