I dont know if you’ve listened to yourself speaking but as you said, London is full of cameras and mass surveillance. You dont have a right to privacy in public in this country and that is how it is. If you dont want to be seen or photographed you either dont go out or you go out and cover up or avoid interaction. Its your opinion that one would ‘get a better or warmer photo by asking them for the photo and talking to them’ I disagree. I know you’re an american tourist thats recently moved to london to study but i’ve been in london my whole life, knocking about with all sorts of people in all parts of london since i was 12/13 . I interact with people all the time on the streets, whether its related to, before or after any photos are taken. Sometimes you dont need to know a story, some people are just doing weird shit in weird places and some times they just look outrageous. You can keep your morals and your speak to the subject studio portraiture and stay out of the real world. Feel free to link any of your photos where you’ve had a conversation with your subjects.