You can do whatever you want, but there are consequences for your actions. If you leave the photos up maybe they help you get into uni, but also maybe you lose a friend. Conversely, you can take them down to appease your friend but maybe it’s harder to get into uni. You have to choose what’s more important to you.

Everyone has a different opinion on this. I’m a fan of street photography and I’m generally ok with posting it, and do so myself. Your edit hit most of the points where I’m not ok with it, such as poverty/homelessness, kids, and people in compromising situations, negative situations, or obviously private moments. Street photography to me is about documenting a specific area and period in time, and the people are part of the area and time.

If you feel any guilt doing it, then well…

I am a Street Photographer, who does other types of photography to support my SP habit. I shoot who ever I want to, where I want to. When I want to. Always shoot Whatever you are interested in at any given moment. I find a lot of people feel the same as I do. Seek out SP’s on YouTube and look at their work. Does yours compare? Can you improve? Yes, Add emotion to your captures! Always have a wow factor in the photo’s you share! If it’s a bland or boring photo, nothing interesting? kill it when you cull your photos! As far as people who feel as your friend, Always remember you will outgrow many people in your lifetime! Let them go their own way. You do as you want and find new people to photograph with that build you up!!! Look for SP Manifesto’s on a google search read a few then research the style of the SP Photographer that wrote the one’s you found interesting!! Great Light, awesome locations, and the best SP photographer companions, keep me motivated!

If it’s in public, it’s legal to shoot photographs of people. Whether they like it or not.

You cannot use those photos to make money without their permission.

But if they are in public. It’s public. They can’t say shit about it.

On a slightly different note, I find it funny people getting upset about taking photos of people in public. Some(!) of the most famous images we have from the past to give context to our understanding of modern history are candid photos of people going about their daily lives. I often wonder how future historians will filter through all the traces we leave behind (in particular social media and photos and videos) and how they will differentiate between what was real and what was put on for show. One of the biggest debates on history is about how history was recorded and by whom and for what purpose- a lot of it was written by people with power and influence and this could really start to change over the next few generations. Anyway taking candid photos of life is fascinating…

For example, in Germany, even in public, it’s illegal to take a photo of someone in a public space, and show it without asking for consent, privacy it’s a serious issue there. And I think that’s great, because I wouldn’t wanna be in someone’s photo album without consent.

Imagine if, since the dawn of photography people had been so worried about this that they either never photographed people in public spaces or never shared such photographs. How much the poorer would we be in history and in art? It’s kind of unthinkable. As photographers we need to exercise a degree of discretion, but… we also must fight to protect the right to photograph in public. There already exist rules about commercial use and that sort of thing.

And don’t assume people don’t want to be photographed. You actually have no idea. Most are either ambivalent about it or even flattered by it. People see me photographing all the time, a lot of people ask me to photograph them. Not all even want the photo. They just wanted to be seen. People who really have a problem will let you know. Then it’s up to you if you want to delete or make certain assurances or whatever.

If a person is the sole subject, take the photo and ask them if it’s OK. Offer to send the finished product to them for free. If someone took a candid photo of me and it looked good, I wouldn’t mind so long as I had a copy

Whilst I think that arguments about identity ownership and privacy are very important, I think the general opinion of street photography, or candid photography of people, has really taken a strange turn.

I watched a video not long ago of someone expressing that any kind of street photography is exploitative. I stayed up all night thinking about it because it’s the only kind of photography I really love. After thinking long and hard, on the cusp of deleting everything I’d worked on all these years, I decided I wasn’t exploiting anyone in photographs I had taken.

I rarely ask for consent, because 90% of the photographs I take are of street scenes where the people themselves are not the core story. If I take a photograph of a person, I will tell them afterwards and show it to them and delete if they’re uncomfortable in any way. I never take photographs of people when they are vulnerable, this includes things like eating, sleeping, drinking, caught up in an accident or whatever.

Here’s my rule: if I take a photograph of a street and you happen to be on it, and your face or any distinguishing features are not visible, then I’m good to go. If I make you the central feature and you are recognizable then I need to ask consent.

However, one thing we have to consider in this age is the use of AI. If we post their image somewhere, we’re seemingly allowing that image to be raked and reused in an image that some AI vomits out somewhere (fuck AI). I personally think this makes things even more complex.

It goes without saying, but never kids. Leave kids alone. Unfortunately, AI has made this even worse as I’m reading stories already of vile degenerates using AI to make CP.

Oh yeah, and fuck AI to hell.

TL;DR: if face is recognizable, ask consent. Don’t photograph kids in any way. AI has made this issue way worse be very careful with people’s likeness, they can be made to do anything. Fuck AI.

Your friend is totally over reacting.

If it did not paint those people in an obviously bad way you are doing nothing wrong.

Run to the uni and tell them you’re hear and ask them for advice

unfortunately, most of my non-photogrpahy friends find it rather strange to take pictures of strangers

No you’re not a horrible person. It’s documentery style photography plain and simple.

If you’re not doing the pap and leveraging the public street argument to shoot over hedges at people sunbathing I don’t see an issue. Street photography is and always has been a great form of art, expression, and record of life. 0 issues - though in the uk there are laws about children I think , faces have to be obscured. Double check that.