I Still Shoot Film

So I feel like I should clarify a little bit from when I said, “street shooting is illegal in France.” It’s not exactly that broad, so I’ll explain:

• Any photographing of persons without their consent is illegal

• Any “professional” shoot (meaning if you have lights and/or a team) requires property releases for any recognizable monument or street. Yes, street.

• Photographing of certain monuments. For example, the famous story of “it’s illegal to photograph the Eiffel Tower” is this: it’s not illegal to photograph the Eiffel Tower… during the day or when the light show isn’t on. The light show is copyrighted by the company that puts it on, and that’s what you’re not allowed to photograph.

Since street shooting for me personally means shooting people, my version of street shooting is technically illegal… but other than that you can definitely take pictures in the street if you’re a tourist.

**Addition: On all of these points it does not matter if you intend to use the photo commercially or not, I know from personal experience. If you have big lights, someone will come up to you for a property release guaranteed. For people shooting, it’s considered “an invasion of privacy” whether you make money off of the photos or not.