Hey, sorry about the lack of posts these days! I’ve gone from being on an organised tour through rural areas in Uganda to taking a course on a farm just outside a town with one computer that never works. To say that getting online has been a challenge would be an understatement! But it’s actually been pretty great to unplug, even though the earnings and blog posts have suffered (November earnings report coming at you soon!)
But this post isn’t about me complaining about a lack of internet, it’s about me complaining about travellers snapping photos of people without asking their permission. As you might know, I was offered a free press trip type tour around Uganda with a bunch of travel writers, a photographer and a few tour operators. We had two safari trucks on the go and I ended up in the one with three travel writer/photographers.
I was horrified immediately after we left and continued to hang my head in shame as we cruised around the country. Shortly after leaving, we found ourselves stuck in Kampala’s nightmarish traffic. I would have thought travel writers would have been less easily impressed but the moment we headed into the city, their cameras came out in full force and they started snapping shots of such exciting things as guys on the side of the road shoveling garbage.
I have a problem with people taking photos without asking permission. If you want to do it, that’s fine, but I will make sure I put a lot of distance between us because it makes me really uncomfortable. I feel like I’m on a people safari and treating locals like animals in a zoo. In this case, I was trapped in a vehicle and all I could do was close my eyes and pretend I was invisible. People were getting angry and at one point a man threw a rock at our car. Someone asked why and I surfaced from invisibility to comment that it was probably because you’re taking their photos without asking. One of the writers seemed to have an ‘oh ya… that makes sense’ moment, but the other two carried on snapping. One guy commented that they travel to experience new things and part of that is the people. Very true, but experiencing something and taking photos of it are two different things.
The other photographer asked our guide why people were being so aggressive (as he continued to shoot photos) because he’d travelled to lots of places and never experienced this kind of hostility. Paul, our guide, replied that it was due to people expecting money because people in the past have given it to them. There was a sort of feeling in the car that people who’d been through previously and paid people for their photos had ruined it for everyone else.
This sparked a bit of a debate about whether people should be compensated when their photo is taken. It seems like a Western person will be asked permission and presented with a release form when their photo is taken but someone in the developing world will have their image stolen and taken to who knows where. I don’t think the photographers even had release forms with them. One said it was unrealistic or too difficult to get the release from people due to logistics and language barriers. That might be true but just because something is difficult doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done. Every job has the annoying parts, even photographer.
After a bit of discussion I eventually sparked up with my strong opinions on the subject which eventually led me to suggesting that, if they wanted to take photo, they should get out of the car, interact with people and ask. Once you get permission it’s often easy to blend in a bit and get some candid shots. Their answer was that yes, of course that would be ideal, but we’re on a tight schedule and it wasn’t possible. I feel like the only pressing thing to get to most days was our accommodation where we’d settle in and relax for several hours. Whether we got to it an hour later wouldn’t really have been an issue.
I feel like the safari truck can become comfortable and snapping drive-by photos is easy and getting out is a hassle. Nobody had even asked to get out or hang around longer on an unscheduled stop up until that point, over half way through the trip. Shortly after this conversation, to their credit, the photo-mad folks saw an interesting market, asked to stop and wandered around, snapping photos with permission. They came back having had a great experience and with some great photos without leaving a trail of angry people in their wake.
I think my opinions on this matter are probably pretty extreme and I’m ok with people doing whatever they feel comfortable with, I’ll just make sure I walk away when they start snapping people shots without asking. No big deal, I’ll just go somewhere else and not bring up the issue – except when I’m trapped in a car!
It’s an interesting topic, I think, and not one that’s totally cut and dry. What do you guys think? Is it even something you’ve thought much about? Do you agree? Disagree? Do you ask permission before taking a person’s photo? Do you not? Have you ever encountered hostility? While I tend to ask to take people’s photos these days, I don’t always ask to put people’s images on this blog. Is that worse?
I’d love to know what you think!
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