Thank you all for your comments.
Originally posted by Jessesdad 
It's a beautiful shot....but...what is her name? What is her context? It's the old question of appropriating another's image for aesthetic purposes and what are the ethics involved...............
@Jessesdad, I understand where your question is coming from. Since I hardly shoot, I dont really qualify to comment on street photography, however I observed that people generally don't mind as long as I am not intruding their privacy & they feel that you are genuine. It's even easier if you can make them comfortable by smiling or light talking without getting into personal details (in fact often it's not even advisable to get into personal details).
I usually shoot with small lenses so candid is generally out of question. I always get noticed so I have to take a call whether to shoot or not to shoot. Most of the time I shoot pictures first and talk to them later, for example, "would you like to see your picture", & usually they are happy to see their picture on LCD. Some even asks for a print which I get them if possible. I am of the camp that prefers to delete pics if objected Vs not taking at all or asking. What is right what is wrong it highly debated already but I usually take middle ground. To give you some examples,
In this particular case (picture in original post), she is a tea seller on country side. I stopped by to have a cup of tea and since I was carrying my camera, I just took a picture of her. She was confused and happy at the same time, no one took her picture before, may be not in ages. She was feeling shy, so I requested her to look at me and smile. Some ladies around her started laughing and they also helped me by asking her to smile, eventually she did. She had a lovelier smile looking at her pic in LCD which I couldn't capture, overall I got to know someone without even getting to know any personal details.
Here is another example, he is a fruit seller in Ladakh. When I visited his shop, he took me as a customer and he immediately stubbed his cigarette. I asked him if I can shoot his pic, he agreed, so I asked him to give me the same pose when I first saw him smoking
Now for this picture, I had to take permission from her mom
And this guy was really not worried about what I am doing, so no question of any interactions, shot the pic and moved without speaking even a single word.
She is a dry fruit seller, can you see her expression, she was laughing and saying, you are just clicking my pics but not buying anything - bought some wallnuts from her. It was not for picture which I already got, but just to make her happy.
Often I come across people who really wants me to shoot their pics, here are two:
Overall I feel that there are no fixed rules here, as long as you are balanced and not violating their privacy or not degrading them anyway, you will be fine. Shooting people has helped me connect better with human beings without too many stories built around them. So far only only bad experience was at NYC airport where I was asked to delete all the pics when I was taking pictures outside, even after showing all my non-photography credentials, so streets are much safer
Similar Threads 
