Suggestion: FAQ for photography etiquette

Ideas
1

Hi!

(I really hope this doesn’t come across as me being preachy or self-congratulatory; this isn’t my intention!)

I’ve been to a few events/legal walls and met a lot of lovely artists. To be honest, I can’t think of an artist that I’ve met that I’ve disliked. As I go around and say hello, I’ve noticed something lots of artists have said to me, regarding photos:

“… and thank you for asking”

I make it a point, especially if I’m taking photos for SAC, of asking permission to take photos of artists while they are painting. Lots do, some are okay with back of head, others would rather not be in any photos at all. But given the number of artists who thanked me for asking, it occurs to me that there are probably a lot of people who aren’t aware of the etiquette.

So, with that in mind, is it worthwhile doing an FAQ for taking photos of artists in the wild, so to speak?

I can think of a few things that might not necessarily be apparent; I’ve only learned these through my interactions with artists. Here’s a few, off the top of my head:

  • Get permission for photos, and respect their wishes
  • Explain how you’ll be using the photos
  • Ask for their artist’s name, and how they would like there name to be stylised (e.g. ALL CAPS, Title Case, lower case, With_Punctuation, etc.
  • Some artists might not even want their name attached to their art, for whatever reason. In that instance, I would suggest that rather than use “Unknown - City”, you use “Anonymous - City”
  • Whilst you’re there, see if the artist has a title in mind. More often than not, they haven’t, and a few have even asked me for a suggestion, which they’ve accepted! :smiley:
  • Give the artist a chance to be the first to upload their photos to Instagram or other social media. If they’re on SAC, they may wish to upload their own entry. (This is apparently a huge bugbear for some artists)
  • If you are photographing them, try not to get in their face and in their way. Apparently there are a few overenthusiastic wannabe David Baileys out there who will do anything to get the perfect action shot, and the artists don’t want to accidentally spray paint in your face :rofl:

Anyway, what do you all think?

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Or in the case of the overenthusiastic David Baileys perhaps the artists DO want to spray paint in your face!

But joking aside I agree with all of your points you make. Like you, I always ask an artist a) if I can take their photo, and b) if the photo can be used on social media.

3 Likes
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An important topic on which I’ve written a blog post

Have a read

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I didn’t know about that post… thanks for sharing!

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Also published a popular IG post about it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DY8wD_NjFyw/?igsh=bnY1OXBmZW90ZGNx

You should check our blog for more in depth articles

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I’m not on IG, but i will have to check out the blog.

Is an FAQ for event etiquette still a good idea? Or maybe a link in the FAQ to your blog post?

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Where shall I. subscribe?

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Check the Substack link above and dig into our articles

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