Why street photography is becoming more and more annoying [Explicitly refuse to follow the photography and shoot online sales from a "sexual perspective" into a chain of interests]
□ Zhang Shoukun, a trainee reporter of this newspaper
□ Our reporter Zhao Li
A tall girl in tight pants walked into Taikoo Li from the northwest entrance of Sanlitun, Beijing, and six street photographers picked up their cameras and pointed at her.
I noticed that someone was filming, and the girl's footsteps accelerated significantly, but the camera did not let her go: 3 street photographers stood there and pressed the shutter "madly" at her, and 2 street photographers ran to a place closer to the girl. During the shooting, there was also a famous street photographer who followed the girl dozens of meters away from the waist, legs, etc., and the camera was close to the girl recently.
The girl looked sullen and left quickly.
Two minutes after the girl passed by, two more girls in short skirts came across the street, and a bunch of cameras were aimed at them again.
This is what a reporter from the "Rules of Law Daily" saw in Sanlitun at around 5 pm on July 22.
The weather was hot that day, but there were still dozens of street photographers "working" at the entrance and exit of Sanlitun and the center of the business district under the scorching sun: as soon as a "beautiful guy" appeared, they immediately entered the state and adjusted the angle to shoot; if the other party did not clearly wave his hand Or say refusal, street photographers will follow along, or even take personal photos; sometimes even if the other party explicitly refuses, individual street photographers still do not stop immediately.
Not only Sanlitun in Beijing, according to public reports, street photography is also popular in Taikoo Li in Chengdu, Anfu Road in Shanghai and other places.
On various social platforms, street shooting bloggers, street shooting clothing bloggers, etc. occupy a certain traffic pool. On e-commerce platforms, there are "street shooting beauty videos/atlas" for sale, and there are also some specializing in selling pictures of women street photography website.
The question then arises: why are so many people keen on street photography?
Is it illegal to upload and sell photos and videos on the Internet after street photography and street photography?
How to identify all kinds of face-to-face street shots?
In this regard, the reporter recently launched an investigation.
Some people support street photography, some people hate it
Street shooting without consent is suspected of infringement
In addition to the dazzling array of merchants and trendy men and women, the most impressive thing in Sanlitun may be the street photographers wandering in the Taikoo Li business district. Lao Li, who is in his 60s, is one of them.
"I have been retired for several years. Every day, as long as I have nothing to do, I will come here to shoot. Photography is my biggest hobby." Lao Li told reporters that his camera and lens cost more than 30,000 yuan, and it is not a problem to take hundreds or thousands of pictures a day. , but the production rate is not high.
"Wouldn't it be troublesome to shoot at people casually?" the reporter asked in confusion.
"99% of the people who come here are willing to be photographed. Sanlitun has already formed a street photography culture, and many girls will take the initiative to pose when I photograph them." Lao Li was very confident about this. He also took the initiative to pick up the camera and let reporters pass The camera sees how he shoots the street-following the shadow, focusing, pressing the shutter button many times quickly, "Look, it's beautiful. It won't have any effect on people, if she doesn't agree with me, I won't shoot or Delete the photo."
But is it true that the vast majority of people are willing to be photographed as Lao Li said?
The reporter randomly interviewed a number of passers-by who passed through the "street shooting area". They had different ideas. Some people think that street shooting is no problem, and they will let people take pictures generously; Good; some people are very disgusted with street photography and feel that this kind of behavior is very impolite; some people worry that street photography infringes on their right to portrait and privacy.
On major social platforms, there are a lot of complaints about street photography, and the comment area can often resonate with the public.
The reporter noticed that in addition to Lao Li, there are more than a dozen older street photographers in Sanlitun. Their camera equipment is relatively professional. Most of them are in groups of 3 to 6. Sometimes they are dispatched together, and sometimes they are looking for their own targets.
Among the young street photographers, some take professional cameras, and more use mobile phones to take street photos, and most of them "go it alone".
The reporter found that there are also many bloggers who will mark the bottom of the street photos they post on the Internet: If you are photographed by me and do not want to show your face, please contact me in the background to delete it.
So, is street photography allowed by law?
Huang Qunhui, a lawyer from Beijing Yinghe Law Firm, said: "Our country's Civil Code stipulates that the portrait of the person with the right to portrait shall not be produced, used or published without the consent of the person with the right to be photographed. It is not a statutory category of 'reasonable implementation', but it is a tort that infringes upon the portrait rights of the person being photographed. At the same time, from the perspective of the content of street photography, the law protects everyone equally, whether it is a woman or a man, the elderly or the young Adults, as long as they don't have the consent of the person being filmed, are infringements."
"But from the perspective of the purpose of using street photography, there is a situation of non-infringement, which is legally called the reasonable implementation of portraits, and it is also called public welfare use of portraits, such as news reports, which inevitably produce, use, and disclose the portrait of the person being photographed. "Huang Qunhui said.
Street photography contains a lot of commercial behavior
Candid photography is suspected of illegal crimes
The reporter learned from an interview that no matter what the weather is, some street photographers often stop outside for a day.
Is it really just hobbies that support them?
Open the social platform, there are many fashion bloggers who focus on street photography, show good-looking outfits through street photography, and show everyone the beauty of fashion.
Among them, some bloggers will bring goods through street photography, selling suits, jeans, stockings, etc.
For example, the main push jeans, the protagonist in the street shooting video will wear various types of jeans, and the products of the same style in the video will be listed in the account window.
Some street shots are commercial appointments, such as food, drink and fun, travel photography, aerial photography, etc. Such videos are often added with location positioning to attract traffic.
Some street photography bloggers will indicate their business scope in their profiles, including women's clothing delivery, business appointments, talent incubation, photography teaching, etc.
There are also some street shots that are purely eye-catching through fancy clothes.
The spiritual guy in the navel-baring outfit with dyed red hair, the man in the skirt with his hair dyed pink, some people make earthy jokes, some people do somersaults, often lead to onlookers, occupy the road, affect traffic, and even affect local opinion.
There have been media reports that a Hangzhou photographer who relied on street photography to open an online store selling clothes received a rebate income of up to 20,000 to 30,000 yuan a day.
In addition to the "upright" display, some street photos also have "shady places".
The reporter found in the investigation that some street photographers have a strange perspective. They usually focus on the body parts of young girls and are full of "sexual gaze".
In a number of e-commerce platforms, reporters searched with the keyword "street photography" and found that there are many street photography sets and street photography videos for sale. For just a few yuan, you can get thousands of photos and videos, which are a lot of clothes. The exposed female photos, some focusing on female body parts, are quite different from the trendy fashion elements contained in street photography.
Enter "Street Shooting Network" in the search engine, you can see a large number of street shooting websites on the homepage, a large number of "street shooting skirts with hips, plump and confident", "street shooting stockings, such a meaty beauty can't resist", etc. The title of the edge ball is attractive to watch, and there are categories such as "tights", "skirts", "swimsuits" and "hot pants" in the left column of the page.
You can only watch one or two pictures or a short video for free. If you want to watch the full version, you must open a website membership or pay to unlock it.
Huang Qunhui said that photographing other people's private parts is a typical violation of privacy.
If such photos and videos flow into some illegal websites and are edited with some false information, it is very likely that defamation and insulting behaviors will occur, which will infringe on the reputation of the person being photographed.
Therefore, street photographers upload these photos to some illegal websites, which violates the provisions of the Civil Code on portrait rights, privacy rights, and reputation rights.
"If it is just the general production, use, and publicity of the portrait of the person with the right to portrait, it may constitute an infringement in the sense of civil law. And if it involves the shooting of private parts, it should be punished according to the Public Security Administration Punishment Law. If the shooting also involves 'for profit' The production, reproduction, publication, sale, and dissemination for the purpose of 'may constitute the crime of making, reproducing, publishing, selling, and disseminating obscene materials for profit; if the circumstances are serious, it may constitute the crime of disseminating obscene materials." Xie, associate professor at the School of Criminal Justice, China University of Political Science and Law Shu said that even if it is not "for profit" and does not involve serious dissemination, the act of secretly filming may still constitute the crime of compulsory indecency.
Disputes at the street shooting scene occur from time to time
Comprehensive management and regulation of street shooting behavior
The reporter found that some people shared their distressed and angry experiences of being photographed in the street online, but some netizens commented on the theory of "accusation of victims", believing that they were photographed because of their own clothing problems. Comments like "Why shoot you and don't shoot others" and "You dress like this and don't let others shoot" flooded the comment area.
In 2019, Taikoo Li in Chengdu, Sichuan, one of the "sacred places for street photography", issued a document prohibiting commercial street photography, and implemented an application system for commercial photography and media photography.
But to this day, a lot of content with the entry "Taikoo Li Street Shooting" can still be seen on the Internet.
According to reports, some staff members said that it was difficult to restrain street photographers, and some staff members were abused and beaten during the persuasion process.
The stigma of street photography is seriously stigmatized by the website and all kinds of wonderful poses, and some people are intimidated by street photography.
The reporter learned from interviewing passers-by and chatting with street photographers that disputes over street photography are not uncommon.
At the same time, the reporter found that in large business districts with many street photographers, there are often security guards and even relevant law enforcement officers patrolling, and there are security kiosks or police stations around.
Are security guards and police officers obliged to stop street photography?
Huang Qunhui believes that the behavior of street photographers is, in nature, a photographic creation act. If the person being photographed agrees to shoot, it is a private act of both parties, and the law will not interfere.
Neither the security nor the police have the right or obligation to intervene.
In Xie Shu's view, it is difficult to judge whether it needs to be stopped because it is uncertain whether the subsequent street shooting will produce, use, and publish the portrait of the person with the right to portrait, and whether it is shooting a portrait or a landscape.
If there are street photographers gathering and there is a risk of pushing or trampling, the security guards should evacuate in time.
If the person being photographed feels violated, they should contact the security guard or call the police in time. Unauthorized candid photography may not only involve infringement, but also illegal crimes.
How can we reduce the irregular street shooting behavior in our life?
Xie Shu suggested that the most important thing for relevant platforms and departments to manage irregular street photography is to improve the efficiency of feedback on complaints.
Many platforms have set up complaint portals for infringement of privacy and portrait rights, but complaints often take several working days or even longer to receive feedback, during which the rights and interests of the photographers continue to be violated.
Guo Xiaoming, a lawyer at Shanghai Zhonglian (Chengdu) Law Firm, believes that legal and moderate street photography should not be banned, because it is also a way of recording life.
However, street photography cannot exceed the limits of law, reason, and the tolerance of the person being photographed. The consent of the person being photographed must be obtained before the filming, or the person being photographed shall be asked for their opinions after the filming. commit an illegal act.
"Internet platforms should step up their efforts to review and dispose of potentially infringing content, such as disconnecting links and deletions in strict accordance with legal regulations; relevant departments should increase inspections and law enforcement efforts in some key places, increase publicity and education, and promptly Effectively discourage some uncivilized or even illegal street photography, and crack down on illegal and criminal acts in accordance with the law." Guo Xiaoming said.