What is respectful photography?
Hi! This is Carla. Welcome to the Inspector Mama™️ podcast.
On this episode, I am discussing respectful photography because there was great converation surrounding the first episode about protecting baby's privacy. Almost all feedback from you all was positive, but there was one question - if you want to protect someone's privacy, but still want to take a picture, how do you do that?
Ten years ago, digital cameras were so popular. Cell phone cameras have basically replaced digital pocket cameras. It’s really crazy how far cell phone technology has come in just a short time. I remember driving out of my way to drive to an AT&T store to look at the first iPhone. I was so amazed that you could touch the screen to manipulate the phone - first of all - and you could zoom in and out of the map app.
Back then, in order to capture special moments with friends, we used to get those disposable Kodak cameras. You would wind it up and make sure you set the flash. You carefully looked through the view finder and hoped that everyone’s face was in the picture. Sometimes, you would take two pictures just to be sure. Getting a selfie was so difficult!
I have a confession to make:
I find myself taking lots of pictures of strangers - not on purpose, of course - but go look through your cell phone’s camera roll and see if you have taken photos of strangers. Accidentally, of course. Most of the stranger pictures are of times that I was out and about with my family. There’s one picture of a perfect stranger chilling, in the shade, in the Arts District. My main subjects of this photo are in the center. However, this person is in the background of my photo! Great picture of this person though!
Some of you may be thinking, well if you are in a public area no one should have an expectation of privacy and I would not have an obligation to protect this person’s privacy. To those, I say... just because you can does not mean that you should. If I were to post this picture on social media, I would blur them out or put an emoji over them. I feel like that’s the polite thing to do.
So here are some of the tips I’ve collected on this part of my journey:
Before taking a picture - ask!
Is your child being super cute at the park? Did he just make a new friend? Ask the child’s parent or caregiver if it is ok to take a picture. If the other person says no, that’s ok. Take a picture at another time when it is just your main subject.
Did you take the picture? - Ok, offer to share it with that person (via cell phone, email, whatever)
If you wish to take a picture, of say an event like a fair, festival, etc. Make sure that you don’t take pictures of people’s faces. Take pictures from a back angle. I was present at an event where the photographer did an excellent job of protecting everyone's privacy. The photographer only published pictures of the speakers and those that gave consent to have their pictures taken. I learned so much from this person and my notes for this podcast episode came from that experience.
When you comment, tag, etc. Remember to be kind. Not just to other people, but also to yourself. Yeah, you are all that and a bag of chips, Mama!
Finally - get an app that allows you edit pictures. I use FaceTune. It has several features, but I use it mostly to blur out the background and bring focus to my main subject. It has some other tools - like make up, blemish removal... I think you can even make your hair longer. I used this one time when I met up with another friend from college. I forgot my lipstick! I was not going to post a picture on instagram without my lipstick y’all.
