DEAR ABBY: In responding to "A.O. in Los Angeles," you said, "Photographing strangers without permission is a clear invasion of their privacy."
Do you recall a photograph of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square on VJ Day? How about a teen-ager bent over a fatally wounded student at Kent State? A multitude of well-known (and important) photographs were taken of strangers (not celebrities) without their permission. Because of this "invasion of privacy," we have the masterworks of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Diane Arbus, Dorothea Lange, Robert Doisneau, Sebastian Salgado and more.
As far as the law is concerned, if a person is in a public place or taking part in a public activity, he or she is a part of the environment and may be photographed.
Please set the record straight! -- KRISTINA BRENDEL, PHOTOGRAPHER AND INVADER OF PRIVACY, SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ.
DEAR KRISTINA: I stand corrected and thank you for setting me (and the record) straight.