Camera Ethics. Are Street Photographers and Government Surveillance At All Different?

A photographic conundrum for the comments.

If you’re on this channel, you’re probably a street photographer, and you’ve heard the ethics questions. Is it ethical to photograph someone who isn’t expecting it? I know the law. In public, there is no reasonable expectation of privacy, and I agree with it, or I wouldn’t be out there shooting like I do, like you do.

Now the story in Oklahoma. A city that won’t reveal where it has placed upwards of 200 cameras. Not red light cameras. Surveillance. License plate readers with AI tracking your vehicle, locations undisclosed.

So here is the conundrum. As people who photograph strangers without asking, how do we feel about being surveilled by cameras whose locations we’re not allowed to know?

I notice the tools are already everywhere. Every fugitive tracked across America gets tracked by plate readers and phone pings. That ship has sailed, bought a house, and raised kids.

But there’s a difference I keep coming back to. I take a picture of a moment. The state builds a record of your movements and keeps it. One of those is art. The other is a file with your name on it.

Tell me where you land. Comments.