Confrontation! Dude Gets In Face of Street Photographer, For No Apparent Reason!
So, this happened today...
I was waking up 6th avenue, testing out the awesome 32mm f/1.8 Zeiss lens doing my usual street photography thing. The focal length, which works out to just shy of a 50mm thanks to the crop factor of my Fujifilm X-Pro 1's APS sensor, is longer than what I usually use so I was feeling more self-conscious with it and not getting many shots I was happy with. I prefer shooting with a 28mm field of view lens, perhaps 35mm, when doing street. But lo and behold, I was shooting with this one, because it's the lens I happened to have, and I was definitely trying to work within its (my?) limits.
The results? I managed to get a handful of decent shots such as this one...
and this one, although it was more of a happy accident:
But then it happened. Moments after I shot the above photo, at the corner of 6th and 23rd, a fellow shouted "hey!" and walked in front of me—about a foot away—and said I should "stop taking pictures like that" in a rather threatening way that made me wonder how strong an impact the X-Pro 1 could absorb, should he decide to haul off on me, which he definitely looked like he was about to do.
I said, OK, not quite sure what he meant by "pictures like that" (although I'm assuming he thought I was trying to shoot creepy photos of women or something like that) and proceeded to cross the street. Peripherally, I could see he was tailing me, right behind me. I cooly hung the camera around my neck, pointed down, and casually walked down 23rd street.
He clearly changed direction to confront me because because I later found him in one of my photos, taken maybe a minute earlier, in the background, walking towards me. I'd passed him and he must have turned around and caught up with me. So, he went out of his way to intimidate me.
He was clearly posing a threat, and had I seen a cop I would have flagged him down to point out that I was being harassed for taking pictures in a public place, something that is totally legal.
Where's a cop when you need one? Sheesh.
I was waking up 6th avenue, testing out the awesome 32mm f/1.8 Zeiss lens doing my usual street photography thing. The focal length, which works out to just shy of a 50mm thanks to the crop factor of my Fujifilm X-Pro 1's APS sensor, is longer than what I usually use so I was feeling more self-conscious with it and not getting many shots I was happy with. I prefer shooting with a 28mm field of view lens, perhaps 35mm, when doing street. But lo and behold, I was shooting with this one, because it's the lens I happened to have, and I was definitely trying to work within its (my?) limits.
The results? I managed to get a handful of decent shots such as this one...
and this one, although it was more of a happy accident:
But then it happened. Moments after I shot the above photo, at the corner of 6th and 23rd, a fellow shouted "hey!" and walked in front of me—about a foot away—and said I should "stop taking pictures like that" in a rather threatening way that made me wonder how strong an impact the X-Pro 1 could absorb, should he decide to haul off on me, which he definitely looked like he was about to do.
I said, OK, not quite sure what he meant by "pictures like that" (although I'm assuming he thought I was trying to shoot creepy photos of women or something like that) and proceeded to cross the street. Peripherally, I could see he was tailing me, right behind me. I cooly hung the camera around my neck, pointed down, and casually walked down 23rd street.
He clearly changed direction to confront me because because I later found him in one of my photos, taken maybe a minute earlier, in the background, walking towards me. I'd passed him and he must have turned around and caught up with me. So, he went out of his way to intimidate me.
He was clearly posing a threat, and had I seen a cop I would have flagged him down to point out that I was being harassed for taking pictures in a public place, something that is totally legal.
Where's a cop when you need one? Sheesh.
Street shooters beware: This guy, whoever he is, seems to be on a mission to rid New York of evil street photographers, for unclear reasons! Caught, moments before confronting me, earlier today on 23rd and 6th. I blurred his face because...well...I don't need the litigation.
Finally, by the time I got to 7th avenue I realized he had faded into the woodwork. And so I resumed shooting. Sometimes it's just not worth escalating, and this guy was definitely not worth it. Maybe he'll see this blog, look at the pictures and understand that whatever objectionable kind of photography he was threatening me over was not my intention. Or, maybe he won't. Maybe he'll try to sue me and it will get thrown out of court like all the other cases that have been brought against street photographers over the years. Whatevs.
By the way, my verdict about the lens? It's outstanding, although not suited for my kind of street photography. I mean, hey, someone confronted me. That rarely happens!
However...
Back in suburbia a few hours later, during sunset, I shot at f/1.8 and got some nice closeups of the interplay between the sun and the insect-eaten leaves of a tree down the block that came out quite nice, with incredible sharpness and contrast, and pleasing Bokeh. This lens may not lend itself to street work, but it's well-suited for a slower-paced kind of photography.
Ah well there's one in every crowd they say and you've proven it! LOL
ReplyDeleteYup. But am I the "one in every crowd," or was he? ;-)
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