Usually, a view like this will cost you an $8 beer. But for Brian Cameron, a 44-year-old digital initiatives librarian at Ryerson University, all he needed was to point his camera lens out his office window. Ten of Cameron’s photos of several unsuspecting dancers in skimpy lingerie on top of the Zanzibar Tavern surfaced on the blog, Torontoist, Wednesday. They were originally posted on his Flickr site.
In the frames, the women are chatting on their cell phones, smoking cigarettes or just taking a break. “The impression you get (from Torontoist) is I spend a lot of time out my window, which is not actually true,” Cameron said. “If you look at my Flickr site, I have 2,700 photos ... sometimes you take photos of things that are unusual.”
The librarian took the photos over a period of several days in August and September, but said he’s known the strippers to hang out on the roof of the Yonge St. strip club for years.
“Out of a photography context, they take on a different meaning,” he said. “When they were on Flickr, the comments were actually positive. When they were posted online (on Torontoist)...it makes me look like a pervert. I’m not.”
But Zanzibar owner Allen Cooper called Cameron’s photos a violation of his staff’s privacy.
In the frames, the women are chatting on their cell phones, smoking cigarettes or just taking a break. “The impression you get (from Torontoist) is I spend a lot of time out my window, which is not actually true,” Cameron said. “If you look at my Flickr site, I have 2,700 photos ... sometimes you take photos of things that are unusual.”
The librarian took the photos over a period of several days in August and September, but said he’s known the strippers to hang out on the roof of the Yonge St. strip club for years.
“Out of a photography context, they take on a different meaning,” he said. “When they were on Flickr, the comments were actually positive. When they were posted online (on Torontoist)...it makes me look like a pervert. I’m not.”
But Zanzibar owner Allen Cooper called Cameron’s photos a violation of his staff’s privacy.
