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June 08, 2005
[ A WORD OF ADVICE! ]
ONLY TAKE BLURRY PHOTOS OF YOUR KIDS AND ONLY WITH THEIR CLOTHES ON!
As we know anything that is happening in America today will happen in Australia some time soon. So be warned! The day is fast approaching when photofinishers will only print blurry photos and then only if the subject is fully clothed.
A report from the San Diego Union-Tribune should put the wind up any competent amateur photographer. Wal-Mart and K Mart are refusing to print well exposed, sharply focussed digital pictures because it is obvious they have been produced by professional photographers and are therefore copyright. The Union-Tribune reproduces one of the photos refused for printing and it is a really poor quality black and white image, raising the question: On what grounds is this assessed as the work of a pro?
The American supershops have already distinguished themselves with their absurd refusal to print pictures of small children who are not fully clothed. A couple of years ago one disgruntled customer sued Wal-Mart for embarrassment.
"SALINA, Kan. -- A woman interrogated by police after a Wal-Mart store reported film she brought in for processing included partially nude pictures of her 3-year-old daughter is suing the big retailer.
In the suit filed in Saline County District Court, Tamie Dragone said she was humiliated and her family's privacy invaded by the store's action. She asks for more than $75,000 in actual damages, plus unspecified punitive damages.
According to the petition, Dragone went to the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Salina on Sept. 3 and dropped off a roll of family snapshots for one-hour processing, then continued to shop elsewhere in the store.
She was approached by a uniformed Salina police officer. He and another officer took Dragone and her children, the 3-year-old and another girl not quite 1, to the manager's office at the rear of the store.
She was detained for about 45 minutes while the officers questioned her about her photos. She said one showed the 3-year-old topless as she played in a back-yard kiddie pool with her father, and another showed the little girl's naked bottom as she lay on the living room floor.
When the officers let Dragone leave, she was not allowed to take the photos with her."
Has anyone had an experience like this here in Australia? It would be interesting to know if we have already caught up with the Land of the Free and the Home of the Prude.
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Posted by terry at June 8, 2005 05:24 PM
Worth Checking Out
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Comments
It is the old story of a few irresponsibles stuffing things up for the majority. It was brought home to me last summer, when I went to the local pool with my son and two small grandsons, with the object of taking photos of them enjoying themselves in the wading pool. Even though my motives were of the purest, I found myself feeling distinctly uncomfortable once I started snapping. Thankfully the pool was nearly empty except for them, but I made sure that whenever another child entered, I didn't point the lens in that direction. How times have changed, when my kids were little we took our cameras to the crowded pool and snapped away happily, as did everyone else, totally without the fear that we might be regarded with suspicion.
Posted by: Duncan at June 10, 2005 05:59 PM