Going To Hungary? leave your camera at Home

sevencrossing

Some bad news
Hungary law requires photographers to ask permission to take pictures
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/14/hungary-law-photography-permission-take-pictures

MikeGunter

Hi all,

I'm in Budapest this June and I'm planning to take my camera and shoot away.

If I get in trouble, it won't be the first time, and if I understand the nature of this law, it's civil and they can sue me in court. I'm guessing the red tape in Hungary is is long as it is in the US or the UK or any where. The law will be repealed before anything happens. And since it's civil, the Hungarian police likely don't have a dog in the fight.

My best.

Mike

PB_PM

Sounds similar to laws in the Canadian province of Quebec. It's one of those laws that lacks any real teeth. Unless someone sees you taking a photo and can prove you photographed them without their permission nothing will happen.

adamz

I've just came back from Hungary last week and there's really no problem at all to walk and shoot pictures in Budapest. The only problem I've encountered is the fact that this city is not "baby / stroller" friendly and people behave like they are forced to work. Apart from that it's really good place.

PB_PM

@adamz If you left a week ago, then the law would not have been in effect yet.

royt

Soon they might even arrest you for taking a selfie:
"Surrender your camera! You're under arrest!
What for?
You just shot a selfie without asking permission."

MikeGunter

Hi all,

The law is a civil one in Hungary, so how it's going to work is anyone's guess. It's likely going to be a real pain. Shooting something, then getting vocal, then getting names, addresses, threats to call attorneys to sue and such.

If one lives out of country, it would be worse. Most civil law extends to the border and depends on treaty and similar actionable law to extend to other countries. That's where Hungarian might have a problem getting any from someone from another country that doesn't have a similar take on this civil law.

My visit starts in June, and I'm guessing it will be over by the time I get there.

My best,

Mike

mikep

meanwhile the government films everyone all the time without the need for permission ...

its just so silly, everyone has a cameraphone, people take pictures all the time in public, why does a dslr or even a p&s attract more negative attention idk

dashcams, cctv, satellites, google streetview, a total information age that includes images (thankfully imo), and there is this arbitrary discrimination attached to people doing it with a certain type of camera

what exactly do laws like this seek to attain? will it stop me from walking around with google glass? or from having a secret camera hidden in my bag or my coat? no it wont, it will only target people taking pictures openly with artistic intention

Golf007sd

spraynpray

No surprise here for me: Stupid politicians make stupid law - how many politicians are stupid? Oh, no more than 9 out of 10 I'd say... 8-|

sevencrossing

Consider the following
On a trip to Hungary one of your shots include a couple on a assignation in Budapest
It might not be a close up but they are recognizable
a year later the wife of the man happens to see the photograph
the couple end up with an expensive divorce
They BOTH then sue you, for anything and every thing they can think of

dissent

Maybe Adobe can come up with a "Hungarian blur" filter that uses facial recognition to detect and then pixelated out the "compromising" faces in your street shots. C'mon Adobe - moar innovation! :P

BenH

@adamz: I know, right? Those folks did not appear like a happy group of people but who can blame them? They've had a pretty rough history.

adamz

trust me we had an ever more rough history. let me just show you this two pictures:
Warsaw:



and Budapest:

MikeGunter

No surprise here for me: Stupid politicians make stupid law - how many politicians are stupid? Oh, no more than 9 out of 10 I'd say... 8-|

Hi all,

"Politicians" are always bad. "Statesmen" are always good. That's the nature of the English language. :-)

My best,

Mike

TaoTeJared

From the little that I have read about this law, it has more to do with police inappropriateness/brutality and the ability for police to take cameras. It appears it just went too far when they realized they couldn't say "Police can confiscate your camera at any time." I have seen some similar laws proposed from US state legislators and other places around the world generally after a slew of a bad police scandals break.

Technology will defeat this and similar laws - there are just too many camera's on phones that it can not survive or be realistically enforced.

MikeGunter

Hi all,

@ adamz - Free speech is a relatively new concept, but one we should all cherish and hold true regardless of flag.

@ TaoTeJared - My understanding of the legislation - which can be very, very flawed, is that it is _civil law_ not criminal law; that is, the police won't be involved in the process, leaving the process in a shambles at the beginning.

I haven't seen anything in the media about suits against tourists (and there are a lot of tourists taking pictures in Budapest), so I don't know if anything is coming of this. (I can't imagine holding up a point-and-shoot and asking the throng of folks to 'move to the left by 100 meters in 30 languages' - I guess it would be one way to get around it).

A silly code is a silly code. Incidental faces captured during reportage, travelogue, scenic shooting, and street shooting isn't depriving citizens of rights. Commercial exploitation (using an image on a cereal box or poster) is another matter, however, but that isn't what this is.

My best,

Mike

BabaGanoush

I was in Budapest for a quick stopover this past summer. It's a wonderful place for photography, especially in the evening when much of the city is lighted. It would be a shame if this law kept tourists from taking pictures. I imagine Budapest's tourist business would collapse pretty quickly if that were the case.

adamz

can't agree with you more BabaGanoush - Budapest is truly an amazing place for night photography.

as for the law, if any of you will feel threatened than please know that no more than 250miles north you can visit Cracow where no such stupid law exist and there's a castle too

adamz

And some pictures from Budapest:
#1


#2


#3


#4


#5

Golf007sd

@adamz: Great shots buddy. The law is total foolish, should it ever be enforced. Yet, for the record, Adam you are safe...those shots don't have to many people in them :P

Paperman

Many laws like this exist everywhere but are never enforced. I had a camera where ever I lived/worked/travelled - many places in Africa including Libya, many ex-iron curtain countries including Hungary,Romania, Russia etc - but never had a problem shooting ordinary scenes anywhere.....

However, I took my camera out from my bag one 5 years ago on a Lido/Lakeside Beach in Zurich to shoot my baby daughter and immediately 2 guys from management came to my side asking ( politely of course ) me to put the camera away. ( My guess was it was because of privacy issues - some gay couples around ). There are no laws banning photography in Switzerland, by the way.

BabaGanoush

@adamz: Even in B+W the city is beautiful. Down the road my wife and I plan to return there as part of a big city tour of Eastern and Northern Europe.

MikeGunter

Hi all,

I didn't have any problems at all either.

Station Master Szob, Hungary.



My best,

Mike

Golf007sd

My best friend, Tibor and his lovely wife Linda, are their right now. I know he took some nice photography gear with him and I'm looking forward in seeing what he will capture with it. I'm sure if he had any issues I would have heard from it by now.