How to share without sharing too much?

[ewarner]

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the locations I shoot photos and how much information I really want to be sharing about them.

I'm currently working on putting together my website, with the intent of publishing photoessays from my travels and outings (lots of hiking, rock climbing, etc). But my desire to share my photography with people conflicts with my value of preserving the places that humans haven't already completely overrun.

It's easy enough to strip GPS coordinates from photos (and I definitely will be), but what's tripping me up is how to tell stories about my experiences without naming where I went and what these photos are of. Something feels missing from these stories if there are no proper nouns. Certainly an approach is to use no words and let the images do all the talking. And while that may make my authoring work easier, the images are not always the whole story I want to tell.

Furthermore, and perhaps paradoxically, I actually do want to encourage people to explore my photos by broader location: to see what my home state of Oregon is like or how I view Paris. I just don't want to point them right to the shores of my favorite secluded lake or the door of the quiet restaurant I found.

Now I don't have any delusions of grandeur: my photography is ok at best and my "following" is likely to be mostly people I know already. I doubt my photos would spell doom for any given location. But you never know what kind of exposure something published on the internet will gain, and if I drive even one jerk to go somewhere and they carve their name in a rock or leave trash on the ground, I'd be furious.

I'm curious if others here have faced a similar dilemma and how you've chosen to handle it.

 

[onlyfreeman]

"By entering this website you agree to be a respectful human being and not vandalise any of the locations shown in these photographs"

<Leave> <Enter>

 

[dpcane]

You are going to publish photo essays about your travels with pics that offer no information about your travels? Sounds riveting!

 

[Ron Poelman]

Your feedback will quickly tell you if any of it is worth your efforts.
It's about the shot, not where you took it.
Time enough to worry about oversharing later; (but you already know the answer).

--
Ron.
Volunteer, what could possibly go wrong ?

 

[Chaplain Mark]

I admire your sense of responsibility toward the environment, but you are putting too much potential blame on yourself.

Were you to include GPS data in your landscape photos and were someone to set fire to those lovely woods you photographed, that would be their fault, not yours.

It's not like you are R.J. Reynolds Inc, inventing legal yet immoral ways to market tobbacco products to minors; you are one photographer whose works may or may not have an effect upon the public.

Most likely, any effect you would have, would be positive, not destructive.

--
Thank You,
Chaplain Mark
-----
'Tis better to have a camera and not need one than to need a camera and not have one.
--------------
In pursuit of photographic excellence.

 

[Beachcomber Joe]

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the locations I shoot photos and how much information I really want to be sharing about them.

I'm currently working on putting together my website, with the intent of publishing photoessays from my travels and outings (lots of hiking, rock climbing, etc). But my desire to share my photography with people conflicts with my value of preserving the places that humans haven't already completely overrun.

The choice, to me, is a simple one. You either want to preserve the pristine beauty of the place and make your experience unique, in which case you don't talk about it or you want others to be able to experience what you did, in which case you share the location.

I'm originally from Philadelphia, the home of the cheesesteak. (Google it if you don't know what it is) . I could blog about how wonderful the cheesesteak is at a place I had visited, including photos of the place, the sandwich, and fellow diners. But unless I included the location, all I am doing is bragging that I know something that you don't know. Bottom line, share it all or stop feeding your ego and shut up.

BTW, the absolute best cheesesteak in Philadelphia is at Dalessandro's!

 

[vyoufinder]

I am in a similar situation and often. My philosophy is not to disclose locations unless they're already well known. I've witnessed in my lifetime and possibly due to my own publishing that I've watched some of my secret spots become commonly known touristy areas. It's a real bummer. You can be general. Mention regional names, town names nearby, etc. without telling too much. As I get older almost none of my old secret spots are secrets anymore. I have to search better and be more clever to find original finds. I think it's been the way for generations.

 

[Bobthearch]

If it's a sensitive site I'm vague.

Otherwise the name of a park, trail, canyon, etc. shouldn't be an issue.

 

[ewarner]

Oh man, if only I could enforce that!

 

[ewarner]

I know I'm not directly responsible for anyone else's actions. I guess I'm just ruminating about potentially sensible ways to avoid amplifying the overcrowding our wild places are experiencing.

I appreciate your optimism! I would hope that my photography can trigger a positive effect. I tend to be quite the cynic in regards to my faith in other human beings.

 

[ewarner]

This seems like a very binary way to look at the subject. Do you really think the two options are share everything or share nothing? I wonder if your statements on bragging and ego would have been the same years ago before Instagram and the "selfie generation."

Photographers shoot for a lot of reasons, but I think a lot of us would simply say because "we enjoy it." Wanting to share something we enjoy without giving away information that may have an adverse effect on it doesn't seem like ego to me.

 

[ewarner]

It's an unfortunate reality that every location will only increase in popularity over time. But I also acknowledge that I'm part of that increase every place I go.

Generality will likely be my approach. I do want to inspire people who share an appreciation for what I shoot, and give them enough information to help build ideas in their own head.

 

[Chaplain Mark]

I know I'm not directly responsible for anyone else's actions. I guess I'm just ruminating about potentially sensible ways to avoid amplifying the overcrowding our wild places are experiencing.

I appreciate your optimism! I would hope that my photography can trigger a positive effect. I tend to be quite the cynic in regards to my faith in other human beings.

I heard that ..!

Some folks can really surprise you though, like the anonymous DPR member who bought my new G3X for me, and had it shipped to my workplace....

 

[John_A_G]

This seems like a very binary way to look at the subject. Do you really think the two options are share everything or share nothing? I wonder if your statements on bragging and ego would have been the same years ago before Instagram and the "selfie generation."

Photographers shoot for a lot of reasons, but I think a lot of us would simply say because "we enjoy it." Wanting to share something we enjoy without giving away information that may have an adverse effect on it doesn't seem like ego to me.

There are millions upon millions of photos on the internet. The assumption from your OP is that so many people will be reading your photo essays that enough people that are not environmentally conscious will visit and damage those places.

So, your solution is to not provide information about where those places are. Without that information, why is it you think so many people will be reading your photo essays?

You're not talking about writing fiction. So, the only reason more than your friends and relatives are going to read your photo essays is if they are compelling. In that sense, people need to make a connection to a real place.

The ego part here is that you think your photo essays are going to bring throngs of savages to damage these places.

 

[ewarner]

The assumption from your OP is that so many people will be reading your photo essays that enough people that are not environmentally conscious will visit and damage those places.

The ego part here is that you think your photo essays are going to bring throngs of savages to damage these places.

Really? Your interpretation of my words seems quite exaggerated:

Now I don't have any delusions of grandeur: my photography is ok at best and my "following" is likely to be mostly people I know already. I doubt my photos would spell doom for any given location. But you never know what kind of exposure something published on the internet will gain, and if I drive even one jerk to go somewhere and they carve their name in a rock or leave trash on the ground, I'd be furious.

I wrote the OP using my own situation as the foundation, but I feel it's a topic any photographer should reflect on for themselves. Responding with "it doesn't matter, you're a nobody" avoids the actual question here.
Search around and you'll find countless articles and opinion pieces on how the advance of digital photography and sharing of information has created issues everywhere from the wilderness to already well-known spots. Take me out of the equation here and think about how this applies to photographers all along the spectrum of "fame."

 

[ewarner]

Wow! Now that's a nice surprise.

 

[John_A_G]

The assumption from your OP is that so many people will be reading your photo essays that enough people that are not environmentally conscious will visit and damage those places.

The ego part here is that you think your photo essays are going to bring throngs of savages to damage these places.

Really? Your interpretation of my words seems quite exaggerated:

Now I don't have any delusions of grandeur: my photography is ok at best and my "following" is likely to be mostly people I know already. I doubt my photos would spell doom for any given location. But you never know what kind of exposure something published on the internet will gain, and if I drive even one jerk to go somewhere and they carve their name in a rock or leave trash on the ground, I'd be furious.

I wrote the OP using my own situation as the foundation, but I feel it's a topic any photographer should reflect on for themselves. Responding with "it doesn't matter, you're a nobody" avoids the actual question here.

I didn't say you were a "nobody". And, it actually is an important part of the question. Whether or not you include or exclude location data has any negative impact on that location is precisely relevant to the discussion.

Search around and you'll find countless articles and opinion pieces on how the advance of digital photography and sharing of information has created issues everywhere from the wilderness to already well-known spots. Take me out of the equation here and think about how this applies to photographers all along the spectrum of "fame."

I really don't see anything how travel photography has had a negative impact. For certain, TV shows or movies - having a much larger audience I could see. Do you have some links to anything fact based where photograps on the internet have led to such issues?

 

[ewarner]

I really don't see anything how travel photography has had a negative impact. For certain, TV shows or movies - having a much larger audience I could see. Do you have some links to anything fact based where photograps on the internet have led to such issues?

"Fact" is tough because I don't think there's been any extended research into this. But there are plenty of anecdotal pieces about it:

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www.outsideonline.com

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theoutline.com

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www.theringer.com

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www.cbc.ca

 

[John_A_G]

no text

 

[Jake2046]

I always share places I love....so others can enjoy it also.