Photography While Abroad

Key takeaways:

• Respect privacy and ask for permission
• Explain how you will use your photos
• Learn local laws and customs
• Avoid photographing those in vulnerable situations (i.e. healthcare settings, photos with children, etc)
• Interact and develop relationships that inform your photos and the stories they tell

Informed consent is a key element in responsible portrayal of others, both in photography and on social media. When taking photos, don’t try to hide your camera or the fact that you are taking a picture. You are also responsible for learning about local laws on photography before taking photos. Photography is banned in many spaces around the world.

Respect other people’s privacy. Always ask for permission before taking photos and before you share them on social media or elsewhere. Even in areas where there is a language barrier, consent is still required for taking and/or publishing a photo. Most people today understand the basics of photography, and may provide consent through gestures. 

You have an obligation to explain how you will use your photos as well. If you can’t explain how you will use your photos, then you don’t have consent. If at any point the subject decides they don’t want their photo taken or used, then you also no longer have consent. You shouldn’t use or publish photos that you do not have permission for. 

RADI also recommends avoiding "pictures of people in vulnerable or degrading positions, including hospitals and other health care facilities.” Health status is a private matter. If you were sick, would you want your photo on social media of someone you didn't know very well? 

Special care should also be taken with children. From a consent perspective, children have the same rights to privacy as adults and should be involved in any decisions concerning them. So, before you decide to grab a selfie with a bunch of local school kids, you need to get their permission, as well as their parents, caretakers or guardians. Remember, part of asking permission means providing a clear explanation for how you will use the photograph. 

Keep in mind that power imbalances can affect how consent is given. Could your nationality, economic status, or physical ability, among other things, make it difficult for someone to refuse your request, or make them feel vulnerable being photographed by you? If these dynamics exist, it may be better to refrain from taking photographs. 

Be aware as well of the power dynamic between adults and children. Children may happily agree to be photographed, but that doesn’t mean they understand the implications of the photo or the story it’s telling. Would you want to be included as a child in the photos of a stranger who is only temporarily passing through your town? 

The best way to ensure that you are getting consent and engaging in respectul photography is to interact with people. Spend time developing relationships with the people and communities you are visiting. While this might be easier if you are staying in one place for a while, it’s still possible if you are passing through. Talk to people, get their names, ask about their lives. Most importantly, ask them what stories they want to share with others and share those stories and photographs. You’ll come away with more interesting photos and stories than you had before.

Finally, if you are photographing crowds of people, a situation and not the people in it, or when the people portrayed are not recognizable, then consent is not always necessary.

Key takeaways:

• Ask yourself, would you be comfortable with the same picture taken in your community?
• Learn about ideas like ‘white saviour complex’ and other ways power informs the images, reinforcing harmful power imbalances and stereotypes. 
• Who and what is the centre of the photo? Is it always you? Are you simply using other people and places as your props?
• Don’t fall into the stereotypical tropes of “poverty” that demoralize and deprive dignity of others

When taking photos abroad, ask yourself if you would be comfortable taking the same picture in your own community. In most cases when traveling, you are not a member of the community and will lack an understanding of what is acceptable representation to that community. 

According to RADI, “Promoting dignity is often ignored once you set foot in another country, particularly countries that are part of the global south. This often comes from sweeping generalizations of entire people groups, cultures, and countries.” 

Do the photos you take, and the stories you share, make you look good at the expense of other people’s dignity? Especially in the global south, there is a tendency for photography to promote “the white saviour complex”. RADI defines this as “a term tied up in colonial history where Europeans descended to 'civilize' the African continent. In a postcolonial context, the white savior complex is still highly discernible on social media, often in the form of portraying oneself as the hero of the day, while handing out crayons or candy to children in the countryside of an unnamed African country…. This is in many instances perceived as both patronizing and offensive by the people you write into your story as those being saved.” 

The people whose homes and cities you are visiting are not attractions, or props to be used as a way to increase your social media presence. Put yourself in the shoes of those whose photo you are taking - if it was you being featured in that story, would you be proud to be represented in such a way? These questions are the minimum standard for deciding whether or not you should take the photo. 

Finally, when posting photos to social media, avoid using terms that demoralize or further propagate poverty stereotypes, such as “poor”, “impoverished”, “desperate” or, on the flip-side, “feel-good” rhetoric that suggest your presence is in someway directly responsible for “empowering” or “improving” communities you visit. You have the responsibility to make sure that what you write and post does not deprive the dignity of the people you interact with. 

Key takeaways:

• Understand your own intentions and reflect on how those shape the way you present your experience
• Are you sharing photos that accurately capture your experience, or consumable touristic images that reinforce dominant perceptions of place?
• While your intentions might be good, that doesn’t mean that the photos you share automatically are 

Why are you travelling? Why are you doing this specific international activity? Is it for your own benefit? Are you trying to gain experience? Are you trying to learn more about other communities? 

According to RADI, the reason you are abroad can “affect how you present your experiences and surroundings on social media, for instance by representing the context you are in as more “exotic” and foreign than it might be.” 

Why you are sharing what you are sharing? If you’re travelling for a vacation, are you only sharing photos that promtoe how lucky you are to be abroad? Are your photos mainly tourist locations that clearly identify where you are? If you tried to learn about locations based only on photos on social media, one might think that all European cities are full of cobblestone streets and gothic churches, Australia is only dusty-red roads, kangaroos and koalas, and locals in Thailand only eat in large outdoor food markets or from street vendors.

While there is nothing wrong with sharing your vacation experiences, what message your photos are sending. What are the scenes, people, foods and activities that are missing from your photos? Could your photos be misunderstood? What is the impact of that? 

If you are abroad to work, study or volunteer, are you sharing photos that accurately capture that experience? Are your photos showcasing your work or learning environment and experience? What about the people you are working or learning with?

If you are volunteering, or engaged in a community project, are you the most relevant person in this setting? Should the photographs and stories you share center your role and thoughts? Do they draw attention to your actions as a ‘savior’, as highlighted above? Can you instead take photos that demonstrate collaboration and engagement between people without certing you as the one leading an action/activity?

Think about whether the photos you take only portray locals as performing a more passive or receiving role. Good intentions, such as raising awareness of the issues you are seeing, or raising funds for the organization you are volunteering with, is no excuse to disregard people’s privacy or dignity.

As stated in RADI social media guide, “Because social media platforms often facilitate self-promotion, the social media user has the duty to reflect on the purpose for publishing a photo, e.g., is the purpose of publishing the photo based on self-promotion, raising awareness, and/or other aims? The ethical photographer and social media user critically examines these motivations and strives to make ethical decisions with respect to online publication.”

Key takeaways:

• Elevate the voices and experiences of locals that they want you to share
• Respect someone's decision to not be photographed or enter into conversation with you. Are there reasons communities might be unwelcoming of your gaze?
• How can photography be an opportunity for you to learn and develop relationships? 

Photography and social media are all about storytelling. You can tell stories that confirm and perpetuate stereotypes of the places you visit, or challenge those assumptions by telling stories that other visitors are not. Use your platform to elevate the voices and experiences of locals by sharing the stories and photos of their lives that they want you to share. 

How? By forming relationships withn and asking locals. If you want to photograph somoene, ask them what kind of stories from their life, hometown, or country they would like to share with the world. 

Remember, however, that no one is obliged to speak to you or share their experiences. The people you approach don't owe you anything. At the end of the day, you are a stranger and a visitor in their community. Recognize that many places, especially in countries in the global south, but also in over-touristed cities like Venice or Barcelona, there is a long and often exploitative history of outsiders documenting people and places as “exotic” subjects. Why should people share their stories and images with you, especially when the benefit would mainly be for you and your community or family back home? 

This is also why it is important to research the history, culture and current social, economic and political status of any place you are visiting. If you are visiting a community and are witnessing moments of social or political unrest, do your best to inform yourself as much as you can through your own research and learning from your local connections. Before you post photos or make commentary about social change in places you are not from, it is extremely important to understand the complex nature of the issue at hand. It is important to consider how to balance a desire to raise awareness about a local issue while ensuring you are informed by those participating in social movements.