What are your experiences photographing abroad?

thewtam

thewtam

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Just got back from a short trip to Madrid and found that street photography is not the 'witch hunt' it seems to be in the UK. I wasn't quite sure how things would be but not once was I approached, questioned, accosted or stared at by any police officer, security guard or parent.

So it has me wondering what experiences people have had abroad in comparison to London and the UK in general. I am not starting a thread to again bash on about the problems here. In fact don't even mention photography in the UK, we know the problems, just throw in some info on other countries.

Could be useful to know where, when, what to do and what not to do !
 
thewtam said:
Just got back from a short trip to Madrid and found that street photography is not the 'witch hunt'
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Welcome to the rest of the world :D

I went to Paris last summer, people with DSLRs all over the place, never had an eyelid batted at me, in buildings, around tourist attractions, all over the place.

I believe it's the same sort of thing in Germany too, I remember a thread where the poster had gone out to do some night photography, and got a bunch of policemen to post for him/her, smiling & waving at the camera!
 
Good question.

France is cool, Spain is cooler :lol:

Street shooting in France I have had the Gendarme approach me because they like my kit :lol:
 
I recently visited Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Warnemunde, St Petersburg and Tallin with absolutely no problem at all.

In the past I've taken pictures all over Europe, Asia and The Americas and never been stopped or questioned by anyone ... except other tourists who wanted me to take pictures of them with their cameras :)

In fact, in the thirty years I've been using an SLR and DSLR, the only time I've ever been approached to justify myself whilst photographing was in London last year. The conversation lasted all of 20 seconds and I was wished a successful day by the police officer concerned :)

All-in-all I think far too much is made of this "problem".
 
ive taken photos street pics in spain france lux and never had any problems even round the local open street markets. and be going to holland and germany christmas markets again get some nice photos there i will post some up when i come back
 
I was in Cuba recently walking around taking shots no problem at all, however if you want to use the camera inside some of the atractions a small fee is often charged.
 
awp said:
Was there is July - it was HOT :D - but absolutely no problems with photography - people were keen to pose in fact!
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Very strange that France gets a bad press in the UK? Public parks could get tricky though as they are banned, not had any problems though myself in the south,
 
I shot an open air entertainment in a park in Salies-de-Béarn - no-one said boo!
 
The last broad I photographed gave me a slap when I suggested she undid another blouse button and said she "ain't that kind of a lady".
 
It's strange but I have never been approached at home or abroad about taking photographs. Just waiting for the time that I am, it will be funny.
 
cowasaki said:
It's strange but I have never been approached at home or abroad about taking photographs.
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Same here, though I find I'm a lot more aware of where/what I'm photographing over here - and tend to get finished a fair bit quicker than if I was abroad.

But yeah, the continentals at least seem a lot more relaxed about cameras - but do you reckon it's because we're usually in tourist areas where we become part of the mass?
 
I went on a Mediterranean cruise around Italy France and Spain and never had one single problem in fact I thought the Europeans were far more friendly. but that just my experience.
 
At the Dutch-TT in Assen earlier this year, members of the public demanded that I took their photo... I found it very strange and couldn't understand why they all didn't run away screaming or pull their jumpers over their heads and snatch up small children like they do in the UK...

The UK is definitely messed up, thats for sure!
 
I had the gendarmes pose for me in France. Be carefull in Africa though you may have your kit taken off you not because they mind you taking photographs but the value of the kit will atract the attention of the criminals.
 
A lot of my overseas photography is aviation related but despite this I have only ever had one issue in the last ten years and that was in Auckland where I got a quick check over from the airport police who were quite happy for me to continue shooting for the remainder of the day.

Never had any problems with street photography anywhere else, although I got stopped by a security guard in Vegas once because I took a picture of a Greyhound bus.

The UK of course is a whole different story.
 
Paris recently, no problems.

In Crete, not had any problems in about 12 years.
 
I have photographed all over Italy on numerous occasions, from North to South and East to West and NEVER had any problems and the locals are only too pleased to help if needed.
 
chris321 said:
I went to Paris last summer, people with DSLRs all over the place, never had an eyelid batted at me, in buildings, around tourist attractions, all over the place.
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:agree: Had the same experience in Paris last month; so many DSLRs, so many people and none of them having any qualms about being photographed. Shame we've been made to feel so paranoid at times in the UK, especially London.
 
I've never had a problem, anywhere.
Although I do believe there's more hype about it in this country and way too many people thinking that a larger than average camera means you're doing something wrong.
 
I was in Rome this summer and no problems there. In Africa last year was slightly different story. All tour guides tell you not to take pictures of the Masai as they do not like it but some are ok if you ask them or you are on a village tour. I was told stories of Overlanding Trucks being pelted with rocks by locals but didn't see that myself.

In Asia I never had any problems and people often posed for the camera.
 
Good replies here.

Basically street photography outside the UK is simply accepted as an everyday thing and not viewed with suspicion. No real issues except personal safety and maybe some cultural sensitivities.

I need to get away more !
 
I go across to Berlin once a year.. a great city for photography..

But a lot of the widely reported problems in the UK seem to be associated with major urban centres.. out here in the sticks there's much less of an issue. Particularly in the early evening street photography is very accepted.. not taking people's picture can be more of an issue on a weekend night, "What you saying, I'm not pretty enough? Eh? Is that it?"

Even the local coppers are more interested than concerned.. taking night shots you're more likely to be asked politely what you're doing quickly followed by "How? it's dark?". Mind you.. at midnight on a Saturday night at the end of the month I think any local copper would much rather be exchanging pleasantaries with a couple of oddball but harmless (and sober) photographers than dealing with the drunks on Norfolk Street.
 
Pleasant experience in BC, Canada. No problems at all.
 
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Shot street in HK and there was a girl standing near me who looked 12 years old, shooting pics of her friends with a DSLR :lol: Also an old guy shooting a real nice film rangefinder, cameras everywhere. Also in Rhodes, I even got eye contact and poses from the locals who were very friendly. Got mobbed by a gang of interested Americans on tourist route too, big lenses and gripped DSLRs. A few had those beige photography vests on, with CANON in red on the back!
 
Matt Taylor said:
A lot of my overseas photography is aviation related but despite this I have only ever had one issue in the last ten years and that was in Auckland where I got a quick check over from the airport police who were quite happy for me to continue shooting for the remainder of the day.

Never had any problems with street photography anywhere else, although I got stopped by a security guard in Vegas once because I took a picture of a Greyhound bus.

The UK of course is a whole different story.
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I'm another aviation photographer and never had any trouble outside of the UK. At Paris CDG you have to have a "photography pass" but it costs nothing and lets the police know you are not up to dodgy things. Been questioned at East Midlands airport a few times.

When I was in Paris I took a photo on my little point and shoot and the flash when off as some posh old guy was driving by. He braked sharp and came over to see what I was doing. I had a nice chat with him and he said the poice sometimes take pictures of people speeding/other driving offences and thats what he thought I was up to. He was very friendly to me once I had explained and told me a few places I might like to try for a good photo. :)
Can't imagine that happening in a big UK city. If someone pulled up in their car I would most likely get out of there quick as. :eek:
 
My experience...?

I was sent to Italy to photograph some competitors at an automotive competition. Hired a car, drove over to the race track and photographed for a couple of days. On the first day, the Italian police with bloody sub machine guns pulled me over for reasons beyond me :| They were blabbing to me in Italian and I just bumbled my way through that ordeal. They looked at my camera equipment but didn't give a stuff and thankfully quickly lost interest in me and looked like that couldn't be bothered with the hassle of trying to communicate with me anyway, so was sent on my merry way. On the last day I was changing lenses in the boot and somehow locked the damn keys into the boot of this rental car... So there I was stuck in the middle of a car park at a desolate racetrack, in a country where I had zero grasp of the language and had a plane to catch in 3 hours. Brill. :|
No option, I smashed my way back into the rental car (the rear quarter panel on the new Fiat 500 is SERIOUSLY tough)- guess who came to see what I was doing... the bloody gun hugging Italian police :| Now it's probably bad enough trying to explain why you're smashing into a car at the best of times, but when you're incapable of communicating your predicament to the local constabulary, you're in trouble. 20 mins later, under watchful eyes of the police and a small crowd I had the boot opened and was able to prove I was legitimately breaking into the car - although this time they wanted to look at the pics on the camera..? no problem but found that a bit weird.

Off I went to the airport, got the hire car company to inspect the car, tut tut a lot at me, mash the numbers into a calculator, press the 'you're ****ed' button, and hand me a bill. :| Then headed off home.

I went slightly off topic but hell no am I deleting all that.
 
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