The images of people who take pictures of shop windows in france are automatically scanned into a computerized sytem - upon your return your passport will be taken and held until you pay a 100E fine for each photo.

Traviata, can you feel your leg being pulled by degas?

degas,

Not only were we told this, but I recall reading it somewhere...almost like a copyright law?? I took a picture of an exquisite pastry display and someone came out and shooed us away...then had the same experience photographing a beautiful bridal gown in a small boutique in the Marais....so, next time, I will just go ahead and say "Degas said it was okay".....!!

I have to admit, the French often do up shop windows that look picture perfect.

> Flash cameras are blinding and distracting.<

Not to mention what they do to the pigments, fabrics and paper.

Hi Trav,

>we were told by several people it was not allowed to photograph shop windows without permission of the owner...is this true??<

It is not illegal. However, many shopkeepers think of their window displays as works of art and do not want people photographing them.

A major reason for this is that there are people (I know it sounds incredible) who take photos of clothing, etc in Paris and Milan and send these photos digitally to places where they are then copied.

Our last visit to Paris, we saw two women doing this at about 11:00 PM.

I agree with the individual who stated that you were allowed to take pictures of people on the streets. I was in Paris last year and as my friend and i were walking along the street a near by french military officer took out his camera, aimed it right at me, and took my picture. However, since i noticed him getting out his camera, i too grabbed my camera. I now have a picture of a him taking a picture of me.

Should i be flattered or am i on France's most wanted list?

<<There are generally no restrictions on photography of police officers or military personnel, although they don't always seem to know this.>>

Good thing, too, because I have a fetish about men in uniform and make it a point to bring home a few snaps of the native police in uniform.

If you want some excitement, go into the fancy Apple computer store in Seattle and try to take a snapshot. I was so impressed with the futuristic-looking store, I was inspired to pull out my digital camera to take a picture of my grandson in front of a computer, and security came out of nowhere to very sternly chastize me. Trade secrets, aparently.

>I agree with the individual who stated that you were allowed to take pictures of people on the streets. <

There is a difference between "legal" and "polite".

It never hurts to ask.

It's perfectly legal to take pictures of store windows in Paris.

Most people have no clue to what they are talking about when it comes to laws restricting the creation and use of photographs … and this includes some photographers. Nowadays, the media have made most of the world paranoid, and instead of smiling and being happy to have their picture taken, the way they might have fifty years ago, they now become violent and abusive and insist that the photographer is breaking a law or should pay them $30,000 for the dubious privilege of recording them on film.

It's all a part of a developing culture of fear about everything.

Ira,

Thanks for that info....I also thought it might be an old law that is just not enforced any more....what you say makes perfect sense since so many of the windows really show tremendous creativity..."works of art" is an apt description ...

Hi AG,

>It's perfectly legal to take pictures of store windows in Paris.<

The point is not whether it is legal, but whether it is polite.

I loved this photo I took of a store window in Baden Baden during horseracing season, when ladies'hats were all over town:
http://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=Mar...mp;ILD=2065261
I would have been so sad if I'd gotten busted.

I love taking pictures of shop windows in France as they are so creatively and tastefully done. It's not illegal, but an irate French woman berated us when we took a picture of the window of her bridal shop window in Paris. She kept yelling "it's mine! it's mine!" I think she thought we were going to copy the dresses.

Perhaps she had good reason to think just that--previous bad experiences.

As Ira says, it never hurts to ask first.

Thanks you all for the replies. I did not want to do a "Faux-pas" and take pics where I was not supposed to.

I will add a lot of 4 x 6 postcards to my album to suplement my own photos.

Thanks a Million...

Really postcards are a wonderful addition to trip photos, and a good way to 'index' different places (I put a postcard with a country map on the top of the pile of snapshots).

One thing that is more manners than legality... I would never take a photo of a person without permission (a green grocers behind their produce display) or giving money (street performers).

It's polite to take pictures of shop windows, too. If the shopkeeper doesn't want something photographed, he should not display it in a huge window designed specifically to expose things to the passing public. You cannot have your cake and eat it, too.

In my church, photography is not allowed during a funeral, baptismm or wedding service. Really, during any religious service. While photos are allowed inside the church , all photography takes place before of after religious services. This sometimes ticks off people who come into our church ONLY these three times during their life.

Those three times are among the most important in many persons' lives; it doesn't surprise me that they would be upset if photography is forbidden just because of some groundless taboo.