Last night I was out with my friend Eduardo from Different Spain for a short tapeo. I got to our first stop a bit early so, while I was waiting for Edu, I took some photos of the place in case I liked it enough to put in my Sevilla Tapas blog. No problem. Got a few outside and interior shots and, though the waitress looked at me with curiosity, she didn’t say anything. When Edu arrived he took his iPhone inside to take a few pictures and the cook told him that the manager didn’t allow people to take photos. Huh?
Then I remembered one time I was in El Corte Inglés and saw somebody taking a photo of something on a shelf, presumably to remember a price or show someone at home, and the security guard came up and told him he wasn’t allowed to take photos.
So this morning I asked on Twitter if it is actually legal for a place that is open to the public to ban photo taking and the general response was that it was at the discretion of owner/manager, regardless of the location being open to the public. Someone also pointed out that many museums and monuments don’t allow photos, but in those places you are clearly warned with signs when you walk in. Somone else mentioned that once they were in a London bar and were told they could take photos of the bar but not of the bottles on the shelves (eh?). It was also mentioned that in many railway stations they don’t like people taking photos.
What’s been your experience? I’ve never thought twice about taking photos of the restaurants and tapas bars I visit, and to date have never had anyone tell me I couldn’t. I can’t imagine why they would.
i always feel a bit shy taking pics in places (although I do it quite often because i write on a lot of bars, restos, etc). but, I almost always ask first and usually get a positive reply.
I was just in Lyon a few weeks ago and taking some pictures of the entry way of a shop (mainly because the architectural detail was interesting – had nothing to do with the shop) and I got a big scolding from the owner for taking pics (and felt kind of embarrassed after that…)
One thing i am, however, particularly senstive about is taking pics with no people (or the people aren’t really clear) if i’m taking sly pics in a bar. (slightly different story if I’m at a public event where there are already photogs snapping pics)
I agree with you about trying not to include people, or at least not making them the focus, and I totally understand that a shopkeeper or restauranteur wouldn’t want someone taking photos of their clients.
But why that shopkeeper would scold you for taking a pic of the entry way is mysterious… and besides there is nothing they can do about that as it’s in the street.
I guess until now I’ve just assumed that nobody would mind me taking photos in their bar or restaurant. I usually start snapping away and if someone gives me a funny look then I say – oh, is this okay? – and they always say yes. They are mostly just curious and love that I am (probably) going to feature them in my tapas blog. Also, they have nothing to fear from me because if I don’t like a place it just doesn’t go in – I don’t do negative reviews.
If it’s at the discretion of the manager/owner what legal sanctions do they have, other than banning you from the premises?
Call the Photo Police and put you in Restaurant Jail?
In London there has been a lot of controversy about police stopping people taking photos of landmarks using terrorism legislation… one famous case was a chap taking a picture of the sunset over St Paul’s cathedral! He eventually got an apology. I like to take photos of food! Museums that ban photography are annoying in that they invariably don’t have a postcard of the pictures you like! Some will issue you a ‘permit’ to take photos for personal use only.
That’s just crazy, isn’t it? How can you stop people from taking photos in the street?
I understand museums because of the flash factor, but last time I was in Madrid it was okay for me to take photos without a flash in the Prado but I wasn’t allowed to take any photos at all in the Reina Sofia.
I love taking photos of food too, and you’d think tapas bar and restaurant owners would be used to this by now with the upsurge of food bloggers. And it’s free publicity!