The Photo Industry
When we arrive in a new place I like to wander aimlessly with my camera. I have been doing this since day one of this trip. Depending on the place, there are often a lot of indigenous people dressed in their traditional clothes, selling hand made souvenirs, running their private businesses and or just going about their daily lives out in public. They are very interesting to me, and from what I see they are of great interest to most camera toting tourists.
The thing is, the indigenous people are sick of having their photo taken, at least for free. I think one of the reasons for this is every tourist shop I wander into sells postcards. 90% of the postcards for sale have fully recognizable images of indigenous children and adults trying to go about their lives. These images are often made with very long lenses from far away. I have no clue, but I seriously doubt any fair amount of the profits goes to any sort of indigenous anything. Postcards are just the tip of the iceberg, posters, tourist brochures, guidebooks...
I have stopped trying to make images with indigenous people in public. Not because I have some sort of moral ideal about it, but because they are always aware of me, and my giant black behemoth of a camera. They see me coming 2 blocks away, and wait for me to even point the lens in their general direction. I have had experiences where I was not even trying to make an image of them, but they were in the general area and they scattered like I was firing a shotgun. My camera is a Canon, maybe that is the problem.
I don't blame them, they are tired of being exploited by everyone, tourists and their cameras included.
On the other side of this, you can have as many images as you want of business minded indigenous folks. The going rate from Peru to Guatemala seems to be about $1.00 a shot. Seems about right to me. Here in Cuzco I have had the first experience of people actually approaching me in the street, dressed from head to toe in beautiful traditional clothing, and often leading a live alpaca offering their services as models. These willing models are extremely friendly, patient, and persistent. They often wait in the best light, and almost dare you to try and photograph them without paying for it. If there is an adult and a child in the image, you are expected to pay both of them separately. Almost any transaction is up for negotiation in Latin America, and this situation is no different.
This image cost $1.00 in the Plaza de Armas. Cuzco, Peru.
The thing is, the indigenous people are sick of having their photo taken, at least for free. I think one of the reasons for this is every tourist shop I wander into sells postcards. 90% of the postcards for sale have fully recognizable images of indigenous children and adults trying to go about their lives. These images are often made with very long lenses from far away. I have no clue, but I seriously doubt any fair amount of the profits goes to any sort of indigenous anything. Postcards are just the tip of the iceberg, posters, tourist brochures, guidebooks...
I have stopped trying to make images with indigenous people in public. Not because I have some sort of moral ideal about it, but because they are always aware of me, and my giant black behemoth of a camera. They see me coming 2 blocks away, and wait for me to even point the lens in their general direction. I have had experiences where I was not even trying to make an image of them, but they were in the general area and they scattered like I was firing a shotgun. My camera is a Canon, maybe that is the problem.
I don't blame them, they are tired of being exploited by everyone, tourists and their cameras included.
On the other side of this, you can have as many images as you want of business minded indigenous folks. The going rate from Peru to Guatemala seems to be about $1.00 a shot. Seems about right to me. Here in Cuzco I have had the first experience of people actually approaching me in the street, dressed from head to toe in beautiful traditional clothing, and often leading a live alpaca offering their services as models. These willing models are extremely friendly, patient, and persistent. They often wait in the best light, and almost dare you to try and photograph them without paying for it. If there is an adult and a child in the image, you are expected to pay both of them separately. Almost any transaction is up for negotiation in Latin America, and this situation is no different.
This image cost $1.00 in the Plaza de Armas. Cuzco, Peru.
4 Comments:
Nice, good for you.
this resonates for me Gringo Mike. I started following your example and i'd offer 10 pesos for a picture. I just don't feel good about taking pics of people w/o their permission.
Well, Dia, I think perhaps I did not communicate this well enough. I really never pay for pictures. Only in the case of indigenous people does the issue of payment come up. This is the only image I have paid for that I have posted on this blog. The paid for images always look the same, face front, big smiles, looking into the lens. Maybe this would work sometimes for me, but for the most part, I never like the images. I also do not want to offend people, so I have pretty much ceased from attempting to photograph indigenous folks in the street like I photograph everyone else. They really protest when I point a camera in their general direction, they are almost always watching me waiting for me to try, so I just smile and move on now, perhaps stopping for a free friendly chat with the camera at my side.
okay, i misunderstood. so how do you get over the discomfort (maybe you don't have any) of just photographing people with/without their knowledge? and yes i see your point about the indigenous peoples vs. general population and understand why that is a little trickier. maybe i'm a wuss but i haven't developed the chops to just shoot people on the fly...
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