Pragmatism

In reality, there is a pragmatic middle ground that should be taken into consideration for most any problem. This is where reasonable, practical judgment comes into play and brings a balanced perspective to the fore. We are all very afraid of being sued, and many photographers are extremely worried that simply photographing someone potentially violates his privacy or other statutes. But, the pragmatic reality is that most situations are not liabilities. This is a pivotal part of the Risk/Reward Analysis. But pragmatism is not a guarantee—it's just an educated guess about what is most likely to happen under the given circumstances. This means that you have to have had practical experience in the world to develop that sensibility.




Here's where the business dilemma comes up: if you have an opportunity to license an image in some way that should have a model release, but you don't have one (and can't get one), what do you do? Here, you have a judgment call to make. Since this scenario is far more likely to happen than you will ever anticipate, apply pragmatism, and be prepared to deal with the worst-case scenario. Many of the issues discussed above outline the basic foundations of understanding risk. The sections that follow will enumerate more scenarios for consideration, but they are not complete by any means. The possibilities are infinite, and the pages I can dedicate to the subject are finite. All I can do is try to establish a pattern from which you can extrapolate into your own experiences.

To that end, let's start with something you will undoubtedly run into with a client someday.