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Can The Right Photo Be No Photo?

Photo by Lesley Fisher

Last Friday I did a blog post that drew a considerable response. The post titled “What is your Un-Suck Filter?” asked what things photographers do to savage an image, but ended in a deep conversation on the ethics of shooting images in cultures other than our own.

One reader made this comment with respect to cultural or travel photography: “How many people understand that their (or especially their children’s) photo will be used to promote a photographers professional reputation? Do they get asked if their image can be reproduced whether they agree with the context or not? Are Westerners the only people predominantly doing this?” I would like to expound on this and maybe try to bring some balance.

As we travel the world, we find things that are different and interesting and often visually exciting—things we are not used to seeing at home. So we snap a quick picture for our memories and move on. Not a problem…generally. But this gets complicated quickly. Where does our subject’s right to privacy start and where do we start becoming rude and obnoxious? There’s no easy answer however there are some common sense guidelines we can use.

Here’s a sample scenario. You are walking through a village in Thailand and you see an old man sitting smoking a classic pipe. He is wearing a traditional dress that is very colorful and the scene would make a great photo, what do you do? Here are some things to consider.

The best way to gather images in any village setting is to slow down and spend time in the village. Let the people there learn to trust you and spend time earning their trust. You can read my article “Dear Beginner, You make ripples!” for more information on this approach. But what if circumstances just don’t allow you to spend the time you want to in the village?

Here is a quick little matrix that might help.

Does the old man with the pipe see you? Have you made eye contact? If no, would you be able to take a photo of him without his knowledge? Ask yourself these questions:

• Would taking the photo make him or others watching feel you are a predator? If so, stop!


• Do you feel like a predator? If so, stop!


• Would you be willing to delete this image if asked? If not, stop!


• Once you make the image, is it good enough to walk up to the person and show them? If not, erase it!


• Would they look at it with approval?  If not, erase it!

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Excellent!

Posted by Dru  on  01/31  at  05:13 AM

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Another excellent post Matt and I love that you mention “slow down”! in there as that was one of my biggest problems when I was purely vocational and starting out.

I used to run around like a kid in a sweet shop, and still do sometimes lol, but and old lady I spoke to one day helped change that for me. I’d nodded/asked if I could ‘take a photo of her’ and she replied with a “why?” to each of my rather nervous first half dozen reasons. It led to us sitting down and talking for maybe an hour, about all sorts of things, almost her entire life history. I never got the shot, but I did get a great life experience.

Combining that with the thought that even if you are only shooting for yourself on vacation for 2 weeks a year and you get one single keeper each day, that’s almost an entire website gallery of keepers! Slowing down and taking time, showing respect, really is the only way to go, irrespective of whether you’re shooting professionally or personally.

Thanks again for the insightful posts

Ian

Posted by Ian Furniss  on  01/31  at  05:48 AM

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I would also like to warmly recommend taking a small portable printer along (and if you do, take some extra batteries with you because one only lasts about 12 prints). I do this all the time. I would rather leave a lens at home than my printer. In fact, the printer on the second page is mine, I believe
It truly allows you to give something back that is permanent in stead of just offering people a glimpse at the camera LCD before moving on (which in itself is of course better than just showing nothing at all).

Posted by MoreThanWords  on  02/01  at  12:23 AM

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Yes that is indeed Piet’s printer in the photo. I left mine back as I was having some issues with battery the batteries. By the way readers, if you are interested in learning great tips and tweaks using Nik software with either Photoshop or Lightroom, Piet’s blog MoreThanWords is a great place to start.

Dru, you make an excellent point. Getting even one shot a day can be a real boon and doing it by taking time, showing respect is the only way to go.

Posted by Matt Brandon  on  02/01  at  08:02 PM

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