to wonder wtf she was thinking?

[Louellah]

Sat on the train at a table seat next to another woman. I've had my head in my book so not noticed what she's been doing. I looked up for a split second and saw that she had just taken a photo of me on her forward facing camera on what I can only assume is snapchat (never used it). It looked like an app she was using and not her normal camera. She immediately saw that I had noticed and before I had time to say anything she had stood up and moved to a different carriage. AIBU to think that a) this is incredibly rude and to also wonder b) why on earth would she take a photo of ME? Do I look rough/good today? It's creeped me out a little and I'm annoyed I didn't grab her and ask her to remove it. I blame baby brain and my zombified/tired state!

Fair enough, she's an idiot then. I've not used Snapchat for a while but the last time I used it yellow was definitely a featured colour...

Do you look like someone famous?

@Fresta Zoe Saldana apparently but not with my hair braided!

Could she potentially been trying to take a selfie of herself on normal mode but the camera was still on selfie mode, she realised what she'd done and saw you'd noticed too and is too socially awkward to admit it so she left ?

Maybe she thought you were the famous person. Maybe she wanted to photograph your braids because she wanted to get her hair done that way.

Do you look unusual or strange?

YANBU I'd be really paranoid and pissed off by that. TO be fair it may be that it's just to do with some in joke with her friends to do with that particular book or people reading books (as opposed to starting at phones or tablets). Still inappropriate to take your photo.

Are you white with braided hair? You might be accused online of cultural appropriation

Could it have been that clothes finder app if you were looking nice?

YANBU I would like to know WTF as well. It isnt acceptable.

Why are you so certain she was using an app? Was the phone on front-facing camera and you saw the screen? If she was in Snapchat and closed the screen as soon as you looked up, did she have enough time to send the picture?

She may have liked your hair OP....still rude though!

I don’t see how it’s rude or even a problem. You go out in public, you are going to get caught on camera, whether accidentally or deliberately.

I’ve done it. I was on a plane recently and took a picture of the woman behind me because she was wearing fandom clothes and I thought they were amazing and wanted to share with my friends. On the same plane, one of the stewards looked exactly how I pictured a character in a book, so I snapped a pic and again shared with my friends because it was exciting. And for context, I didn’t grow up with smartphones or even mobiles, and didn’t have the internet until mid-teens.

I don’t think this is a problem unless it’s going into the sort of terriority where you’re taking photos of them naked at the gym in order to mock them. That of course is unacceptable.

But there are so many non-weird/non-creepy/non-malicious reasons for this and chances are you are never going to see that photo. So I don’t see it as an issue.

Some people take photographs of very overweight people to share.

Whattodo

Tbh I think that is quite creepy and I don’t personally think you should be doing it.

Some people take photographs of very overweight people to share.

hallie29 Yes, and as I said, that sort of territory is unacceptable.

Tbh I think that is quite creepy and I don’t personally think you should be doing it.

Why?

My mum had this but asked what they were doing, turned out she looked exactly like their friend's mum, and they wanted a picture of the 'doppelganger' , they still should have asked first

they still should have asked first

FASH84 Why? You are in a public place; you will be caught on camera either accidentally or deliberately and you will probably never even see the photo.

It’s very rude. I hate what the world is becoming.

Let’s hope it was “oh my god this woman has the exact haircut I want, I have to take a pic” and not “oh my god, you wouldn’t believe what this woman was wearing”.

It was rude though. For sure.

I think it's rude. Not buying it was becUse she liked hair or outfit or whatever. Can't see someone taking a picture of a stranger because of that when there are literally millions of pictures on Google.

If your hair is in box braids it sounds more likely that she wanted to show it to a hairdresser to get the same look. Still rude and annoying, but at least it's a bit flattering too.

Butterflykissess You don’t have to “buy it”. You not “buying” something doesn’t make it untrue.

The woman on the plane whose photo I took was wearing fandom clothing I appreciated, hence why I took her photo. So yes, it does happen.

Lots of “it’s rude” replies but no one seems able to explain exactly why it’s supposed to be rude.

I think people being on CCTV and taking a deliberate picture of a person are two separate things.

Unless you were working past a camera at the same time as a crime I doubt many people study CCTV images - and even if they do I doubt they are sending photos of the images to their friends to have a chat about their hairstyle.

Taking a picture of a person without their permission so you can discuss their book choice/ outfit/hair/clothes size is rude. It's like talking about someone behind their back - and the photographee (?) didn't have a choice to be saved on your phone and to be sent to more strangers. It's just weird and a bit icky.

Argh WALKING past a camera. Not working!