Will I be hassled in Paris if I try to shoot street scenes with a rangefinder?

RalphLambrecht · Mar 28, 2012

unless your first name is mohammed,and you randomlystart shooting kids, you'll be fine. enjoy the spring in psris.

amsp · Mar 28, 2012

ooze said:
Antonio,

I wouldn't force my luck with the Turkish police! But I presume you are comfortable with body language and making your intentions clear before it's too late.

Cheers

Heh, don't worry Omar, I'm not stupid enough to to provoke them. I had my girlfriend who speaks Turkish ask for permission before taking the shot. I've heard enough horror stories to make sure I watch my step around the police here.

benjiboy · Mar 28, 2012

Mainecoonmaniac said:
You know Benny Hill looks a lot like Newt Gringrich

Not any more, Benny has been dead for twenty years .

Steven L · Apr 11, 2012

I wonder if SchwinnParamount got hassled. I guess we know in a couple of days.

E. von Hoegh · Apr 11, 2012

Steven L said:
I wonder if SchwinnParamount got hassled. I guess we know in a couple of days.

He probably used an SLR and wound up in some forgotten oubliette, feeding the rats and corpse beetles.

Steven L · May 1, 2012

ehm... guys? Should we start a search party?

E. von Hoegh · May 1, 2012

Does France still run Devil's Island as a penal colony?

M.A.Longmore · May 1, 2012

benjiboy said:
Not any more, Benny has been dead for twenty years .

.
I'm Sure Newt's Resemblance To Benny Hill Is Even Closer Now ...

Ron
.

M.A.Longmore · May 1, 2012

Mainecoonmaniac said:
You know Benny Hill looks a lot like Newt Gringrich

.
And Benny Hinn ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lvU-DislkI

Ron
.

Diapositivo · May 1, 2012

I would find very strange if you were hassled in Paris for taking pictures. Just keep normal behaviour. Generally speaking I do take pictures of people, and also in Paris (more so, to take pictures of cafe life and such) just don't go into the nose of people.

I was actually the subject of a "cafe life" stock picture. I was with a friend, drinking a beer at one of those small outside tables with three legs (guéridons) boulevard Saint-Germain-des-Prés (you pronounce that with a close e in Prés and an open e in Germain, avoid sounding the final "t" and all should be fine ) almost in front of Danton monument if I remember well and a she-photographer with a serious "but digital" camera came in front of us, took a picture blatantly of the two of us, and went away without a smile. I had no problem with people taking advantage of my discreet and elegant beauty in any case*

I had four nocturne tripod sessions:
Montmartre;
Opéra - place Vendôme;
Notre-Dame - Hôtel de Ville;
Tour Eiffel from Champs-de-Mars.
Never had anybody interested in what I was doing.

The only place I found where they tell you not to take pictures is inside the Sacré-Coeur, which is a place where you would need in any case a tripod or a stand of some sort. That's a stronghold of bigotry so no surprise they have some added paranoia added to top it off.

Fabrizio

PS *Her caption probably was: couple of photographers destroyed by a tour of Paris in a sunny day under the delusion a beer can put them in shape again.

Roger Hicks · May 25, 2012

Mainecoonmaniac said:
You know Benny Hill looks a lot like Newt Gringrich

Have you ever seen them together...?

Cheers,

R.

Roger Hicks · May 25, 2012

benjiboy said:
Not any more, Benny has been dead for twenty years .

Which probably makes the resemblance more lifelike. Or deathlike.

Cheers,

R.

Roger Hicks · May 25, 2012

Once, I was shooting the Arc de Triomphe with a 4x5 inch monorail.

A nearby gendarme politely waited until I had finished, and then strolled over to tell me that really, I should have a permit...

That was the sum total of my problems with shooting in Paris, on many visits. Without a tripod, it really doesn't matter.

Cheers,

R.

cliveh · May 25, 2012

Diapositivo said:
I was with a friend, drinking a beer at one of those small outside tables with three legs (guéridons) boulevard Saint-Germain-des-Prés (you pronounce that with a close e in Prés and an open e in Germain, avoid sounding the final "t" and all should be fine .

Thanks for this advice, but I thought that is exactly as I pronounced it. However, one guy still took issue with this.

Curt · May 25, 2012

I happen to like Benny Hill and company. Decades ago it was current on the Canadian station we received when I was in college across the border. Now I can watch the show on Retro TV. Still gets a laugh each time.

Paris in the Spring is beautiful, Tacoma, where I went to high school a hundred years ago, well, not. It's better than it used to be though by leaps and bounds. Venice, that's the city for me. No cars!

Steve Smith · May 26, 2012

Curt said:
I happen to like Benny Hill and company.

It is strange that Benny Hill appears to be very popular in the US (and possibly Canada) but he fell out of favour in England at least twenty five years ago.

Steve.

Felinik · May 26, 2012

Maybe you wont be hassled, but remember that France has a law "Droit a l'image", that basically makes it impossible for you to use photos of French people without their permission. However, I assume that if you take pics of people in France, and not publish them in France, you're probably gonna be just fine.

Some weeks ago I stopped a loveley looking lady at the street asking if i could take some shots of her right there on the street, she said "yes, if you want, but you can't use them", turned out she was a lawyer, and explained about this law for me. We decided to meet up one day soon and then she'll explain the details to me and what I have to do in order to get peoples legal permission (basically a contract) to use their faces on photos for exhibitions etc.

(I'm Swedish, living in France since 10+ years).

Curt · May 27, 2012

Steve Smith said:
It is strange that Benny Hill appears to be very popular in the US (and possibly Canada) but he fell out of favour in England at least twenty five years ago.

Steve.

Steve, it's quite possible that I'm the only one here who enjoys the basic comedy of that show. As I understand he was a mechanic in WWII and towards the end of the war transferred to the entertainment service. Lived alone but asked several women to marry him. It didn't happen and he lived alone till his death.

I guess I like the show because it's simple, direct, farce like, and a snapshot of the times. Apparently a good number of ladies on the show got there start there too.

By the way, my wife can't stand the show, she calls it stupid!

Steve Smith · May 27, 2012

Curt said:
Venice, that's the city for me. No cars!

My mother's favourite place too. I must go one day. No cars sounds great!

Steve.

hugopoon · May 27, 2012

Steve Smith said:
My mother's favourite place too. I must go one day. No cars sounds great!

Steve.

I will never forget my trip to Venice 2 years ago. The most amazing place for photography.

SchwinnParamount · Oct 4, 2012

E. von Hoegh said:
He probably used an SLR and wound up in some forgotten oubliette, feeding the rats and corpse beetles.

I made it back to the States... finally! Yes, I got in trouble but not for my stupid SLR. It is a long story and I sure don't want to tell it here (lawyer says I can't). Let me just say that the State Department was instrumental in unwinding a "misunderstanding" and got me home.

I used my trusty Voightlander range finder and got some nice things while I was there. I've been printing for a couple of months since I got home in July!! My flatbed scanner is not getting along with Windows 8 (driver issue, what else?) so I won't be able to post anything except for negative scans from the Nikon scanner which is getting along just fine with my OS.

Dismayed · Oct 4, 2012

Just wear a beret and you'll be fine.

EASmithV · Oct 5, 2012

Yes.

EYYY BOI. YOU WANT A BRACELET? COME BACK HERE

E. von Hoegh · Oct 5, 2012

Hmmmm.... "misunderstanding"...... that doesn't sound good.

zenrhino · Oct 5, 2012

"Will I be hassled in Paris if I try to shoot with a rangefinder?"

Yes. By me (if I'm there), asking what kind of rangefinder, lens, and film you use. And what soup you use to develop your film.

Will I be hassled in Paris if I try to shoot street scenes with a rangefinder?

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency