They say some cultures believe you steal their soul when snapping their picture. Find out how to interact with the locals without dooming them to limbo.
Other than fellow foreign backpackers, my early photo albums rarely have shots of actual people.
It’s as if the local populations were non-existent, or at least hiding in their homes whenever I happened to wander into town. This had led to some odd conversations with family and friends after arriving back home. “So…where is everyone?” they’d ask.
The truth of course, was I lacked the confidence to actually snap a person’s photo.
There’s no denying it’s a common invasion of privacy, especially when a number of tourists treat them no different than capturing a photo of the scenery.
As Darren Rowse writes, “I realized that my approach was totally arrogant, disrespectful and very rude. People are not ‘Ëœtourist sites’ – they’re people and they deserve to be treated as such.”
“A much better approach is to take photos in a relational way. This doesn’t mean you need to have talked to them for hours, swapped numbers and told you deepest secrets before photographing them – but it does mean that taking their photograph can actually become a friendly interaction between people from different cultures.”
That’s not to say some people don’t love having their picture taken.
Encounter In Fiji
When hiking into the town of Lovoni on the island of Ovalau, Fiji, I happened upon a group of gardeners at the end of their day.
With little formality, they lined up, hoes slung over their shoulders, and invited me to preserve the memory on my $15 point-and-shoot camera.
I snapped two while they stood with proud smiles on their faces, then promised I would send them copies (which I did).
A few years later I was exploring the ruins of a hilltop temple in Cambodia. While wandering the doorways with my wife, we couldn’t help but notice the presence of two children flitting in our footsteps (though they tried playfully to remain hidden).
We waved hello. The giggled and waved back before disappearing around a rust-coloured corner of the temple wall. I continued to take photographs of the ruins.
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Anyone else have some useful tips or hilarious/embarrassing experiences asking for someone’s photo? Feel free to leave a comment below.
Ian MacKenzie
Ian MacKenzie is the founder and former editor of Brave New Traveler. He is a now a contributing editor to Matador, and the network's architect. Ian is also a documentary filmmaker, with his first feature (One Week Job) released in 2010.
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