Street photography

For one of my next assignments I need to shoot street images and capture the “moment”. In itself one of the more difficult assignments because one has no control over events or the fact that someone interesting will pass by or something interesting will happen at all.

But only one or two hours into the assignment – I was taking pictures around Soho – I was already verbally abused twice for attempting to take a picture of someone. I am shooting with a 35mm lens so I have to get close and people notice when I am taking a picture. I am also generally not sneaking up to people. Well, I guess it is true what my professor said the other day: “Photography is not for the faint-hearted”.

But still: Why are some people so paranoid about having their picture taken in public places while going on about their daily lives?