@ Scotty72

>> Firstly, the obvious... if a lady decides to walk topless along Bondi Beach, is it possibly in anyway reasonable for her to demand privacy?

Its perfectly reasonable of her to expect to feel comfortable being topless on Bondi Beach. Its a beach not a studio. If being photographed topless infringes on that then its perfectly reasonable of her to demand some kind of privacy, imo.

>> If you (the general you) and I are in public, what gives you the right to control what I choose to photograph? To do so is to suggest that your rights are superior to mine.

Thats quite right. Her rights to feel comfortable topless on Bondi Beach are, imo, superior to your rights to photograph what you want. In a way this becomes a gender issue. If you give carte blanche to photographers to photograph women topless on the Beach you will by proxy limit womens freedomes. They will cover up if they feel they'll be photographed left right and center.

>> As for the notion that shopping centre security cameras are somehow benign... totally wrong.

You introduced the notion that security cameras are benign, commenting that theives would love a world where security cameras were banned. And you were right before the u-turn. In extreme cases security cameras might be used nefariously, likewise, now and then street photographers might be noticed by their subjects. Essentially though, street photography and cctv are completely different.

>> I wish more people would stop believing that their wishes / beliefs were all that matters.

lol. You're not exactly arguing that your beliefs don't matter. On the contrary, you are arguing that your wish to photograph what you want trumps all other concerns.

Personally, I think the concerns of photographers matter very much here. We might not all be Henri Carier-Bresson but candid photography is important enough culturally to deserve some kind of protection. Equally, in some contexts candid photography is not appropriate and the people being photographed deserve some kind of protection. The trick is to draw a reasonable line that satisfies *both* 'whims'.