I am a photographer and I go on dates in NYC quite frequently. One of the first date ideas that I sometimes suggest is a photo walk, which I usually prefer to do as it is fun and free.
If we go on a photo date, I usually bring my camera and we take photos at a public place (e.g. shops at SoHo or the High Line park). Often we take pictures of each other. Obviously, I always get their (verbal) permission before taking any photos of them. Usually, they’re very fond of the photos I take as I have a nice mirrorless camera with a decent lens.
If my date ends up ghosting me after the date, am I allowed to post any pictures of them that I took with my camera on social media (e.g. Instagram), without getting their explicit permission? Is this legally allowed?
I tried doing some digging online about this, and it seems like any photo I take of another person in public is fair game since they did not have any reasonable expectation of privacy there.
What about photos that they took of me with my camera? Am I legally allowed to post those?
In my mind, if I’ve spent the money traveling over to them (I live very far from the city) and the time taking photos with them, and they ghost me (which I find to be extremely disrespectful), I might as well get something out of it by posting any pictures that I thought were really nice on social media, or as part of my portfolio.
You already know the legal answer here. For the moral question, you could try the old consulting trick: don’t ask for permission (since you don’t need it), but tell them that you plan on publishing unless they tell you not to by date X.
She’s also an adult. She had every chance during the date to revoke her consent or tell you to stop taking pictures. If you give her a chance to respond specifically to this topic, and she still chooses not to do so, then in my book you’re fine.