This guy was on the corner of Stockton and Columbus in San Francisco yelling at a homeless man. Anger, conflict, drama — sounds like a great shot to me. I crossed the street but was unable to get anything interesting, since I only had my 50mm lens on the camera and I was just too far away.
However, Mr. Angry Overreaction Man decided that he now had a problem with me. He confronted me, demanding my camera. Of course, I refused. He got in my face and started threatening me, telling me that I cannot take his photo without his permission. I told him that yes, in fact, I can. He then walked up and bumped into me, trying to act tough. I told him that one more touch and I would call the police.
Of course, he didn’t like that very much, and at that point told me that if I put his picture on the internet, he would call his laywer. I assured him that his photo would be on the internet, and he then walked up and grabbed my camera lens. Well, that’s just not something that I will put up with, so I pulled the camera away from him and reached for my phone and started dialing. Once he saw that he turned away, still yelling threats, and continued on his way.
I felt bad for his daughter, who was with him, because she was obviously embarrassed by his antics and kept pleading with him to stop. I have a great shot showing her looking up as if saying “Oh boy, here he goes again”. But I’m not going to post that one, as she was not acting like an idiot and I don’t want to embarrass her. Mr. Angry Overreaction Man seems to do enough of that.
So, Mr. Angry Overreaction Man, your photo is now on the internet. Call your lawyer. Tell him somebody on a public sidewalk took your photo while you were on a public sidewalk. Then tell him you physically assaulted the photographer. See what he says.
A whole page dedicated to a nothing photo.
Get a life!
I personally don’t see why you don’t like this Paul, but every photo has a story. Just like every photo of you has a story, and every photo of me has a story. We all remember certain photos because of the story behind them. I say great job with the photo, and not get a life. The reaction on the man is perfect. Thanks for the story behind it too.
Though its one’s own personal life whether his photo should be on internet or not.We should respect someone’s privacy.
If you want to take the moral high ground & “contribute” to the greater good then why not go out anonymously and help in a homeless shelter, or donate to charity. I don’t see how anyone can condone your actions. You made a number of assumptions about this situation. As many people have already mentioned, you don’t know what happened to create this situation but you barged in anyway and escalated things by aggravating someone who was already angry. In fact your actions could have caused things to become violent. You are a fool. By posting this you’ve tried to portray yourself as an “innocent-do-gooder” with an “and justice for all” mentality. A glimmer of hope in the amoral world we live in. As for your conviction you somehow “helped” his daughter. Explain this to me? What happens if her friends see this picture and she gets teased about her father. How does that “help”her. There are some narrow minded numb-skulls in the world & you sir are one on them.
As far as I know, in Germany (where I live) you need the permission of the person to publish his foto. It seems like you don’t hav that much personal rights in USA. He acted unpolite, but I can understand him. I also don’t want that somebody takes my picture and publishes it without my permission.
I approach this discussion from two perspectives.
As a photographer:
The image itself is no more impressive than a photo taken by an inexperienced tourist. The story behind the image does not increase the worth of the image, because the image does not represent the story, but rather represents the RESULT of the story. A photograph of the moment that inspired you to capture him would be more valuable than a photograph taken simply to spite him. This image does not convey to me the anger of the man, but instead conveys the arrogance of the photographer.
Which brings me to my next point. As photographers, we capture moments in time, depict the beauty or ugliness of reality, and share life with those unable to witness it first hand. You have a choice. You can take an image… stealing it from time, manipulating it and whoring it out as you see fit… or you can capture an image… documenting it and celebrating it in a public forum. Any respected photographer would only take an image, despite protest, if that image itself told a story and attested to something that the public needed to be aware of at the risk of harming individuals or self. (Here I am reminded of photographs of police beating protesters.) Taking an image that does not promote the betterment of the greater good is simply self-serving and not commendable. Capture an image to do more than spite an angry man who challenged your beliefs.
I also view this from the “don’t publish my photo on the internet” perspective.
There are numerous reasons, beyond simply being angry and overreacting, that an individual would not want their photograph to be published on the internet. I personally have had lawyers remove photographs and information about me from the internet. It is perfectly legal to do so for reasons of personal protection, privacy of employment and, in some cases, protection against defamation of character. I hope for your sake that this image did not endanger that man or his little girl. If this man was truly an angry, overreacting, homeless basher, you did a mediocre job of bringing him to justice. If not, you were disrespectful for no good reason.
-J.M.R.
Professional Photographer
Former U.S. Government Employee
Sorry to you legit users but so often Bluetooth headset=prick.
i’m too tired to think of a good reply.
What a fat prick, I hope you got your lens back
What if this guy is in the witness protection program…maybe thats the reason he wasn’t thrilled to have his pic taken…much less published on the internet. All we know is the picture takers side of the story.I only hope this hasn’t put this guy on the street in any danger.
jackass …
in my country not only I would beat you if I were this guy, but I would call the police to help me …
petko from EU
re-blogged this!
http://pageman.multiply.com/journal/item/440
[...] UK PCSOs harras over public filming. Jeremy Brooks If You Put That Picture On The Internet I’ll Call My Lawyer Public place, public domain. __________________ Scientology Scientology Scientology Scientology [...]
Had you just walked away when he told you not to take his picture none of this would’ve happened. That’s the problem with people these days, no one respects others’ privacy (yes, even in public) or their wishes. You are the one that is an asshole in this case. I guarantee you, had I been that guy, you would be typing on this blog with a couple of broken fingers. And see how you’re gonna call the police with a cellphone jammed up your ass.
It’s obvious this guy has issues. Anybody I have ever known that walks around with their bluetooth in their ear has some sort of issues.
It’s like that piece of plastic makes them look important.
It makes them look like a tool is what it does.
If anybody calls you an asshole for what you did, then they are assholes. You did nothing wrong. If that guy wasn’t acting like an idiot I’m sure you would have went on your merry way.
It’s not like you ran and got up in his face.
Threatening to call the police is one big sissy move. Should have just headbutted him.
What’s wrong with people that wear bluetooth headsets in the street? I want to slap that stupid thing off his ear.
All you internet tough guys are fucking hilarious. I’m sure you would have killed the guy and his whole family if he looked at you funny. I hope someone doesn’t kick my ass for posting this!
Awesome. The guy was a major dick.
And just so people know, if you go out in public you have NO right to provacy. none. nada. Zip. That has been settled law for a VERY VERY VERY long time.
Scy, I agree no one has a right to “provacy”. Moron.
This guy is exhibiting several forms of douchery, just from the photo. lets see, trendy bluetooth earpiece,leather jacket accompanied by the awesome slicked back hair (the leather by itself is ok, just don’t slick your hair back), pointing in people’s faces… Oh yeah TOM DUNNE is a douche too. (see above comment) You call someone a moron cuz their finger slipped and put a wrong letter in there somewhere? damn dude you got self esteem problems. You’re lucky this is the internet. if you called ME a moron to MY face, i think YOU would end up feeling like the moron. but you’ll never read this so i hope your day is going better now that you’ve lashed out anonymously over the internet at a total stranger. get a little of that anger out did ya? good job buddy. you’re better than most people, congratulations!
At least he has enough sense to pick a good bluetooth head set.
Can you believe someone married him?
I don’t see how your handling of this situation is any different than his harassing the homeless guy. You equally harassed this jerk. The difference, Jeremy Brooks, is that your name appears at the top of this page.
Your as big a dick as this a-hole is!
You said in a response to another poster that, “This post is about standing up for yourself and for your rights when threatened and bullied.”
Can’t you see that this guy is standing up for his own rights? Cameras are even more harassing than muscles and attitude. Wake up you knob!
this man has rights like everyone of us.
he obviously didn’t want this photo to be published.
you should respect that. final point.
If you do not, don’t expect others respect yours the day you are in a bad position.
rgds
Put yourself in his shoes for 5 seconds. What if someone was taking a picture of you in a situation you are not at your best? Wouldn’t you have a moral (maybe not +legal+) right to have a word? 99% of the space is “public”, does that not worry you with your definition? You justify your action by a moral judgment on what he did before (which was not related to you) and the way he treated you (in a situation you triggered). If he had been nice, would you have changed your mind? Think about it.
Good God, all you whiney little babies! “You should have minded your own business!” “How dare you invade his privacy!”
Grow the hell up. The Photographer and I live in the US. There is no expectation of privacy in a public place, nor should there be! People are expected to behave in a manner which supports a non-confrontational and peaceful public existence. If someone is not behaving in that manner then sometimes the police are called, sometimes someone might take a freakin’ picture.
You morons who say that you’d have injured the photographer. You would also have been subject to laws as well, would you like to spend some time in prison for assault and battery? That would certainly be worth it, huh? If you attacked me, I’d have an injured hand or whatever, you’d go to prison and be handing me a part of your paycheck for the rest of your life. What a big man you are now, huh.
You people make me sorry to be a human, if I have to exist in a world full of whiney, self-centered buttplugs moralizing about how the photographer was out of line and then threatening violence in the same breath. Hypocritical, intellectually challenged, bottom dwellers….
One more thing:
The dickhead should have been smart enough to avoid the confrontation.
If you confront a guy with a gun…you’re likely to get shot
If you confront a guy with a knife..you’re likely to get stabbed
If you confront a guy with a camera…you’re likely to have your picture taken and put on his blog for the whole world to see.
It’s called “THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR ACTIONS”
I live in San Francisco, and there are lots of A-Holes downtown.
But maybe excessive homeless turn normal people into A-holes ?
Overall the world would be better off without Homeless, A-holes or Homeless A-holes.
Mr. Jeremy Brooks,
Why are you censoring these posts? My previous post about how much of a dick YOU can be with your f**ing camera made some obviously valid points about how YOU are, in fact, a completely liable perpetrator yourself. Not only are you provoking this guy with your camera, but you, sir, were completely unprovoked and are literally doing this to intentionally make a scene. If I ever see you Jeremy, I will slam that f**ing camera between your teeth.
BTW I have notified this guy that you did in fact post his picture and I think he’s pissed!
Hi Lamo Jack,
I do not censor posts. If you don’t see your comment either you are:
a) viewing a cached copy (hint: click reload!)
or
b) your comments look like spam to Akismet and your post gets automatically deleted (hint: don’t comment like a spambot!)
So you know this guy, do you? Does he live up in Canada as well? Or are you just visiting Canada and posting from a Canadian IP address (66.11.77.89)?
To Paul,
Your a citizen of a nation that espouses “Freedom of speech” and the ideal that everyone has a right to their own point of view. In fact your comments regarding this man say it all. Stereotypical, biased and based on nothing other than this mans appearance.
I quote from you “This guy is exhibiting several forms of douchery, just from the photo. lets see, trendy bluetooth earpiece,leather jacket accompanied by the awesome slicked back hair (the leather by itself is ok, just don’t slick your hair back)”
The guy has slicked back hair & a bluetooth headset, then he must be a criminal. How idiotic an argument is that. Paul I noticed you haven’t submitted your full name and address on this blog – am I too assume you are a coward too ?!?!
Erg, if I could only take a picture of every idiot I’ve ever come across and post it on the internet….
I work in customer service and I’ve had many people like this guy try to start crap with me.
You just made my day, sir.
Wow, he even has the Bluetooth headset!
Nice picture!
Sean
Thank you for standing up to a bully and showing him off to the world.
Nice work Jeremy!
I was directed here from another site: Well done!
That guy was a bully and you won the good way!
Now, I wonder if it’s possible that;
1) He was not actually yelling at anyone on the sidewalk, but at the person on his phone
2) He was being CONTROLLED by the entity on the other end of the phone, like the borg.
little rule of thumb to keep in mind. Dude’s with bluetooth headsets = FUCKING COCKSUCKERS
never fails
i want to first say awesome picture, you captured the fear in his eyes, the fear of everyone he knows and cares for realizing he’s a prick. who cares WHY he was yelling at the homeless person, the fact is he was yelling at a homeless person IN PUBLIC. If you don’t want to look like a douchebag then leave your anger and misguided dealings at home. I would’ve done the same thing in your shoes, are they size 10?
and for all those that say, ” i would’ve kicked your ass for taking that picture” I would say “have a nice nite in jail”
a little law knowledge for ya, Members of the public have a very limited scope of privacy rights when they are in public places. Basically, anyone can be photographed without their consent except when they have secluded themselves in places where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy such as dressing rooms, restrooms, medical facilities, and inside their homes.
Besides, whatever happen to common courtesy, common sense, and god damn respect! I’ll tell you where they went, out the window along with reason.
Oh snap–a pissed off guido with a hands-free phone on his head…..man, I love it when I encounter living, breathing stereotypes.
Personally, I think you were being a little rude. Now, I’m in no way defending him or his actions. But how would you like it if people started taking pictures of you when you’re having a bad moment? Think about it, you’re already pissed, you want to be left alone, the last thing you want is people snapping pictures of you at your worst. Its not right for him to yell at a homeless person, or to be acting that way in public, but you don’t know why he’s mad, he could be having the shittiest day of his life for all you know. Everyone has off days. Just try to respect other people’s privacy, even if it is in public. Remember, karma’s only a bitch if you let it be.
personally i think you were being a bit rude. cmon, the guys having an off day, though it does not excuse his actions, but we all have 1 of those, and when people are taking pictures of you when you clearly don’t want them to, you’re only going to get more upset. karma’s a bitch.
[...] read more | digg story [...]
you shouldn’t post a picture of someone on the internet when that person does not want you to.
if that dude touched my camera, or shoved me, he’d likely get a lovely punch in the face, and a kick in the balls as well, then I’d call the police once I’d successfully defended myself. But I’m a hothead.
@345 – And that’s why we ask nicely, using our indoor voice, instead of shrieking like a banshee and trying to steal or damage the photographer’s property.
Clearly this man was collecting donations for a charity for homeless, one-legged orphaned puppies, and he was yelling at the bum for not donating enough while wagging his weenie at the child.
In fact, that was Mother Teresa. She was in the Witness Protection Program. And now she’s DEAD because YOU posted this photo OH MY GOD. You have violated the rights of everyone in the world.
Now the kid’s colleagues at middle school will come to this blog, see this photo, and say “Hey, Bratney, that pic of a giant pointing index finger – isn’t that YOUR DAD?” and she’ll be humiliated and grow up to be a hooker.
This is why we can’t have nice things!
Belligerence? Aversion to cameras? Threats of legal action? Attitude that he controls the world?
Obviously a Scientologist.
Regardless of whether or not the guy was a jerk, you shouldn’t post a picture of someone when they don’t want you to. Yes, you have the legal right to. Good for you, you must be so proud. But you’re being rude and I’d even say immoral by doing this against this guy’s wishes.