5 Tips For Being An Ethical Photographer

It seems there isn’t a corner of the world, an experience or an image that hasn’t somehow been shared with people millions of miles away. With camera phones and social media, no moment is born and dies at that time. It’s often spread all over the Internet within minutes. And because of this, we can frequently get carried away tend to forget what it really means to the individual standing right in front s, who we are snapping a picture of, or whose home, children, pets, village–you name it–we are snapping away at, as though it’s public property. So, when you’re travelling, if you want to start giving tourists a better name, remember this.

1.)   Always ask first. Events like parades, public performances and other places where people obviously know they’re being looked at and photographed, are exceptions. But if it’s just a regular moment (at least for the subject of your photo}, that is) ask the person if you can take their picture, or perhaps a picture of something that belongs to them. If you don’t speak their language, usually just pointing to your camera and then at your subject you’d like to photograph will get the point across.

2.)   Don’t offer money. You do this out of kindness for an individual agreeing to be in your photo, however this sparks what some call a kind of prostitution. See, locals might get accustomed to offering to be in a picture for money, and they’ll pose or set up the photo in a fashion that makes their life look more photogenic than it is actually. Quite simply, you’ll start to get false portrayals of thing.

3.)   Make friends. Want real photos of what really happens in a foreignl place? Try to develop a friendship with a local, or perhaps a group of them. Once they know they can trust you not to exploit or misrepresent them, they’ll introduce you to authentic and amazing aspects of their world.

4.)   Capture it all. My friend often travels and has become a photog. She’s a voice coach in Los Angeles of inner city kids, and posts the photos in her studio for her students to see at their singing lessons. She would like to inspire her students to travel. But, she knows how impressionable children are so she tries not to just capture, for example, the impoverished parts of a place, or only the wealthy, in order to not give a biased impression. Along with coming in to learn how to sing, she would like her students to discover the world.

5.)   Do NOT, under any circumstances, take pictures of something illegal taking place. You may place yourself in danger.