Following the Funk'N Decom in New York City, there was a bit of bad energy coming from some of the photographers there. One said to a participant who didn't want to be photographed that evening: "If I want to take your picture I will do it anyway. I'll take it from a block away without you even knowing it".

To head off this very problem back in October, I took a few mintues to write out some guidelines for photographers and subjects at Playa del Fuego. If anyone has any comments or suggestions about this, I'd appreciate hearing them. I think everyone was pretty happy with the several hundred pictures I took at the VVMC this year, so they seem to work, at least for the guy who wrote them.

Something I didn't stress so much in that document was that a link an ad or professional service on a web page associated with the photographer could make that company or recipent of ad revenue liable for damages. The unwilling subject can prove to a court that the picture was taken against their objections and their presence on the site accounted for a portion of the visitors to that site (an unwilling endorsement).

There will be camera tagging and registration at the next event. I'll present details at an upcoming meeting.

It's true that I don't ask everyone at the exact instant that their photograph is being taken. I do make every effort to introduce myself to everyone at the event, especially people who have been in my pictures. Post-event, any picture I take is instantly removed on the request of any subject in it, and that policy is clearly posted on my photo gallery. I also wear bright orange while photographing, for both safety in the fire circle and as my own announcement that a photographer is near.

I do my best not to include any nudity just because its such a hot issue, although people who strip down to nothing but a sombrero and tasty corn shell and shout "Rob! Take my picture!" tend to be an exception.

If anyone has any trouble with the way I do things please speak up now. Nobody's perfect, but I'm no hypocrite.

Now, on to business.

Everything we do with regards to a photo policy is a stop-gap measure. If someone is completely dedicated to getting a video of Clay's naked ass, there's a good chance that they can find equipment discrete enough to do it without being noticed. The girls at the local sorority house don't care whether "Rangers gone Wild" was filmed with a Super 8 or 1 inch square spy camera in the men's shower. They just want to see something that looks like a pair of well-defined butt cheeks across their TV.

Tags didn't stop the telephoto photographers in BRC. Hundreds of feet away they were scoping out a pair of naked tits and doing MST3K commentary on the audio track. BMorg is in a lawsuit right now to protect their participants as we speak. So is that our only real recourse too? Probably.

Our ticket language will give us (well, mostly the wronged participants) an advantage in court against someone who violates the letter of the agreement. It still means going to court after we find that a video is available on TV or the Internet. I do a lot of web searches for PDF, and sometimes I get lucky, but if they're subtle enough, I might not make the connection until someone on the list sees a familiar face in their pile of pornos.

Then we have have tagged and numbered cameras. As Dale has suggested, all cameras. To be effective, the RIC or Media Coordinator could keep a list of FLAMEd tags and start the removal process after the second unsuccessful FLAME. Having to tag a camera that wasn't announced at the gate counts as the first FLAME because if the greeters are diligent, that'll reek of bad intentions on the part of the camera owner.

I would define "personal use" as broadly as if I occasionally did professional photo gigs and felt the need to advertise my services, I wouldn't be able to use anything from PDF with a person in it without written permission from that person and from PDF. Selling footage acquired at PDF is obviously way over the line.

Vees.net is a good example of the far boundary of personal use. If I ever went pro, I would have to move any and all PDF/BM pics to a different venue and URL not associated with my professional skills to stay within the guidelines.

Tags should only be given to folks with valid state-issued ID, which we'll record down with the tag number. If we don't know who they are, we can't narrow down the list and pursue the offenders later.

We won't catch all miscreant cameras this way, but it will it keep the honest people honest. Will it stop the local porno artist? Probably not, and we'll never we be safe now that coccozella.com has listed us as a public naked event.

Here's where you get to do what you want, and we protect the participants, without getting in your way.

Contracts are powerful things. A signature agreeing to a policy of only personal use would provide a solid foundation for civil liability. Making this a PDF policy allows the subjects to follow the money if you use their likeness without permission for anything but journalism. If you make a project and you don't have a model's release, THEY can go after you.

If you get the subject/subjects permission first, and they don't come after you for anything, then PDForg has no reason to give two shits. If one of those people comes to the group and says that you have a photography exhibit featuring their naked ass grossing $10,000/day and you had no permission in the first place, PDF's role is to assist them in providing your signed agreement and our site policy to the court.

If someone wants to give you written permission for a for-profit project, by all means take it and get them to sign a models release on site and keep it low-key. You can find good templates anywhere on the web. If nobody complains, the Rangers won't bother you, I won't bother you, and there's no reason for any follow-up. PDF just becomes another backdrop for your art.

If there's a civil complaint, a signed photography policy and no signed model's release, then PDF will sign with the wronged subject and back them up in court.

The Policy:

1. Any and all photographers sign away their rights to use images for anything but their own personal use. For this they get a bright orange tag to secure to every camera with their name, signature and camera type.

2. Greeters diligently assure that all cameras get tagged so that the Rangers can more easily make a judgement of the character of the person being FLAMEd for untagged cameras.

3. Everyone has the right to not be made uncomfortable by a camera and be made aware that they can call a Ranger for FLAME at any time.

4. If you're out in a "public" area and not on the business end of a zoom lens of a tagged camera, MYOB. Goes for Rangers too. If someone wants to do naked handstands for posterity, sit back and watch the show.

5. Untagged cameras are fair game for anyone to FLAME and send to the greeter table for their John Hancock. Anyone refusing to sign after they've brought a camera into PDF will go under the threefold exit review. Anyone not signing the form should have a REALLY good explanation.

6. Theme camps with their own structures can enforce any photo policy they want, but that's completely up to the O/O of the theme camp to make and enforce. To be polite, they should be clearly posted.

7. PDForg will stand behind all participants who find their likeness being used inappropriately, but warning all participants that if you don't want to take the risk, save your naked craziness for restricted photo access theme camps.

8. Nobody is special, nobody is official. If it's got a lens, these rules apply. Veterans on site will be told to refrain from using any type of camera or video equipment during the event.

Update October 23, 2002, Peter Johannson writes: "There were a few issues with photo policy. I saw about a half dozen cameras in the dome on sunday night and not a single one of them had a tag. Furthermore as of about 4pm sunday there was no way to obtain a camera tag. Was it a problem? I suppose we'll have to take a look at cocozella in a few weeks to find out. At the very least there was one participant with a disposable camera who was wigging out a number of people. This guy knew what he was doing was wrong (he had already been talked to by the rangers) and knew to disappear if he saw anyone in khaki enter the area."

Response:

1. The infrastructure is in place and participants were made aware of their rights by the greeters. There's nothing more we can do without being intrusive.

It's up to Sensorium to make their own photo policy or make it plain that the general Playa del Fuego contract is being enforced.

After 4pm Sunday I'd say that anyone who didn't tag their camera already should be told to just not take any pictures.

To-do list:

Add to FAQ: "how to take pictures without scaring the freaky people"

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