Taking photos of items at craft market — is it allowed?

[Mithrellas]

I was at a Christmas craft market a few weeks ago, and started taking photos of some nice looking hand turned wooden pipes when the stall owner barked “No photos! Only for buying!” at me. I was a bit shocked so I left and didn’t say anything.

Thinking back, I wonder — can stall owners at a market stop people from taking photographs in a public place? Obviously their work is on sale outside so presumably ok to photograph? Is there a quick, polite, non-confrontational sentence I could use in the future to explain that this is allowed (if this is the case)?

I love browsing through market stalls and looking at interesting small things for sale (handmade paper, ceramics, knitted items, small artisanal metal work, wooden pendants, hand poured candles, small houseplants, maybe a cute collection of cupcakes, etc.). I don’t buy a lot of items but I do like taking say two or three photos for me to look back on, just for personal use.

I don’t post photos on social media or share them, and I’m not crafty and wouldn’t dream of trying to make anything similar to sell on (perhaps that is why some artisans don’t like images of their wares online? Though wouldn’t that help other potential buyers see what they sell?).

Wow, that's a bit much. I took some photos at 2 Christmas/craft markets I went to over the past 2 weeks or so. (Only 4 or 5,) not of individual stalls, but of the room as a whole IYSWIM. And I took photos at the market that was there at the Christmas lights switch-on. (as well as the Christmas tree, and the choir and the brass band and so on, just one of each. Maybe 7 or 8 in total.)

Multiple dozens of people were doing the same. No-one gave a shit. They can't tell you that you can't take photos in a public place - surely not... I guess if it's an indoor venue, and the people running the place say no, then it's no. But if it's a public street, they have no right to stop you.

Never heard of this though, ever. Who the hell is going to take photos of certain crafts just to source them cheaper on etsy/ebay as has been suggested? No-one. That's who! I have heard of people doing this with wedding dress suppliers, going to look at 20 or so wedding dresses, (at an actual wedding atttire shop,) and try on 10-12 of them, and then get an idea which one they want, and source it online, but who the fuck does this with someone's home-made crafts?! Fuxake? 😂 Paranoid much!

For the avoidance of doubt, it's not 'taking photos of something you didn't buy' it's taking photos to remember the day/the visit, and capture the festive atmosphere. I would stop if I was asked, but I would think they were batshit for not wanting people to take photos at a public event. AND I would never go to that same craft market again. Not if they are THAT precious....

Unless someone is taking one photo every 10 seconds for half an hour, and taking 150 or so photos, and becoming a nuisance, I can't see a problem. NO-ONE does that though, most people will just take 5 or 6 photos. Over the entire visit.

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@LikeWhoUsesTypewritersAnyway OP was specifically talking about taking photos of the goods for sale.

I think it's only polite to ask, OP, and to respect it if they say no. I've only done this to send the photo to DH to say "shall I get one of these for your mum?". The stall owner had no idea if I was genuinely doing this or trying to rip off her idea, but if you do it more politely you are a better bet.

I don’t do professional photography but I just like taking photos of anything that catches my fancy and uploading them from my phone to my computer. Roses in my garden, a bird I had rescued, a pretty item at a stall.

Yes I do save photos and look back at them. Example of a photo of eggs that I took from a local market years ago attached.

Is it more acceptable to photograph produce then? I do like taking pics of nuts, spices, flowers, pumpkins at harvest, jars of honey, etc.

Will farmers be upset I don’t buy something from them? Or could I buy something (e.g. a half dozen eggs) but photograph something else (e.g. a jar of honey) on their stall? Is that still rude?

If market place was in a public place, then nobody can stop you taking or publishing a photo. If it was inside a building, then it's probably private. It will be owned by someone somewhere and if asked to then stop taking photo's is the correct and respectful thing to do.

Who the hell is going to take photos of certain crafts just to source them cheaper on etsy/ebay as has been suggested?

No, you've misunderstood. People will rip off designs to mass produce the items themselves to flog online. Or put photos online, social media, facebook - where they are ripped off by awful companies like Temu who give not one shit about copyright.

My MIL takes photos of painting she likes at art fair and then copies and resells them ...

It really doesn't matter how many times we tell her it's totally unacceptable ...

Just bloomin well ask in future

Exactly!

The OP seems quite wordy, so why not just use a few to politely ask? 🤷‍♂️

Just ask them OP.

I think if you had asked politely, it would have been a different story

Surely, if it’s wrong to take a photo because you might reproduce the item, then sellers run that same risk if they post photos of their products online or in a magazine or leaflet. Anyone could, you know, just copy the idea, reproduce it and sell it. I’m sure I see photos of handcrafted items online all the time🤔

I take photos of attractive things all the time, like the one of eggs that you posted and I do look back at them. For example I have a striking one of a box of red chillis taken at a market while I was buying other things, with the example you mentioned of honey while buying eggs, that would be OK because you can't make a cheap copycat jar of honey. But I wouldn't do it at a craft fair, for all the reasons stated above, too many people ripping off other people's designs etc. Just take a general view of the craft fair, or the lighting or building.

I don't think what you did was rude, and I do think the stall owner should have been kinder about it.

But I completely understand the owners point of view.

I think it’s borderline, I can see why they’d be annoyed. If you buy it you can take as many photos as you like!

This thread is bonkers to me...

I assume this stall holder has a website or social media accounts where they publicise their products so images of their craft are in the public domain anyway.

If you are in a public place such as a street market it is completely daft to try to police people taking pictures.

Legally you can walk up to someone’s child on the street and take a photo of them. You could put it on your mantle if you wanted to but people don’t usually because it’s socially unacceptable.

Taking a photo of some eggs is probably ok. But not crafts. Legally you can but there’s a lot of things you can can do legally but you shouldn’t do them. Like push to the front of the queue. It’s not illegal but it’s socially unacceptable. And if someone objects you could just say ‘pushing to the front isn’t illegal’.

You really should ask. My friend takes photos at craft markets for inspiration and she always asks.

If you like the things you photograph so much why don't you buy them? That's kind of the point of a craft market!

Oh come on, you can't be that stupid. Of course crafts are different because you coukd copy it and sell it yourself. Also with produce the point is the produce itself, ie you buy it to eat it not to look at it. Most crafts you buy to look at.

How insulting to the stall holder!

’I don’t want to by any of lovely stuff you have hand made so I’ll just take some photos and go home and make them myself!’

Not so much a magazine but sellers absolutely do run the risk of having their photos stolen from their social media. It happens a lot. From scammers pretending to sell that item, scammers using their photos to build fake profiles which then push scams, people ripping off their work either by reproducing cheaply (shein/Ali Express) or stolen for an AI generated product e.g. a knitting pattern. It’s a really big problem and a lot of sellers are stopping selling items because 1) people don’t value homemade items and 2) people are stealing their work.

However, with their own photos they can do things to make it look uniquely theirs. They can obviously add a watermark or they can photograph in front of the same background to show consistency (one of the ways as a crafter you’re told to look for someone might be stealing work is to look at the style of work and the backgrounds, they should be similar across all their listings/posts).

That's not how it works! Stealing an image from a website or social media is still stealing.

I think it was rude not to ask, though yes, legally they can't stop you. However, the argument that it's ok because they might put photos on their instagram is absurd! I know someone whose instagram photos were stolen and used to promote a knock-off version of what she makes, and she had to get a lawyer involved. It was really unpleasant.

I have occasionally seen 'No photographs' signs at stalls and now I know that that there are CF's who actually do this!

Kindly OP, do you have special needs as I've never heard of someone doing this to have pics to reminisce at home, PLUS, have the audacity to not even ask the stall holder first!

No means no.

Consider the time, care, hard work, expertise, expense etc artists and craftspeople devote to creating their work and intellectual property.

I've seen a knitwear designer ordering a shit copy of her own work online that had a photo of her design badly printed onto a mass produced sweater.

A friend has received complaints and bad reviews from people who've bought cheap knockoffs of her art online.

Another has stepped away from her textile design business because she's seen AI adaptations of her distinctive designs on offer online.

Yes, if your work's online, a scammer can steal it.

But saying no to a person who wants to photograph your work while not buying anything can feel like a small way to protect it.

When I visit artists open houses I always ask permission to to take pics for Instagram and ask for their insta name to promote it. Usually they say yes. If they say no, I put the phone away saying no problem, I understand.

I’m a crafter. I don’t sell my stuff, I make gifts for family and friends. I have to be honest, I wouldn’t like this - I would think you were going to copy my items.

Regardless of whether it’s legal, I think it was rude to take photos of their stuff without asking.