Post-Folsom St. Fair wrap-up and thoughts on photos
By Dr. Charlie Glickman • Sep 28th, 2009 • Category: Blog
Once again, Folsom St. Fair was a lovely time. The crowd was (mostly) lots of fun, the costumes outfits were impressive, the weather was perfect, and there was the usual array of spectacle. Plus, it seemed like people had amazing hair this year. I saw everything from multi-colored, waist-length braids, a bouffant bleach job, mohawks, pageboys, every variation of shaved there could be, and that was just on the men! <grin>
SF Chronicle 9/28/09
My prize for ingenuity this year goes to whoever planned the go-go dancer in the cage suspended from the crane. I mean, the gorgeous gogo guys dancing to mediocre house music on one side of the street were great, but hard to see. But when you have someone hanging way up there, it’s easy to see what’s going on. Two thumbs up!
There was one thing that marred the day for me. It seemed like there were more people taking photos without asking permission. Yes, I know that it’s a public event and the photographers have always maintained that they’re just shooting what’s happening. But I think that’s a rather selfish and simplistic perspective.
www.coltstudiogroup.com
For many kinksters, Folsom St. Fair is the one chance they have to come out and play. A lot of people are in the kink-closet for a lot of reasons. There have been cases of people losing their jobs or custody of their children because someone found out about their sexual practices. Even when they’re not doing anything outside of Safe, Sane and Consensual (SSC) or the more recent Risk-Aware Consensual Kink (RACK), it still happens. And it would be all-too-easy for a photo that gets sold by a photographer, uploaded on Flickr, or posted to a website to end up being seen by the wrong folks and causing untold grief.
Of course, there’s an easy way to deal with this. A responsible photographer asks for the consent of the people in the shot. It’s not hard. I’ll even get you started. Say it with me:
Do you mind if I take your photo?
See how easy that was? If you stumbled over it, try it again until asking for consent flows off your lips.
www.vinylqueen.com
In my observation, there are two main groups of people walking around Folsom with cameras. The pros have expensive looking gear, with bags slung over their shoulders. The amateurs are using smaller hand-held cameras or perhaps a phone. But if you’re going to make money off of a photo, it’s ethical to ask for permission or even (gasp) pay your models. And if you’re taking a photo for private masturbatory use, get a subscription to one of the many available websites. Either way, if you’re trying to get something for nothing, then you’re a user and I have no patience with you. (Please note than in selecting photos for this post, I specifically chose some that came from the websites of the people in it or with people who are clearly aware of the camera, from which I assume their consent.)
As more and more people take photos without permission, there will be increasing pressure on people who have real concerns about where those images will end up. I expect that eventually, it’ll be a real problem for the community that just wants to celebrate. But I think there’s something we can do.
www.loupiote.com
I often see people glaring at photographers and it looks to me as if they’re annoyed by it. Clearly, that’s not enough. I schooled several photographers yesterday and as soon as I yelled at them, they put the camera down and walked away. It’s a highly effective technique and I strongly recommend it. If you’re shy about speaking up, remember that we need to model the behaviors that we expect. These folks have not asked for consent and therefore, they have broken one of the foundational elements of the BDSM community. As far as I’m concerned, educating them about the norms and standards of the community that they’re in is entirely appropriate. So speak up! Yell at them until they get it right. Otherwise, they have no incentive to change their behaviors.
There’s an alternative, which is actually much more fun. When you see someone taking a photo without consent, just step in front of the camera. Screw up their shot. Get in the way and make it impossible for them to take the photo in the first place. If they ask you to move, that gives you the perfect opportunity to ask them if they asked for the consent of the folks involved. If they have, no problem. If not, feel free to take advantage of the teaching moment. Or just tell them to go away.
www.banquetevent.com
If they don’t get what they want, if we (as a community) maintain our norms and boundaries, then we can keep the event that brings us together a hot, sexy time. We can take care of our community members who have reason to worry about random photos. We can model the behaviors that we expect of ourselves and that we’d like to see in the world. It’s easy, it’s fun, and it’ll keep Folsom St. Fair a wonderful event.
Dr. Charlie Glickman >> Dr. Charlie Glickman has been working at Good Vibrations since 1996, when he joined the staff at our Berkeley store. Currently, he is our Education Program Manager and (among other things) runs our in-store After Hours workshop program, our Off-Site Sex Education Program, trains our Sex Educator-Sales Associates and writes copy for our website. In 2005, Charlie received his doctorate in Adult Sexuality Education from the Union Institute and University in Cincinnati, Ohio. In addition, he offers classes on sexuality for psychotherapists and workshops on teaching for sex educators.
All posts by Dr. Charlie Glickman
Ok, I see your point. It is of course always polite to ask before taking photos, and I personally dislike being in photographs unless it’s for work. However, I maintain that freedom of the press trumps personal preference in public spaces. I say this because while your reasons for not wanting a photograph taken may be quite reasonable, other people, governments, or military branches can use the same argument of privacy to prevent abuse from being documented. No one person should get to decide what is fair use and no one situation can really be isolated in national law. Truth is the first defense to liable, so while yes it is unfair and unfortunate if someone were to lose their job because they attended Folsom, if the photograph is a true and fair representation of their attendance then the photographer is not at fault. If the risks are so high, should you really attend this event? And if you must attend, can you find a way to alter your appearance such that you and not the rest of the people in attendance take responsibility for you anonymity; after all, even if everyone asks permission of their model you might still be visible in the background.
Yup, this is why I am not going to large public events like this anymore-darned photographers. To many people taking images and shooting videos, and uploaded without permission or credits. I ended up in Hustler Taboo without my permission or knowledge and when I contacted the photographer, he gave me attitude and started putting me down (put down as a women, stating I am no Halle Berry). I also ended up on the video for SF Gate doing a while at the SOJ Charity Booth. I had no idea. I happened to look on their website and saw myself there. What a shock – the video person did not even come up and tell people who he was doing. No respect.
In any event, I am staying out of this peep show of greedy photographers who want to get something for nothing and make money off free models – The photographers should know better and carry model releases, and step up and ask, and get permission.