to dislike strangers taking pictures of my kid?

[inesb]

A couple of times in the last month, (although it happens regularly anyway), people have photographed my kid, sometimes without asking my permission.

For example, on Saturday, this guy with a couple of cameras slung around his neck spotted ds (2.7) and started snapping away at him, while I was talking to someone and he was running around my legs. I picked him up, 'cos I felt a bit wha? and the guy just zoomed into his face over my shoulder - got the camera really close to him. I was really taken aback, that's just rude, isn't it? He then attempted to show me the pics as I was walking away, but that's not the point. I can't decide if I'm being oversensitive.

I mean I'm not that keen when people ask me, (I think it's because ds has got quite striking colouring, very blue eyes and blond corkscrew curls and I live in a very touristy bit of London, so get ambushed by tourists in the park or even on the bus the other day), but to not even bother checking if I mind?

It's not so much worrying about paedophiles or anything, I think it's more I don't like having my picture taken anyway, and I'm just instinctively, "get away from my child, what are you doing?"

Would you feel that way? Or I am just being curmudgeonly?

That is rude. They should always ask permission first.

YANBU. This happened to a friend of mine who had just left her abusive partner and felt v protective of her child (and rightly so).

Definately out of order. Paedophile or not,
it is an invasion of your and your DS's privacy and personal space! I would demand he give your the film/delete the photos.

Oh, you are fully entitled to tell people to back off. VERY rude to start snapping a child without asking the parents.

It's happend to you too?
I was with my family including my little brother (he is 2) and as it was a nice day we were at the childrens paddling pool and some man with a camera was taking photo's of all the children in the pool. He did have a small tag round his neck saying "press" but when confronted he immediatly left
So no YANBU.

This has happened to me too. Especially at the beach. I'm not about to get hysterical about paedophiles, I just think it's really bad manners to do this without asking first. YANBU

Actually at the beach in my village a man got arrested this weekend, he was perched up on the cliff taking pictures, and when challenged about it by the lifeguards, he threw the memory card from his camera off the cliff. Police took him away and the coastguard retrieved the card.

yanbu - he might have been a creepy feller, or he might have been press, but you aren't to know unless they offer that info Hi I'm a creepy feller!

I know press sometimes go round esp in summer taking stock pictures, but I would imagine it would be better in this day and age to ask parents first no?

rude to take photos of someone without asking them imo, I'd be unimpressed.
Although your ds sounds scrummy

I'm puzzled by the arrest - on what grounds, exactly? There is nothing illegal about taking pictures in a public place or in throwing away your own property. If he was taking pictures of children and the cops suspected he was a nasty piece of work, a stern talking to was in order. Unless he's a sex offender who is banned from certain places, there is nothing illegal about what he was doing.

It is very rude to take pictures of children without asking the parents BUT there does seem to be a ridiculous level of hysteria about photographers taking pictures in public these days. Remember the bus spotter? The cops seem to have decided off their own backs to invent a new law banning photography when nothing of the sort actually exists.

The arrest - as I wasn't at the scene I don't know what prompted that, but am sure the police will have needed grounds as opposed to a caution. Sadly this area has been frequented by paedophiles quite often, as there is a halfway house type of thing for newly released offenders a few miles up the road. That said, I don't engage in the chest beating, hand wringing hysteria that is so common nowadays. DS continues to play at the beach and I'm happy.

I appreciate there's nothing illegal about throwing away the memory card from a camera when questioned, but it is odd behaviour to throw it away when you could just show that you are in fact taking holiday snaps of the beach from the cliff... The lifeguards obviously felt police presence was necessary.

Id feel very uncomfortable in your situation. But i would have asked him to stop. its extremly rude. and if hes not doing anything wrong then he should be offended by anyone asking what he s doing!

Shouldnt!

no way should he b takin pic of your child, bloody hell he could be anyone.

yanbu

Edam, There is no law stopping anyone taking photos of anyone in public places. However Police are able to arrest if they have reason to suspect that an offence has been committed. If the male in question had been reported by a member of the public and Police approach him to ask what he was up to and he throws away the memory card I would suggest that that is reasonable suspicion to arrest the person of possession indecent images etc etc. He could ahve been taking pictures of a specifc person ex partner etc etc and that would constitute harassment or as you say he could already be banned from the area for a number reasons.

However in answer to the OP YANBU to expect someone to ask before taking pictures of your child. It is incredibly rude not to.

I'd be unimpressed with anyone just randomly shoving a camera in my face without asking. I wouldn't suspect them of nefarious motives but I would think they were a rude arse with no boundaries and I would have a go at them.

edam- did you not see this story in the news recently? (I realise this is from the mail but the report i originally saw was bbc news 24 but no longer available)

YANBU at all- I was feeding DS in the park last week (food not boob) and a man was about 5 metres away from us pointing a camcorder straight at us! I was talking to a friend at the time and was so taken aback I just stared at him and he went on his way. I wish I'd said something though as I think it was well out of order!

Oh fgs to that story in the Mail. The world has gone stark, raving mad! Suppose that's what you get when you try to do policing on the cheap, with poorly paid and half-trained people out there on the streets, though. I don't suppose anyone has bothered to go through the finer points of the law relating to photography with the PCO who attended...

I dont think you are being unreasonable. It happened to me in Singapore just this easter when people started taking photos of the DCs. Granted they did look quite cute each pulling their own little suitcase on wheels but i was still a bit thrown by it. It was accompanied by lots of pointing, laughing and chattering in languages that I don't understand, just eastern people seeing blond blue eyes children for the first time perhaps. Even so, it was still rather uncomfortable.

I'm glad that the consensus is that his actions were flaming rude - I thought it was very disrespectful.

I suspect the bloke was a professional snapper - I live in a bit of Notting Hill crawling with paps, and he was so quick and almost aggressively persistent when taking the photos (he had a motor on the camera, you could hear it), that I was truly uncomfortable. I didn't really have time to react - he was just there, doing his thing. I just walked away as quickly as I could. Besides which, it is not as if he could have used them with my express permission if he was taking them for stock footage.

I can only imagine how annoying it must be if you are a celebrity, though, with idiots like that in your space...

without my permission....