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What is the easiest way to ask to photograph? 2016/6/8 19:43
Hello,

I am going to Japan soon and I am a street photographer and I am going to start a video travel journal and need b-roll footage. I know people in Japan are not cool with random people taking photos of them, so when asking for a photo or video, what is the easiest way to ask? Particularly along the line of "May I please photograph/videotape you?" For the video part, how can I explain it is for a travel journal and not a monetary or "weird" reason? I do understand that I may get a high rejection ratio so I'm cool with that.

Thanks!
by Nicholas (guest)  

Re: What is the easiest way to ask to photograph? 2016/6/9 18:22
When I travel the world, I just hold up my camera and ask the universal language "OK?"

And the point is whether it's for commercial use or personal use. In your case it's personal, so if people seem concerned just say "kojin de tsukaimasu (I will use it for personal use)." or you can say "SNS niwa tsukaimasen (I won't upload it for social networking)"

There's another thread you can use for reference.
http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+138759
by Uco rate this post as useful

Re: What is the easiest way to ask to photograph? 2016/6/9 19:20
Last time in japan I had my children with me. They are all blonde with blue eyes. The youngest was 11 months old.

Many wanted to take a photo of him. They just said "Photo? Photo?" And point at their camera and at the baby.

Without speaking the language, we got there message. They got there photo.

I should have charged 500 yen a photo. It would have paid for the whole trip. haha
by hakata14 (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: What is the easiest way to ask to photograph? 2016/6/9 21:27
what is travel journal ?
is it private or open to the public ?
permission of taking photos does not mean the permission of publishing (open to the public) photos taken.
by ken (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: What is the easiest way to ask to photograph? 2016/6/10 03:00
SNS niwa tsukaimasen
SNS‚ɂ͂‚©‚¢‚Ü‚¹‚ñ

I recommend saying and showing the Japanese.
by Aby (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: What is the easiest way to ask to photograph? 2016/6/11 06:10
Hello, thanks for the answers. My photos are just street photos, it's a hobby not a monetary profit. I will use the above suggestions for street photos.

For the travel journal, I will make it public but with a caveat. Since I don't know how model releases work at Japan, I will most likely ask for permission but will still blur as I did not use a proper model release. In this case, what should I say? Again, most likely to be rejected, but still worth a try.

At some areas, I do have permission to film for a monetized travel show for my YouTube channel and can film faces with a area release sign, but before I even film, I may need to find an area release sign. This is because it's a more controlled area. Streets are tougher for release, so everyone on the street will have their face blured.

Thanks for the help everyone.
by Nicholas (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: What is the easiest way to ask to photograph? 2016/6/11 11:49
Hi. Photographer for 20+ years.

A travel log, whether used to make money or just as a hobby, falls within the realm of editorial photography, so a model release is not required and should not be sought out. You don't need to blur any faces either. If you are going to be bothering people by asking them for their photos, you are just going to be complicating matters and potentially making the experience very confusing and worrying for your subjects by trying to explain about blurring faces in a language you don't speak, or shoving a form you don't even need in their faces. Ask for the photo, if they say yes you can take it and move on. This doesn't need to be as complicated as you are risking making it.

For future reference, model releases are - 90% of the time - things that only commercial photographers need concern themselves with. There are of course special circumstances where one should be signed either for legal or just plain old moral reasons. For example sensitive subject matter (you are photographing an abuse victim) or more rarely a situation where likeness rights are concerned. You are going to be photographing ordinary people in the street and presumably you won't be selling their likenesses, you don't need a model release, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. And with regards to face blurring, it's very common to see Japanese television shows doing it but you won't find a single Japan-based photojournalist that does. Again, not necessary, take the photo, move on.
by Kir (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: What is the easiest way to ask to photograph? 2016/6/11 11:58
Thanks for the answer for model release. Very helpful. Will this apply only for photos or also for video as well?
by Nicholas (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: What is the easiest way to ask to photograph? 2016/6/11 13:04
You don't need to blur any faces either.

I'm no law expert, but my understanding is that most people here in Japan today expect their faces to be blured if it is going to be shown for the public, even if it's non-profit.

It wasn't like this in the old days, but ever since the World Wide Web became popular, we began to be educated about these things.

For example, when we upload photos on our facebook or Instagram, we make sure that the faces in any crowd are so small or looking at the other direction so that you can't easily identify them. Otherwise, you would blur them. An easier way is to just blur the whole picture. You don't really go around asking every single person in a crowd of hundreds of people, but you keep the faces for your personal album and upload only those with crowds that can't be identified.

Also, whenever people organize non-profit gatherings such as home parties, the host is expected to ask if it's alright to upload your photo. If there is anyone who doesn't want to have their photos shown, the person can play the role of photographer or just stay out of the photo, and whatever was accidentally photographed may stay unloaded.

I'm not going to dig out evidence from the "kojin-hogo-hou" (Act on the Protection of Personal Information), but I'm just saying that that is what is commonly done today and that is what is expected. And it's not a hard thing to do.

Just my two cents.
by Uco rate this post as useful

Re: What is the easiest way to ask to photograph? 2016/6/12 02:33
Yes, it's expected by some, certainly wouldn't disagree. Reading what I wrote again, I don't think I really made my point clearly at all.

No working (foreign) photojournalist in Japan that I know of blurs faces. Not just because s/he is not required to do so by law, but also because it transforms their work into something less, well, journalistic. However, I rather like seeing it done because I think it's good manners, anyone who wants to voluntarily blur the faces of their subjects I would encourage to do so. What I really advise against is potentially scaring your subjects off with talk of blurring faces and such. If you speak Japanese well it's another matter, but anyone not comfortable with the language risks implying something that may not be true. "He wants to blur my face? Where are these pictures going? What's the deal here?" some will be left wondering. In this case, I think simple is safest.

Apologies for any confusion.

Thanks for the answer for model release. Very helpful. Will this apply only for photos or also for video as well?
Legally speaking stills photography and motion picture photography tend to be bound by the same rules. Of course special rules and stipulations may apply where commercial work is concerned, but that doesn't seem to be relevant here. For journalistic purposes, whether you are a pro journalist or a simply hobbyist documentarian, stills and video are the same thing, no property or model releases are necessary.

One thing that's important to remember is that you are always bound by the bylaws of any private property you enter. You are free to make an image of a landmark or building without a signed release from the surrounding streets, but as soon as you enter that building the proprietors are of course well within their rights to kick you out if they don't like what you are doing.

Be polite, thank people even when they decline. Don't go forcing your camera in peoples' faces or taking photographs in places you obviously shouldn't.Just use common sense and you will be absolutely fine, honestly.
by Kir (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: What is the easiest way to ask to photograph? 2016/6/12 23:53
In response to Kir's post, I do agree that bluring ruins photos/footages as art or journalism (and you do see a lot of ordinary people being blured on TV and SNS, which is really ugly), and that's why I prefer to upload crowd photos with only tiny faces or those looking the other way.
by Uco rate this post as useful

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