BootsnAll Travel Community

I was scrolling through some adventure travel pictures on BootsnAll the other day, and noticed all these pictures of porters. Sometimes I felt as though the photographer was getting a little bit too intimate with the camera and basically taking a picture of his porter every few hours. You could tell the porter was not happy. It kind of made me philosophical about the whole idea of taking pictures of someone. I would like to hear everyone's opinions.

What if you saw a bunch of pictures of yourself online, that someone from say, China, had taken while you were working for them. The work was demanding, it was manul labor, it paid little, and was basically at the expense of someone else wealth because they were too lazy. All these Chinese people were writing and discussing about you - how to tip, etc.

How would this make you feel?

Don't everybody jump at once. Maybe this is too deep of a topic for adrenaline junkies.

Seeing pictures of them really heightened my awareness of their plight. I've read a bizillion posts on how the porters at Kili take on tons of gear and make so little in cash for it. Looking at Dan's photos from his Kili trip (http://www.neverbecomplete.com), and seeing the pictures of the porters carrying TONS of gear really made a statement.

The question might be: Do the pictures serve to illuminate others as to the exploitation of them, their plight, etc.? Then perhaps there's good coming out of it. Are the pictures are exploitive in and of themselves? Yeah, that's a problem.

I agree with your question, Skyehiker. Are the picture exploitation or not?

Just to let everyone know, I wasn't talking about Dan's pictures - it was another person's blog who will remain anonymous.

Donovan

Nope--- Dan's pics aren't exploitive at all.

I wonder where the line is between capturing something to make a point vs. exploiting it.

I wonder if it's one of those "circular" things...the pictures are taken to show their plight, but in then become plight in the process....

I remember being in Africa, and seeing poverty liked I'd never seen it before. I'd been to a lot of countries, and seen a lot of tragically poor conditions, but nothing like what I saw where I was. I almost took a picture of a couple of things just so I wouldn't forget it myself, and perhaps to show a few friends what this poverty really looks like. Example: children playing in the piles of "rubbish" (sparing the graphic descriptions) in an open sewer ditch, while their parents looked on. The kids probably wouldn't have cared...kids that don't care about it being a sewer they're playing in probably wouldn't note the camrea. BUT, their parents might have wondered, or thought it strange.

i think it's incredibly rude to kepe taking pictures of anyone, without permission. no matter who they are - i think it's rude that people chase after movie stars to take pictures of them walking down the street with their children, and i think it's rude to keep taking pictures of someone in another country doing labor that they do everyday. hmm. well, pictures always send messages. if the message is, 'look at the shit they're going through, just because you have money, and you don't want to pull your own weight' then it definately is harder to say whether or not taking pics without permission is ok. i guess a lot of the porters wouldn't be surprised if some people took pics every ten steps, but that doesn't necessarily justify or excuse it.

as far as talking about how to tip and other related things, i think it's acceptable. no one would expect a customer/client to spontaneously know how much to tip, whether it be for a taxi ride, a dinner, or for carrying your stuff. also, the major income from a lot of jobs come from tips (i'm not sure if it is that way for porters or not?) so i guess it's better that someone knows they should tip as opposed to not tipping at all.

Pictures are great and they help share the joy of travels with others, but they also hugely trample people... especially when they are not based in a relational context. I've done my fair share of picture tourism, seeking the right shot of the grimy kid kinda stuff and it convicts me of my arrogance. Sure there is a place for exposing the injustices of the world, but how much of our photography is that and how much of it is just the thought of having taken a great photo that really captures the moment. People are people and without a relationship with the subject it is like taking pictures at the zoo. It is extremely rude and impersonal. If you really want to expose injustice, get to know the person, interview them and then take the shot. Even this though can be cultural intrusion though and must be handled with care and compassion and at times, walking the other way.

My thoughts.
Mr. Dave

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage - Anais Nin

I've always been really shy about taking photos of people. Like xoom, mr. dave and others, I feel that I am being intrusive.

What I usually do is mostly take photos of kids -- because they really love hamming up for the camera. Ok, you may not get National Geographic type shots but it is a great way to interact with them, especially if you have a digital camera.

On my last trip to a longhouse somewhere in the heart of Borneo, I spent at least an hour entertaining the kids (or were they entertaining me???) with my camera. They loved hamming it up -- and then running towards me to see their images on the screen. They would shriek with laughter and run in front of the camera to mug somemore.

With adults, I always ask for permission first. I don't think I've ever been turned down.