Linda Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 News story today: Hungary law requires photographers to ask permission to take pictures http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/14/hungary-law-photography-permission-take-pictures End of the world as we know it? Their tourism dollars will really be shrinking.Not just from photographers but if people are not going to be seeing current 'real' photos from a destination,they just might opt for another destination. I'd never travel to a destination where photography was a problem.Neither would anyone I know and I know a lot of people who would feel the same way. That's what people do.They take pictures! L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterl Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 Very worrying! Hungary is currently going through a quiet right wing shift - equally worrying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scouser Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Yes I do hope that our unelected, uneducated and corrupt EU commissioners do not think this a good idea. To me it will spell the death knell for the tourism of any country that adopts such a measure. Having read a lot of the detail, it would prove impossible to take a picture intended for use as a postcard, of a beach scene where the beach is fulll of sunbathers. Quite a normal thing in tourist brochures, holiday company brochures as well as picture postcards. Just the kind of thing the EU might consider worthwhile being as stupid as they are. Hopefully all EU member states who have beach resorts would get together to ensure the proposal never saw the light of day. That of course would not stop individual member states from introducing such a measure be they stupid enough to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladikirn Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 ..... our unelected, uneducated and corrupt EU commissioners .... You got a greeeeen But they do some important work on how grass should be green and how much bananas should be crooked, and.... On the topic: is that why Alamy opend for iPhone ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 ..... our unelected, uneducated and corrupt EU commissioners .... You got a greeeeen But they do some important work on how grass should be green and how much bananas should be crooked, and.... On the topic: is that why Alamy opend for iPhone ? Don't forget they decreed that cucumbers should be straight too. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Estall Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Not planning to visit Hungary any time soon anyway, but this story pushes the idea further away. Aside from a few mooning Frenchmen, the only time I came across this attitude was when I was taking shots around Eros in London some years ago. I had a visiting German approach me and say he didn't want to be in my photos. I politely told him he was in England where different rules apply. He didn't kick off. Jeff's Brisbane tale reminds me of the time "Mandy" thought copyrighting the skyline of London might be a good wheeze. Now how was that going to work? Jeff, I thought you were going to shoot Australia with a super compact? Man, you must have been giving that shutter release a thrashing to get rumbled! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WPL Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 That Budapest off my to do list. Its a bit like a National Trusts poor treatment of photographers, I used to be a fan of the trusts work, after having load of work pulled due to their policies (not talking building shots) I now do my very best to avoid giving them a penny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dov makabaw Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 I visited Budapest recently and really loved it. That said I felt quite uncomfortable when I visited the Jewish area. One was aware that the right wing political leanings where bubbling under the surface and we heard of several incidents in the vicinity of our hotel. What a shame that this country is taking further extremist steps into isolation. dov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Brooks Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 There are all kinds of stupid laws that are unenforceable and that everyone ignores. Unfortunately that gives the police a wide discretion to enforce these stupid laws only against people they do not like. Giving the police and judiciary stupid laws that can be enforced selectively, is the first sign of a police state. In a police state to go about the business of daily living is to break the law. It happens everywhere. Merchant bankers break the law with impunity, while the prisons are full of poor people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMiller Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Nice thoughtful post, Bill! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Laws like these are very difficult to enforce. For instance, Quebec, which is still part of Canada for the time being, has very restrictive street photography laws. I'm not sure that anyone has ever been convicted, though. This Montreal photographer (link below) seems to have found a way around the laws. I find myself using a similar strategy more often these days. http://rmcguirephoto.com/wordpress/2010/07/03/photo-flaneur/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariaJ Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 I didn't realize that Quebec had such restrictions. I may be visiting there this summer, so good to know, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 I didn't realize that Quebec had such restrictions. I may be visiting there this summer, so good to know, thanks. Maria, I believe that problems can arise only if an offending image gets published within Quebec (pretty unlikely). But please don't quote me on this. It would be interesting to know if any street photographers have ever been sued under the Quebec laws. I've sold unreleased Montreal images with people in them and have had no problems. There is certainly no shortage of them on Alamy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Me thinks Mr. McGuire's reading of the street shooting situation in Montreal is a bit paranoid. In my 34 years of assignment work, with lots of street shooting, I was never sued and never had to sue anyone. A few letters were exchanged, here and there, but no court appearances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Me thinks Mr. McGuire's reading of the street shooting situation in Montreal is a bit paranoid. In my 34 years of assignment work, with lots of street shooting, I was never sued and never had to sue anyone. A few letters were exchanged, here and there, but no court appearances. Yes, he probably is being a bit paranoid. However, the laws are apparently on the books. I lived in Montreal for years, and I love the city. But It's not quite on the same planet as the rest of North America. I've found that although Quebecers are generally a hospitable bunch, they don't much like being photographed. Must be a French thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.