The Photographer's Etiquette Guidelines
Due to the intent to create a free space for radical self expression, and the understanding that such an expression exists in a pure and free form in our events but not in our daily lives, here are some guidelines to allow the people who are taking photos among us to capture the moment without disturbing the experience of the photographed people or the memory and the image of the photographer.
:We are asking from each participant to follow the following thumb-rules
!If in doubt – don't
Always ask before taking a picture
Always share afterwards
!If in doubt – don't
.Simply as it is
Always ask before taking a picture
Who should you ask? First of all – yourself. Am I invading someone's expression space? If the answer is yes – you have to (!) ask the photo subject before the click
From the Burning Man photographer's guide: If the person is fully or partially nude, in the middle of a very private moment, or doing anything that perhaps they would not want the whole world to see, then yes, you definitely need to ask first – do not press the shutter
Let's take two examples of imaginary situations (more or less): Let's say someone was just body painted and is dancing around camp in their own world. A magical moment no doubt! But do you want to ruin that moment by taking a picture which will make that person regret their actions?
Second example: let say there a nude sketching class in the city. Around the class are a few photographers taking pictures. Can you join them and take pictures as well? No! Go to the participants and ask first. Some of the other photographers undoubtedly already did so, and if not it will be the reminder that they should have
Due to the nature of use of smart-phones, which allows photographing and sharing picture in social networks almost instantly, we'll ask to observe the “ask first” principal excessively before using your smart phones for taking pictures
Always share afterwards
Since we're all just people, and sometime, trigger happy, it's important that after taking the picture, we'll communicate with the picture's subject, share the picture with him(her) and will make sure it's not offensive to them in any way
In either way and so there would no doubt, in case someone asks a photographer to delete a certain picture, he(she) should do it
Bottom Line
To summarize, our goal in the event is to allow radical self expression in a way which can't be express in day to day life. In order to allow it, it's important to create a sheltered environment in which the participants shouldn't worry about their pictures in certain clothing (or lack of) or situations can go public and hurt them in any way
Let's make sure everybody can feel free to express themselves in the event space, without judgment or fear that their actions will be photographed
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