Culturally Sensitive Photography

When travelling you want to document your time away and the easiest way to do this is through photography. Being able to look back and relive the colours, character and people that made your trip the memorable adventure that it was; being able to share those experiences with friends and family back home.

But you need to make sure that your memories aren’t infringing on someone else’s comfort, safety or moral stipulations. It may seem like a silly consideration to have but take a moment to think how you would react if a stranger were snapping shots of you without your consent of knowledge. Its equal parts unnerving, creepy, annoying and invasive. Know think again about the people that you view as souvenirs of your time away. A smile, a gesture, a brief conversation goes a long way to erase all that. The following list of guidelines is a few points to mull over before you go shutter crazy. Adopt, ignore, amend – it’s up to you.

Ignorance is No Excuse: Research the religious, cultural and superstitious views on photography for the places you’re visiting. For example, pygmies believe that the camera captures their soul and so it is only acceptable to photograph the dead.
Be Comfortable with Yourself as a Photographer: Don’t sneak around, be confident in your decision to photograph a stranger. With an open attitude and a genuine smile you’ll put your subject at ease. People will respond to this approach more than the awkwardness of shyness or insecurities.
Communicate: Express your intentions. If there is a language barrier there are simple, universal gestures that show you would like to take a photo. This will ensure that you have a consenting subject at the other end of the lens.
Think About Home: If you were living your everyday life in your home country and someone stuck a camera in your face how would you react? Sometimes you wouldn’t mind or wouldn’t notice. Other times you would. Take this into consideration. Having a stranger take you photo can just be plain creepy at times.
Give Something Back: Spend some time with your subject without shooting. Engage them in a conversation, show them the shots you’ve just captured, play a game. It shows that you’re interested in them as people and a culture rather than just using them as a souvenir.
The Money Issue: Some people will expect a financial reward for posing for you. This is a really controversial practice. Sharing some time before or after taking the pictures or buying the person a drink are great ways to show your appreciation. But if money is being demanded, it’s a decision for the photographer to make on a case by case basis.

While researching for this article I came across several interpretations of what Ethical Photography encompasses. Most of the information focussed on professional photographers who document war, famine, poverty, natural disasters and all manners of hell on film. Although this subject diverges from the main article it presented some interesting and noteworthy points that I have decided to pass along again. A lot of the examples I came across directed attention to the Bang-Bang Club, a group of four South African photographers who laid huge tracks during the early 90’s with their representation of Apartheid, Civil War and famine. Some of their most famous photos include a vulture stalking an infant too starved and weak to raise her head or one man sinking his machete into the skull of another man on fire. The Ethiopian infant being stalked by a vulture won Kevin Carter a Pultzer Prize. Two months after accepting his prize Carter killed himself, leaving behind a note saying: “I’m really sorry I didn’t pick that child up…I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses and anger and pain.” Others aren’t so troubled by their profession as you’ll find an abundance of stories about TV crews or photographers looking for more “skellies” or arranging bodies or taking a lunch break in a camp full of starving refugees.

As the consumers of news you set the standard of what the media feeds you. If you don’t take the time to think about what you’re seeing, reading and hearing you’re missing out on everything you’re not being told.