Somewhere in the middle of larger things, we felt a need to stop and think about images and how we showcase our perception of the world. Today, there is no time for words and speech -it’s a world of images. Strung together, differently, they are meant to suggest what we stand for. We can get away with perceptions of what the world thinks of us as individuals, organisations and networks, but are we keeping someone else in the dark?

After much thought and deliberation, we have decided to make our views on photography, public.

We posted an initial email with some pointers on Face book and were delighted to find so many people interested to contribute to the policy that we are still in the process of devising. We will give it some more time to evolve, so that we can construct a strong and reasonable photography policy for travellers. Meanwhile scroll down to see what emerged in the last week on our Face book discussion board! After all, it’s all about being a conscious.
 
On photographs, memories and things like that

• Please take prior consent from people before taking their photograph.
• If you intend to publish this photograph, either in a personal blog, articles, publications, brochures, etc, please take approval from the people. This might seem tedious, but it’s worth it because somebody's privacy is at stake.
• If you want to take photographs of religious places, please check with local community members if this is allowed.
• If you decide to publish these photographs, please do mention names and details of these community members, if a not a small description. This way people don't become cardboard cut outs.
• Maintain certain amount of distance from the subject. Taking the lens too close will intimidate people.
• If you are watching an art, musical or cultural performance, please don't use flash. It tends to distract the performers. Better still, check with the performers before you start taking pictures.
• Since travel and photography go hand in hand, please ensure that you have a person with you who can interpret. This way you will not be a total stranger in the community. First speak to the people you are staying with about their feelings towards photographs and then judge (using your gut feeling) if it’s appropriate.
• Children are very insightful when let loose with a camera and you see a whole new side of the world. So perhaps consider letting someone else take the pictures for you!
• In this day of digital cameras it is easy to show the "subject" the photo, do they like it great, keep it, if they don’t - delete it.
• Find out if there's a reliable person or address you can send copies to BEFORE offering to send copies and ensure that you keep your promise.
• People should not be touching or in very close contact with wildlife or non-domesticated animals. It is not in the best interests of the animals - we can easily give them our diseases and the animals should not be encouraged to have close contact with humans.Photographs should not be taken of tourists posing with wildlife as it encourages that this is acceptable when such photos are shared around or published.

 On use of photographs

• If you use your photos for business or commercial ventures, please try to see if some of the profits can be given to the community as well.  This may be hard to achieve, but it’s only ethical. The other options is don't use people's faces for photos.
• Don’t alter or/and change to meet the requirement of clients who require the photograph.
• The clients who use pictures taken by others should acknowledge the presenter/photographer and it should not be handed down to the second party without permission from the photographer/presenter. Any misuse should be considered as theft and there should be a penalty for it.
• What ever documentation has been done by the photographers, a copy should be handed over to the community or institution.

Action points – debate, discuss, contribute, start…

• Could we put together a set of guidelines specifically for the media, through a consultative process with our community partners in each of our countries; and also a 'black-list' and 'white list' of media organisations/ people that we have all worked with who were particularly bad or particularly good?
• Photographers who make an income from selling another person's image should be giving something to that person or putting something back into that community. Is there a photographer’s organisation of some sort that may have a widely accepted policy?
• Our questions can be well-intended, but also alien, context less and even confusing! Having said that, I've seen hill tribe children literally surrounded on all sides by frightening 'packs of rabid tourists' desperate to collect a hoard of 'authentic hill tribe' pictures. This issue certainly deserves some action

Frame of mind – Zooming in
Reflections from our Face book community

“There are many communities where concepts of privacy are not yet there. People do not mind being photographed, and do not care what you do with the photographs... if you are not selling the photos and making millions (like the Tsunami photographer who photographed the woman crying over her husbands body who won an award – not sure if he gave some of his award winnings to this lady), then some harmless use is OK. It might seem unethical to us, but remember, we are the one judging it here, what if you let the person who was photographed judge it. Finally privacy is an issue that we should not judge. Are we imposing an ideal that we have (about privacy) into a community which does not care much about it, or has never prioritised privacy in their minds?
-Raj Gyawali-Social Tours Nepal and Ghana

Often photography can be used very positively. In some Maasai villages young people are using modern media to preserve traditional culture and folklore that otherwise would be lost (partly via the Aang Serian programme)
-Sally Broom-Your Safe Planet UK

We advise all our volunteers to take photographs of their home and family with them to show local people, sharing these creates a bond and starts a conversation if only in smiles
Sallie Grayson-People and Places UK

Above all, we always need to keep in mind that monks, rural farmers, tribes, children etc are never just photogenic ‘images' - they are of course real people. What seems strange or exotic to us, is normal life for them. Understanding difference is much more interesting than observing it.
-Peter Richards-CBT Thailand

Photographers who make an income from selling another person's image should be giving something to that person or putting something back into that community. I just wonder if there is a photographers organisation of some sort that may have a widely accepted policy?
Geoff Manchester – Intrepid Travel

Just because the 'mostly accommodating' locals don't verbally protest doesn't mean that a photographer can disrespect them.
-Gopinath Parayil- The Blue Yonder

Related links:
 Culturally sensitive travel photography – Transitions abroad

Essay on responsible photography - Planeta

 Web 2.0 resources. The advantage of Flickr

BLUR
“If there are too many conditions and all those stuff, I think I will hesitate to travel to any destinations. After all, I am travelling to gain experience, and I want memories back with me in the form of photographs. I don't carry a professional camera with me, but a regular digital camera. So as someone mentioned 'Not to use flash during performance', that's going to make my trip really boring. I do take care normally to be as responsible in destinations, but somehow when the list of dos and don'ts increase, I feel uncomfortable."

”What about me as a traveller ? I am most of the time surrounded by domestic tourists in India who harass me to take a picture with their friends, families. Initially I oblige, but later it gets on to my nerves that people forget that I am here to relax on a holiday and not to be ogled at and be a ’tourist animal’ in the zoo.”

Food for thought? Let us know what you think and join us on the discussion on Face book.

DISCLAIMER: All images on The Blue Yonder website will be revisited after the implementation of the photography policy and changed if necessary.

Agree, disagree? Please send in your contributions, comments, experiences, feedback, critique towards formulating the photography policy by April 2008. Be part of it. We will be circulating the final policy by May to all newsletter subscribers. It will also be made available on our website. It will be great to see the travel industry taking up Responsible Photography as a bench mark to pursue.