Photography and the Law surrounding it

   Philip-Lorca diCorcia done a photographic series titled 'Heads' 1999 - 2001 which depicted pedestrians going about their daily lives in Times Square, New York City. Which later went on to be shown at a Pace/MacGill Gallery, Chelsea.

'Heads' - Philip-Lorca diCorcia 2001

    The image above is the famous image which caused the lawsuit involving diCorcia and the man in question, who goes by the name of Erno Nussenzweig (an Orthodox Jew and diamond merchant). Nussenzweig saw his image in the exhibition catalogue and he went on to sue diCorcia and the gallery, for exhibiting and publishing the portrait without his permission while also profiting from it financially. The suit sought $500,000 in compensation for damages along with $1.5 million in punitive damages, but eventually the case was dropped by a New York State Supreme Court judge, who exclaimed that it is the photographer's right to artistic expression, undermining the subject's privacy rights.

 

Mr. Nussenzweig's lawyer, Jay Goldberg, told The New York Law Journal that his client "has lost control over his own image"  going on to express how "It's a terrible invasion to me," Goldberg also stated. "The last thing a person has is his own dignity." 

So when is it ok to make an image of this nature?

Here are my opinions...

 Personally I feel that what you don't know cant hurt you, as every day we are being photographed and recorded, and sometimes without this (CCTV being the main one) I feel that we our selves would be putting not only us but others in danger. Seeing a things like CCTV been helpful in the act of catching criminals and helping others of being accused of stuff. Then you have other things that help to spy on us, such as Google Street View, which enables anyone to pin point your location at anytime (if you happen to appear on it) which I feel is a much scarier thought than being part of a world renowned photographers photographic series. 

   I also don't really see the damages which have been caused to Mr. Nussenzweig and why he truely deserved the compensasion.

    Every day people are taking photos whether it be when they be out with friends or simply when they just see something that interests them, this has been enabled by the use of technology and the use of the digital image. 
  A point was put forward to me which states; 
    "Everytime you take an image in a park or on a bus or a club there will be someone in the background unaware they are now in your portfolio/facebook page or whatever." 
   I whole heartedly agree with his statement, and you dont see them asking it to be removed, or wanting some sort of compensasion for it. However I feel that if it was an image of someone doing something that they didn't want others to see, such as the work of Paul Graham 'Beyond Caring' I can see a reason why you would want something in return as these people are vunerable and run down, while diCorcia's 'Heads' image of Mr. Nussenzweig is simply just a head shot which appears rather ambiguous.