Man took four photos of my son

[fuckoffphotoman]

DS1 (just turned 13) went into town with his brother. DS is 13 but very young looking. You'd think he was 9/10 to look at him. This is the first time they have done this without me or their Dad being with them. When DS got back he looked a bit disturbed and bothered. He said he was sitting on a bench when a man with a large camera had taken four photos of him. I asked how far the man was from him when he did this. He showed me and it was pretty close, not in your face but close enough to be obvious and feel intrusive. He said the man never asked permission or explained what he was doing, and just walked off after taking the photos.

What would you make of this?

It not illegal in public places, I'm afraid.

I would be displeased.I wouldn't want my child to be alone in that area again.I don't think there is much you can do.
What do you think?

Either he is just a photographer taking snap shots of life or he's a perv.
If you are worried report to the non emergency police (101). They may know who it was and can act on it if needs be.

If he was a photographer he would know to ask permission before taking someone’s photo, especially a child. I’m not sure what would come of reporting it but I don’t think that’s normal in anyway

It’s allowed, unless on private property. Shopping centres etc are usually classed as private property so if he was inside a centre then you could speak to them and ask why their security allowed it, but it won’t change anything. If he was just outside then the guy didn’t do anything “wrong.”

It may not be illegal, but whatever the motive was for taking photos of your son without asking, and doing so without an adult with him, this man sounds like a creep.

It sounds like a "street snapshot" photographer. It's also possible that his composition wasn't actually your son but he was simply in the foreground.

Realistically, a real pedo would not be taking heavy, attention-grabbing, professional camera equipment into a park and snapping shots right in the face of random, fully dressed children. It's complex and time-consuming to delete RAW image files from a camera memory card so they are literally setting themselves up in case the police show up and demand evidence. A real criminal would most certainly be using a cell phone or something else that lets him take photos discreetly and get rid of evidence fast in case he gets caught.

I’m not asking if it’s illegal.

But it is weird and inappropriate. DS is really bothered by it, he was still unhappy about it into the evening. I’m particularly annoyed at this arsehole as I’m worried DS will be nervous about going out without an adult again (it was his first time without an adult there).

If he was a ‘legit’ photographer he should have asked permission of DS and explained what he was doing.

I asked DS if he thought the man was just photographing something behind him, of a straight scene, but he is adamant the man was pointing the camera straight at him.

I agree with @novembermorn, an adult choosing to take photos of a child, when he can see they don’t have an adult with them, is a creep.

I told DS to take his camera out and take a photo of the bloke, if anything like this happens again.

If he was a ‘legit’ photographer he should have asked permission of DS and explained what he was doing.

That isn’t really how street photography works. The whole point is that it’s spontaneous. I don’t disagree with your point that it might feel invasive for a picture of a kid to be taken like that - but it doesn’t mean he wasn’t a ‘legit’ photographer. He almost certainly was legit.

I would report it as the behaviour is concerning. Is this guy just going round taking pictures of kids? I agree that he should have asked permission.

I reported someone in my local park who was very obviously taking pictures of women who were alone, literally person to person. It was obviously dodgy behaviour, even if not exactly illegal.

I don’t agree. Every fool and his dog knows that kids have stranger danger pumped into them and to be wary of adult men behaving like this when their parents aren’t around. It’s absolutely not ok to affect kids sense of safety like this, and that is what it has done to DS.

His need for ‘spontaneity’ does not supersede my kid’s need to feel safe.

Remember, some kids are fleeing abuse and could be identified and at real risk of harm if twats put their photos online.

And thats why I regard him as not legit. I’m defining legit as acting appropriately and professionally and he didn’t.

If you go out into public you meet members of the public.

some of them are wierd.
many of them behave inappropriately in multiple ways.

you need to teach your son ways of staying safe and what and how he should do in various situations.

when he is 18 he will need to be able to navigate the world on his own. Your job now is to teach him how to do so.

if you think he cannot cope with weird or inappropriate behaviour then let him have more freedom in more controlled environments.

He did try to deal with it, he started to ask the man why he was taking photos of him, but his brother told him to leave it.

He is though, still a small child who knows he is vulnerable compared to a full sized adult. Women are often made to feel vulnerable by men, who are bigger and stronger than them. The fact that we may feel bothered by it doesn’t mean we can’t cope with the world. It just means we have had a normal reaction. And it doesn’t mean the focus should be on our reaction, rather than the man’s behaviour.

Very clearly, by letting him go into town without an adult I was giving him freedom to learn how to deal with the world. He was the first kid in his year, by a year, to walk to school and back by himself.

I’ve also looked it up and the advice to photographers is that whilst it’s legal to take photos of kids, you should get permission to avoid causing alarm and confrontation. So he wasn’t acting appropriately.

I am annoyed on your behalf, and sympathise with your son.
It's quite a big deal when kids take their first steps into town without an adult. What should have been a good experience for your son was spoiled by some entitled creep with a camera.

Just because something isn't illegal it doesn't make it right.

Thank you.

It horrible for you son, but it’s a difficult one because what are you options? Report him? A) for what and b) it’s not going to get any traction with one police considering how minor the interaction was

Incidentally, you are the forth person I’ve read about Facebook and here today who has had a man taking photos of your son. Either you’re posting everywhere or coincidentally posting at the same time as the Russian bots

Yes it's inappropriate.

But tend to think if the bloke was a creep, he'd probably be more surreptitious - not a massive camera etc.

Definitely some amateur photographers get carried away - one down our road gets in the flow and photos whatever he sees and sometimes forgets people may not want their picture taken! He's definitely a million percent harmless.

Agree with others that this is more than anything a learning opportunity to talk about staying safe in public. Yes, he felt uncomfortable, no, it's not OK for people to make him feel uncomfortable (even if they are harmless), and here's what he can do about it in future.

No I’ve only posted here.

There is also the explanation that there are lots of entitled creeps.

Not everything is a conspiracy.

I do agree with the posters who suggest it was a street photographer. We have a couple of them in our town and they would not dream of asking anyone young or old for their permission to take their photo as they want the unposed look to plaster all over the local facebook groups.

I think taking photos of little kids without permission or explanation makes you a creep.