Photographing a 16 Year-Old Girl

Geez, lighten up people! Your reactions are precisely why the general public thinks photogaphers are creepy.

Photography is not sex! Photography is not dirty! There's nothing "weird" about photographing a 16, 14, hell even 6 year old unless you make it weird!

I'm actually a parent of a 16 year old girl. If a male photographer approached her to take her picture I would assume the worst and not be happy about it. I would only shoot minors if you are asked by their parents. Its the only safe and proper way to do this.

Honestly, the fact that you are facebook friends with a 16 year old you met at the supermarket and thinking about photographing her means you are probably already asking for trouble.

cdifoto wrote in post #11734894
Geez, lighten up people! Your reactions are precisely why the general public thinks photogaphers are creepy.

Photography is not sex! Photography is not dirty! There's nothing "weird" about photographing a 16, 14, hell even 6 year old unless you make it weird!

Its not weird if you are asked by the parents. IMO soliciting a minor directly for anything makes you suspicious. Even if YOU are solicited directly by a minor, you should tell them to have their parent call you.

Exactly. I refuse to yield to the paranoia. There's nothing inherently wrong with photos of people at any age. We're not talking nudes, or even swimsuit photos. We're talking head shots and fully clothed shots with parental permission.

Thorrulz wrote in post #11733603
I wouldn't touch it without mom being there during the shoot. And that's with the consent forms signed.

BIG +1. This will totally eliminate ANY problem that could cause you grief along the "dirty old man" lines.

Thomas, I think it depends on how old you are. I used to photograph lots of friends when I was 18 and they were 16, 17 and my age.

Now if I were to do that today... I'd say anyone with reasonable intelligence would question my intentions. I simply would not do this unless parents or family asked me to. I'm 52...

If you are friends and close in age, then probably no problem.

tkbslc wrote in post #11735054
Its not weird if you are asked by the parents. IMO soliciting a minor directly for anything makes you suspicious. Even if YOU are solicited directly by a minor, you should tell them to have their parent call you.

No shoot will happen without a discussion with a parent and a signed form and parental presence. And, btw, the Facebook add was her request. She wanted to see some photos I took in the Caribbean and I agreed to let her. All the paranoia I find really sad. I'm FB friends with people as young as 10. It's a terrific tool for keeping in touch with people. Thanks to FB I knew a friend's 10 year-old daughter was sick and wished her a speedy recovery.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with being friends with a young person. Friendships aren't about sex. Nor is photography.

ThomasOwenM wrote in post #11735103
There's absolutely nothing wrong with being friends with a young person. Friendships aren't about sex.

That is very easy to say when you do not have children to watch over. Think about it from the outside though. What if a male friend of yours told you about this cool teenage girl he met and they were going to go hang out? Nothing would cross your mind? Assuming you had a younger sister, what if the same thing happened to her. "Hey, this guy I helped at the store wants me to come over and take my picture at his studio!". No warning bells go off?

RandyMN wrote in post #11735097
Thomas, I think it depends on how old you are. I used to photograph lots of friends when I was 18 and they were 16, 17 and my age.

Now if I were to do that today... I'd say anyone with reasonable intelligence would question my intentions. I simply would not do this unless parents or family asked me to. I'm 52...

If you are friends and close in age, then probably no problem.

I'm younger than you, but not that close to her age. I'm starting to think you might be right, unfortunately. This might work if I end up knowing her parents first. I live in a somewhat small community, so that's possible. If they know me they'll know I'm not who the paranoid people think I must be. It's sad that there's so much panic over people of different ages befriending one another. It makes me miss living in Europe where attitudes were more relaxed.

tkbslc wrote in post #11735130
That is very easy to say when you do not have children to watch over. Think about it from the outside though. What if a male friend of yours told you about this cool teenage girl he met and they were going to go hang out? Nothing would cross your mind? Assuming you had a younger sister, what if the same thing happened to her. "Hey, this guy I helped at the store wants me to come over and take my picture at his studio!". No warning bells go off?

No loud or terrifying warning bells, no. I would want to know the details before jumping to any conclusions. See my previous post. What I'll likely do is see if there's a way I can end up knowing her father first. I haven't met him, but I know of him in a small community, and there's a good chance I might meet him in the business that I'm in.

Having worked in 2 different industries where contact with children was a big part of the job I can tell you that your carefree approach to being friends with and possibly photographing minors is going to land you in trouble one day.
In a way it is nice that you think this way but, unfortunately in today's world you are being very naive.
I am criminal background checked, drug tested and trained in detecting and dealing with child abuse. In my former positions it was absolutely forbidden for a male to be alone with an under age female under any circumstances and in a home visit you could not be alone with male or female. It was also against policy to friend any minor on any social networking site or to share cellphone numbers or email addresses. Not saying it didn't happen but the people who did it could have been setting themselves up for a world of hurt.

Just as an example of how little things can lead to big problems: in one workplace a very nice older gentleman commented on a young lady's hair - a new style or whatever - but he used the word "hot". He never thought and probably never even understood that it could be taken as a sexual overture but his comment was overheard by another staffer and he lost his job. That's how PC we've become and you can hate it all you want and stand against it and all that but don't cry when all DVDs, CDs, VHS tapes, memory cards, cameras and computers are removed from your home one day and you don't see them for a few months while rumors fly around your neighborhood about the child molester who got raided by the Feds. All it takes is one hint from one person who knows that you've been taking pictures of a minor child.
Hell, I wouldn't do this even for a family friend with a parent present, signed agreements notarized and an independent witness sworn in.

Contact the parents, ask their permission first, let them know you would like to do free photo shoot for experience as well as letting them know what your intentions for the photos are,I.E. they get free photos, let them know that at least one of them would be needed to also be there, If this was my daughter I would be fine with that. Just be upfront and honest.

I'll make this perfectly clear - you can have an opinion and you can share it, but personal attacks are not tolerated here. A reasonable discussion is fine, but attacks will get this thread closed ASAP.

cdifoto wrote in post #11734894
Geez, lighten up people! Your reactions are precisely why the general public thinks photogaphers are creepy.

Photography is not sex! Photography is not dirty! There's nothing "weird" about photographing a 16, 14, hell even 6 year old unless you make it weird!

I agree with this. Folks, it's not impossible to photograph young girls. In this case, the OP does need to back away just a bit from the girl and make contact with the parents from now on.

But I agree that being a photographer is not a crime--it's not an indication of either terrorist or perverted tendencies, and we've all got to stop recoiling from what we do as though we're afraid of being Mr Hyde.

"I'm a portrait photographer her in town, and I think you would make a wonderful subject. Here is my card--you can see the kind of work I do on my website. I'd like to talk to your parents about making your portrait. Would you mind giving my card to them and asking them to call me? This would be at no cost to you."

How do you think high school senior photographers get student reps? The reps need to be juniors in high school to be effective--which means they're minors. This happens all over the United States.

aphphoto wrote in post #11735201
Having worked in 2 different industries where contact with children was a big part of the job I can tell you that your carefree approach to being friends with and possibly photographing minors is going to land you in trouble one day.
In a way it is nice that you think this way but, unfortunately in today's world you are being very naive.
I am criminal background checked, drug tested and trained in detecting and dealing with child abuse. In my former positions it was absolutely forbidden for a male to be alone with an under age female under any circumstances and in a home visit you could not be alone with male or female. It was also against policy to friend any minor on any social networking site or to share cellphone numbers or email addresses. Not saying it didn't happen but the people who did it could have been setting themselves up for a world of hurt.

Just as an example of how little things can lead to big problems: in one workplace a very nice older gentleman commented on a young lady's hair - a new style or whatever - but he used the word "hot". He never thought and probably never even understood that it could be taken as a sexual overture but his comment was overheard by another staffer and he lost his job. That's how PC we've become and you can hate it all you want and stand against it and all that but don't cry when all DVDs, CDs, VHS tapes, memory cards, cameras and computers are removed from your home one day and you don't see them for a few months while rumors fly around your neighborhood about the child molester who got raided by the Feds. All it takes is one hint from one person who knows that you've been taking pictures of a minor child.
Hell, I wouldn't do this even for a family friend with a parent present, signed agreements notarized and an independent witness sworn in.

There is someone else, a 25 year-old who I've photographed performing music before, who I'll ask. And there's always the possibility of photographing the other one after she's turned 18.

It's sad that there's this much paranoia.