‘Photo please’ extortionists

Nick-H

Check out some of the slim, slim young women ---working as building-site labourers.

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

Sama

LB, tell them that in America, the subject pays the PHOTOGRAPHER for the shot!!

you're a better person than I -- if a woman would have attacked me like that -- and I consider what she did to you an attack no less than being punched -- it would not be a pretty picture....I think my ahimsa would have flown out the window....

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My India, 2005-2008
BE THE REVOLUTION

PeakXV

..... there are a small but persistent group of little ba$tards that roam old Delhi - one day you see them the next day they are gone - learn from it, & understand that their intimidation probably gets the a 500rps note from time to time - and move on from the experience.

But do get back on your horse and return on a "different day" and try again with the same goals but with renewed tactics!

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We shall not cease from exploration and at the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started ...and know the place for the first time.
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Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

argy39

I agree with Tasuray in regards to asking for permission to take photo's. Whilst photo's of a crowd or street scene with people I wouldn't bother. If I were to take a "deliberate" photo of a single/small group of people I would always ask for permission. I just feel it to be good manners.(a bit off thred I know)
Regards
Russell

nattynoo

I've found this thread most interesting & informative. I'm sorry for your experience Lotusblossom but thank you for posting it. It certainly has helped me be prepared & I'm certain will help others too.
I put myself in your situation with the violent woman & pondered how I would of handled it....... you did well. Would I have retaliated???? not as a lone woman but if a fellow traveller was with me ..... maybe. Would that have been wise?? probably not!! I know one thing, there's no way she would of got my camera!!

Hyderabadi

Couple of night pictures of mine from that area..

capt_mahajan

In all probability, the woman was trying to harrass LB enough to get money and was not after the camera.

Which doesn't make the experience less harrowing, of course.

goangoangone

I tell them they must pay me 20/-

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GoanGoan......here

ranjan154

Its a very sad incidence, but i guess photographing here in india is not that easy.. i have had couple of incidences . Once a sadhu was asking for a bootle of RUM

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Rakesh Ranjan
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/travinfoindia/

New-South-Welshman

That kind put my thoughts as ease to what to do if I ever was confronted to a situation like Lotus Blossoms.

Just like pretending to have a seisure when getting mugged, if I ever did get mugged.

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Mr. Burns "Non-violence never solved anything!"

sirensongs

Actually, in this case there was no need to ask - the kid INSISTED that LB take the photo - then afterward asked for rupees. That is misleading and unfair, hence the word 'extortion.'

The woman was quite possibly after the camera. Why else would she grab it?

There are numerous such stories, including a couple of my own, of law enforcement trumping up excuses to confiscate foreign tourists' cameras. ("Camera not allowed here!" so where is the sign saying that? - okay then, I will put it away. "You must give camera!") A Chennai railways official grabbed my camera while it was hanging around my neck and on my chest (which I believe amounts to "outraging my modesty").

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"Why do people go to India to find themselves? India is where you go to lose yourself."
Feringhee: The India Diaries

lotus blossom

thanks for all the comments!

yogagal, i know what you mean. incidents like these test my ahimsa, because there is the instint to strike back! but, my instincts told me that doing so would've escalated the situation to an even more dangerous level!

i still maintain that asking persmission to take a point blank photo of someone is best (unless it is a candid one in which they're not even aware of it, or if it is at a rally/protest type situation). a photo of people in crowds, of course, it is a different thing.

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Not all who wander are lost

batistuta

I wish you had made a scene in the railway station SS,as you are proficient in Tamil,the public would have taken your side if you had described what happened.
This kind of behaviour by Indian officials is disgusting .

capt_mahajan

maybe we need a thread on what toursits should do in situations like this.

batistuta

.A bit of agression is good,but one needs to be careful where to use it because if the traveller is alone then he/she will be in a very tough situation if all these extortion fools get together .
It wont help if the traveller does not knw the local language.It is a catch-22 situation as most (not all)indians will just stand and watch what happens rather than help out anyone if anything goes wrong.LB ,in my opinion did the rt thing by walking away from that woman who was harassing her.