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Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

petapixel.com

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Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

#101

Post by jillesvangurp »

This is as old as photography is a thing. I've been to that area in France many times in my life. My parents actually lived there for a while after they retired and it used to be our default vacation destination when I was young. It's been a popular destination for tourists quite long and tourism is a big part of the local economy. Vincent van Gogh did some selfies there way back before photography was a thing (with a paint brush). The landscape is pretty (particularly the lavender fields), the weather is nice, and the food/wine are awesome. It's a nice place to go. Despite the tourists.

Most of the lavender grown there is used to produce the lavender infused tourist junk you can find all over that area. It's literally the primary reason for that farm to be farming the stuff. So, having the odd tourist come along and taking some photos is maybe a necessary evil.

Tourists misbehaving and spoiling things has been a thing for as long as tourism has been a thing. The only thing that is worse is locals destroying their environment to draw in yet more tourists and squeeze every drop of revenue from them. Many idyllic places have long turned into package tourism hell with lots of cheap constructions, masses of tourists getting drunk and stuffing their face with junk food and nothing authentic whatsoever anywhere in sight. Arles where Van Gogh used to hang out is a good example.

Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

#102

Post by rjtavares »

ghaff wrote: post #46
tayo42 wrote: post #24

Ive been curious, without knowing how to prove it or not, If social media/instagram is really a significant contributor to over tourism? I guess I have a hard believing its not coincidental. People have always taken pictures around the world. But recently travel is becoming a lot cheaper, a lot safer, developing countries are developing so they are easier to get to, its easier to get to far corners of the world, chin…

I’m reasonably skeptical about the Instagram theory as well to explain the crowding. And if it is a factor, I’m pretty sure it’s not the only one. You hit on a lot of them: Reduced cost of travel is certainly one. And, as you say, young professional couples are more likely to be sans children for at least a period. The somewhat related popularity of some urban areas probably also fuels the experience over stuff meme.…

Instagram/Facebook is definitely one of the main contributors for the crowding of specific spots. That particular tree, that particular view of a lake or a mountain, etc.

For tourism, air travel becoming cheaper and the mobile Internet becoming ubiquitous (mainly for booking and review sites/apps) are much more important.

Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

#103

Post by unicornporn »

dhekir wrote: post #100
unicornporn wrote: post #94

PLEASE change the URL from the blog spam Petapixel site to the photographer's own! https://www.paulreiffer.com/2019/07/photographers-instagramm...

The author's blog says: All site content © Paul Reiffer 2019 and may not be used without permission And Petapixel's post credits him, and includes in the end: About the author: (...) This article was also published here [link to author's blog]. So, I assume it has been authorized by the author? Does he prefer to have a link to his own blog directly?

It has been authorized. The deal works like this: Petapixel pays nothing and the links in the footnotes hopefully drives some traffic to the photographer's site and social media. In this game Petapixel is the influencer that asks for free ice cream in exchange for an Instagram post. Blog spam 2.0.

I don't see why one wouldn't want to link the source and at the same time support the writer directly instead of hoping a fraction of the readers will find and follow the links in the footnotes on Petapixel.

Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

#104

Post by arethuza »

speedplane wrote: post #80
rofo1 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Instagram isn’t the root cause to why people suck. That's even more depressing (if true) than this abomination of "social networks" that we are seeing right now. But still, even if your point might be true, we should stop giving people easy ways to be degenerates. There should be repercussions or something, but good luck codifying it into a law :) It's a difficult problem.

> this abomination of "social networks" that we are seeing ... we should stop giving people easy ways to be degenerates. There should be repercussions or something, but good luck codifying it into a law You don't always need laws to stop bad behavior. Influential social shame and scorn are often just as effective.

I wonder if they have tried charging 30 Euros for "pick your own lavender"?

Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

#105

Post by DoubleGlazing »

I used to volunteer at a heritage railway in Northern Ireland. We had several old restored trains and we went to great lengths to make the station areas look authentically old. Naturally photographers loved it.

Most photographers were Okay and respected the rules, but some some just refused and couldn't handle being called out. For example one rule was do not get in train cabs, unless by prior arrangement - which involved doing a safety briefing etc. Still some photographers just did their own thing. Some would jump on to the footplates of in service steam locomotives to get their shot, that was dangerous but they didn't care. I was driving a diesel railcar and had a passenger bang on the cab door so he could take shots from within the cab. He kept banging for about 10 minutes until we got back to the station and was then had a go at me for refusing him access.

Another strict rule was no tripods on the platforms. It was dangerous as they created a tripping hazard and just ruined the atmosphere for other visitors. But come a sunny day or special event the forest of tripods would be out in force.

And the worst of all was the ones who would walk off the end of platforms and setup alongside the railway line. Most wouldn't even bother to wear a hi-viz vest either. Completely dangerous, but they didn't care they just wanted their special shot.

These weren't just our rules, many were in place because of laws and insurance requirements. We didn't want accidents, nor did we want a few visitors to ruin the atmosphere for others. But when we called called out such people we often got abuse, which would then be followed up by long rants about how unaccommodating we were in various photography and railway forums.

The thing is we would allow photographers to access cabs, use tripods and go alongside the line - so long as they arranged it with us first. And during special events we would often have an hour set aside specifically for photographers to go to town. But for some that wasn't enough.

For a lot of heritage railways in the UK and Ireland the misbehavior of some photographers has got so bad they have a blanket ban on cameras with remediable lenses.

Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

#106

Post by Freak_NL »

unicornporn wrote: post #103
dhekir wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author's blog says: All site content © Paul Reiffer 2019 and may not be used without permission And Petapixel's post credits him, and includes in the end: About the author: (...) This article was also published here [link to author's blog]. So, I assume it has been authorized by the author? Does he prefer to have a link to his own blog directly?

It has been authorized. The deal works like this: Petapixel pays nothing and the links in the footnotes hopefully drives some traffic to the photographer's site and social media. In this game Petapixel is the influencer that asks for free ice cream in exchange for an Instagram post. Blog spam 2.0. I don't see why one wouldn't want to link the source and at the same time support the writer directly instead of hoping a…

> I don't see why one wouldn't want to link the source and at the same time support the writer directly instead of hoping a fraction of the readers will find and follow the links in the footnotes on Petapixel.

Isn't that between the author and Petapixel? The author seems to have granted permission to reproduce his work there.

Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

#108

Post by sideshowb »

Part of me thinks this is nothing new. Sure, social media has changed the flavour slightly but tourist honeypots have existed since forever... and in a way, they work. A huge number of people go to the Lake District and don't leave Ambleside; Ambleside prospers with its cafes and outdoor shops and the rest of the area is slightly less overrun for it. This was the case long before we even had digital cameras.

You'd think social media would disperse the honeypots as people spread out to emulate photos scattered over a greater number of locations, yet I gather from national park authorities etc it has the opposite effect entirely.

If we're not going to change human nature then I think that implies the opposite policy on "ticketed locations" mentioned by the OP: do charge money at honeypot spots, and reinvest it to repair the damage.

Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

#109

Post by thaumasiotes »

mdpye wrote: post #83
thaumasiotes wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? What happens if I show up in a Chinese photo album? I think the problem in this subthread started when jwmoz decided the "equivalent" of tourists coming to your fields, trampling your crops, and cutting and taking bunches of produce for themselves was tourists coming to a Starbucks and taking pictures.

It's the taking of the photos which is an intrusion, not the photos themselves.

No, it's the trampling of the crops that's an intrusion.

Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

#110

Post by atoav »

DoubleGlazing wrote: post #105

I used to volunteer at a heritage railway in Northern Ireland. We had several old restored trains and we went to great lengths to make the station areas look authentically old. Naturally photographers loved it. Most photographers were Okay and respected the rules, but some some just refused and couldn't handle being called out. For example one rule was do not get in train cabs, unless by prior arrangement - which inv…

I don’t really get it. I studied film and therefore had to talk to many places about permissions (often without beeing able to pay any compensation) – usually just asking nicely and explaining whatbyou want can get you a long way. Sometimes people will even come on their day off and help you out.

This is about mutual respect: if anyone takes the time and effort to open a place for people with cameras, if what you want disrupts their usual flow, the least you should do is ask for permission.

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