Downtown Amherst Contra has its photo policy included in its safety / values policy: http://amherstcontra.org/Amherst_Contradance/Safety_Policy.html On Wed, Mar 17, 2021, 10:21 PM Winston, Alan P. via Organizers < organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote:

We have a photography policy for minors and musicians. It's part of our social contract. Photography, Videography, and Recording ● Permission of the responsible adult must be obtained before publishing photos or videos of minor children. ● Permission of the performers should be obtained before making videos or recordings. Lisa - Country Dancers of Rochester On Wed, Mar 17, 2021 at 10:28 PM Jeff Kaufman via Organizers < organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: -- *Seneca Falls. Selma. Stonewall.*

Hi Jeff, Also from our social contract: Children ● Children are welcome; however, those under 18 must come with an adult. Lisa On Fri, Mar 19, 2021 at 1:01 PM Jeff Kaufman &lt;jeff(a)alum.swarthmore.edu&gt; wrote: -- *Seneca Falls. Selma. Stonewall.*

It's my understanding that most dances are held in non-public spaces, and thus, not public gatherings. No? On Fri, Mar 19, 2021, 7:10 PM Stephen Moore via Organizers < organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote:

I believe that public gatherings are any gatherings that welcome the public whether they’re paying or not. So aside from publicly-owned facilities, all spaces are privately-owned. Tanglewood is privately owned… Fenway Park is privately owned, but they are still public gatherings. If a dance community decided to form a club with membership which was required for entry (like a members-only golf course) then those would be private events. Invitation-only events are not public events like weddings. But our dances, which we advertise in hopes of having the public come (and in the serious hope that we’ll have some new dancers each night!) are public events. Stephen Moore Lenox Contra Dance and not a lawyer... Stephen Moore P.O. Box 38 Monterey, MA 01245 413-528-4007

Aside from whether "public invited" counts in privately owned space, lots, maybe most, dances are in public spaces like schools, town halls, even national parks (Glen Echo) On Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 9:48 AM Ron Blechner via Organizers &lt;organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: > > It's my understanding that most dances are held in non-public spaces, and thus, not public gatherings. No? > > > On Fri, Mar 19, 2021, 7:10 PM Stephen Moore via Organizers &lt;organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: >> >> Hello everyone, >> >> Gads, worrying over dancing issues seems so long ago. >> >> Re: photographs. I edit a small town monthly newspaper/journal in western Massachusetts and so the laws around photography are pertinent. >> >> It’s pretty simple as far as what is legal- Photography of people, regardless of age, at a public gathering is permissible without permission. >> >> But as an ongoing event, you might wish to have a more considered approach, especially if someone has raised it within your dance community. >> >> And by example, a school classroom setting is not a public gathering. Common sense should prevail too. >> >> Stephen Moore >> Lenox Contra Dance >> >> On Mar 19, 2021, at 2:32 PM, Lisa Brown via Organizers &lt;organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: >> >> Hi Jeff, >> >> Also from our social contract: >> >> Children >> ● Children are welcome; however, those under 18 must come with an adult. >> >> Lisa >> >> >> >> >> On Fri, Mar 19, 2021 at 1:01 PM Jeff Kaufman &lt;jeff(a)alum.swarthmore.edu&gt; wrote: >>> >>> Hi Lisa, >>> >>> How do you handle situations where someone is taking pictures of the >>> whole crowd if you have minors dancing? >>> >>> Do you not allow people under 18 to attend your dance without a >>> responsible adult? >>> >>> Jeff >>> >>> On Fri, Mar 19, 2021 at 12:27 PM Lisa Brown &lt;lisa(a)cdrochester.org&gt; wrote: >>> > >>> > We have a photography policy for minors and musicians. It's part of our social contract. >>> > >>> > Photography, Videography, and Recording >>> > ● Permission of the responsible adult must be obtained before publishing photos or videos of minor children. >>> > ● Permission of the performers should be obtained before making videos or recordings. >>> > >>> > Lisa - Country Dancers of Rochester >>> > >>> > On Wed, Mar 17, 2021 at 10:28 PM Jeff Kaufman via Organizers &lt;organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: >>> >> >>> >> BIDA has: >>> >> >>> >> "Photography: We don't have a photography policy, and it is common for >>> >> dancers to take pictures and post them on social media." -- >>> >> https://www.bidadance.org/accessibility >>> >> >>> >> We talked a lot about ways in which we could potentially make the >>> >> dance better for people who don't want to be photographed or have >>> >> their pictures shared, but we ended up running into the same problems >>> >> Alan describes. >>> >> >>> >> If you have a place where people can trust that photos of them will >>> >> not appear on social media without them having the option to opt out, >>> >> then there are people who can come to your dance who couldn't >>> >> otherwise. On the other hand, if you make some effort in this >>> >> direction but it still happens, which is what will happen unless you >>> >> have quite strict enforcement (especially with newcomers), you aren't >>> >> successfully making the dance more accessible and you are making the >>> >> dance less enjoyable for dancers who like sharing photos. >>> >> >>> >> Jeff >>> >> >>> >> On Wed, Mar 17, 2021 at 10:19 PM Winston, Alan P. via Organizers >>> >> &lt;organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: >>> >> > >>> >> > BACDS started trying to address this 10 or so years ago when we wanted to put dance images in our publicity and privacy concerns meant that we couldn't just use pictures. It was very frustrating that while the Board was arguing about this stuff pictures of our dances from random dancers were turning up on FB with no concern for privacy. We eventually concluded that if we were going to take publicity photos we'd let people know beforehand, announce what dance in the evening we were going to do it in, and let people sit down or leave the room for that one dance. >>> >> > >>> >> > That's okay when you're in charge of the photographer. >>> >> > >>> >> > It turns out to be effectively impossible to really prevent photography without draconian measures like searches at the door and confiscating all the cellphones. >>> >> > >>> >> > The people who don't want to be photographed range from people who just have a preference to people for whom it's a matter of survival - those who have fled violent abusers or who are, say, in witness protection. You cannot guarantee their safety and they need to understand that you can do at most a best-effort attempt. >>> >> > >>> >> > Given that, it's useful to designate one line as photos okay and have signage at the desk about not photographing outside of that line, but people will still miss or forget the signage, so organizers have to keep an eye on it and announcements have to be made, which may on any given night be for the benefit of people who aren't there. >>> >> > >>> >> > I don't think we've tried giving people "no photos please" badges. That might be effective in that people reviewing images before sharing them will see a reminder in the picture, but it's not likely to be useful for people who livestream a minute of your dance. >>> >> > >>> >> > -- Alan >>> >> > >>> >> > ________________________________ >>> >> > From: Karey Bacon via Organizers &lt;organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; >>> >> > Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2021 6:16 PM >>> >> > To: organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net &lt;organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; >>> >> > Subject: [Organizers] photography policy? >>> >> > >>> >> > Hi all, >>> >> > We in Philadelphia are using our Covid time to try to get some policies done. >>> >> > >>> >> > One thing that has come up is a photography/video policy. Some dancers do not want to appear in any photos or videos. >>> >> > >>> >> > Some ideas we tossed about that have practical drawbacks: >>> >> > -designate one line as always non-photo/video >>> >> > -buttons or badges for those who do not want to be on camera >>> >> > >>> >> > Is this something your dance has grappled with? Anything you've come up with that you're willing to share? >>> >> > >>> >> > Thanks in advance, >>> >> > >>> >> > Karey Bacon >>> >> > she/her/hers >>> >> > 267-437-5641 >>> >> > >>> >> > >>> >> > _______________________________________________ >>> >> > Organizers mailing list -- organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net >>> >> > To unsubscribe send an email to organizers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net >>> >> _______________________________________________ >>> >> Organizers mailing list -- organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net >>> >> To unsubscribe send an email to organizers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > -- >>> > Seneca Falls. Selma. Stonewall. >> >> >> >> -- >> Seneca Falls. Selma. Stonewall. >> _______________________________________________ >> Organizers mailing list -- organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net >> To unsubscribe send an email to organizers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net >> >> >> Stephen Moore >> P.O. Box 38 >> Monterey, MA 01245 >> 413-528-4007 >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Organizers mailing list -- organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net >> To unsubscribe send an email to organizers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list -- organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > To unsubscribe send an email to organizers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net

I think the reason we care about this issue is that while we are a public gathering, we are also a community. We know our community, and many communities in general, include people who have strong preferences for not being recorded, regardless of end use of the photo/video, (and also people under 18), and we want to explore how we can preserve their ability to fully/joyfully participate in the community, while allowing others to take photos and video for promotional and social purposes. Compromises - some people who often take photos at Mt Airy have gotten really good at artistic filters that still capture the energy and beauty of the event while obscuring people's faces. Or one line of the hall can be designated 'off-camera'. An unresolved tension is that performers and organizers benefit from the ability to take video of the whole hall. Capturing the full energy and scale of the event allows organizers to promote the dance and performers to promote themselves to other dances. Maybe the only solution is to blur out the people in a video who wish to be off camera. I hope there are some ways to do this that are accessible for people who aren't tech-savvy. On Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 11:43 AM Alex Shevits via Organizers < organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote:

I have one anecdote to share that may be instructive. I was teaching a photography course at a dance week titled, “How to Take Dance Photos That Don’t Suck.” It was one woman’s bad luck to also be at the dance week, as she was adamantly and vociferously opposed to being photographed, under any circumstance. She was profoundly protective of her privacy, and felt violated that all these people with cameras were lurking about. This became a great learning opportunity in my class to explore issues of permission, implied and explicit, and how to be conscientious and ethical when you photograph a public event. At a dance week, it’s a manageable situation. You get to know everyone in the camp. We all knew who not to photograph, and to delete photos that she was inadvertently in. I can’t say she was completely satisfied, but we did what we could. The porous, public events are more challenging. Back when I was doing the Contradance Calendar I would generally connect with the organizer before showing up at a dance. If there were children in a dance line, I always found a parent to get an OK before I shot. I tracked down anyone who was going to be prominently shown in the calendar to get their permission and their address, so I could send them one. But my situation is unique. I was often invited to photograph at dance events. I’m not casually shooting the way most people are. I remember being startled in the early aughts, at a dance in New Hampshire, and seeing so many people with high end DSLRs taking photos. This was a photographic subject I had had to myself for decades. No longer. I feel my survey of the scene is complete, and I don’t shoot much at dances anymore. I’ll be interested to see where the collective consensus ends up on this subject. Doug Plummer

Thank you for all this information, everyone! I have a lot to take back to our subcommittee. I hope everyone is doing well. *Karey Bacon* she/her/hers *267-437-5641* On Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 7:19 PM Lisa Marie Lunt via Organizers < organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: