Because I'm ruthless with a camera, that's why.(posted 8600 days ago)I regularly respect the wishes of potential subjects, even in candid scenarios, and I even have been asking permission sometimes (as opposed to waiting for a specific smile or welcoming "glint" in people's eyes), especially in countries other than the U.S. But I also make a conscious effort not to take the notion of "victimizing" too far or too seriously. The fact of the matter is, I don't always ask permission, and sometimes I get shots of people who would prefer not to be photographed. It's sometimes the nature of being a street photographer, and it requires judgment and sensitivity. Was I insensitive here? I don't know the answer, and neither do you for sure. You gotta admit, though, if you had to ask permission from everyone you took photographs of, you'd end up with quite a few boring, posed shots, wouldn't you?
It didn't appear to me that this little girl specifically did NOT want me to take her photograph. From a few minutes leading up to the moment of the exposure, it was clear she was simply playing hide and go seek me and other members of my party. Here, she bolted to behind somebody standing next to me, not because she was afraid of being photographed, but because she was playing a game. And she won!