Sam, probably the easiest way to answer how people look would be to have lots of photos of people on the street going about their daily lives.
In the past, when I’ve traveled, I’ve often snapped away at random strangers.
For instance, these musicians in Peru.–>
In a discussion with my roommate for the fellowship, I agreed that a country is its people.
However, before we traveled to South Africa, we were given some guidelines on photography.
- EF would be taking photos and sharing them.
- We are a guest in a foreign country and would not know all the cultural norms around photography. “Extreme poverty, accidents, military or police are always off limits.”
- Be mindful of taking photos with people-especially selfies. Treat “people like people-not like scenery.”
- If you have built a connection with a person, it may be appropriate to take their picture. Ask permission first.
- Don’t take pictures of minors.
- Think before sharing photos on social media.
- Animals, tourist sites, performances are pretty much fair game, but if uncertain. ask.
- A final reminder, there will be photos available so you don’t always have to always have the camera out.
At first, these sound great, yet when out and about can be easy to forget.
Whoops, didn’t think about #2, another photo I snapped in Peru. 
And #3
Violation of #5 I took in Austria.
As we walked through the South Peninsula school, a group of students saw my camera and asked if I wanted to take a picture. Without thinking, I snapped away and our leader/guide reminded me “Absolutely no photos of minors”.
Believe me, I wrestled with these guidelines a bit. I am a teacher. In a sense, I am documenting what I see to enlighten students about conditions. And then, as I started to think more, particularly how I feel when someone takes and shares photos of me, I began to reconsider my photography practice. How would I feel if people randomly showed up and started taking pictures of my home? How do I feel when people post random, unflattering photos of me online? I started asking more people if I could take their picture which felt awkward timing and sometimes meant I missed out on a photo (for example, Nicholas Wolpe, the son of Harold Wolpe who had purchased Lilliesleaf).
I tried to be better at “treating people like people-not like scenery”. It’s a work in progress. I think the big umbrella rule would be – TREAT PEOPLE AS EQUALS -IF YOU WOULDN’T LIKE SOMETHING, DON’T DO IT TO OTHERS.
Bigger picture, it makes me also consider how to persuade people to accept norms when it might cause them to deal with their own faults. I didn’t like being addressed as an ignorant tourist as opposed to a teacher seeking enlightenment. The guidelines might have gone over better if we had been brought into the process of creating them. I didn’t appreciate being lectured after I deleted the inappropriate pictures. And my eyes glazed over when some PC terms were thrown into the mix instead of using an appeal to empathy.
But back to how people look on the streets, I thought of another idea, take a picture of the clothing shops!