&gt;treating your subjects like people - explaining what you&#x27;re doing, engaging with them respectfully<p>No qualms with that --most experienced photographers will follow that advice.  Still, all photographers have the right to photograph in public.<p>A tiny minority of the time people don&#x27;t give the photographer time to explain, fortunately most times, people act indifferently, but sometimes annoyed and self righteous and seldomly violent.<p>There is a misconception however, by some people, even the ones who are agreeable that a photographer needs permission.  It&#x27;s simply not true.  But yes, I agree they need to respect people as much as they can.  (if you&#x27;re going to photograph a man passed out in vomit for some kind of documentary, avoid showing their recognizable face, for example, but that&#x27;s not a fast rule.