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Staged travel photography, a very honest opinion

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Not everybody will agree with this photographer, Etienne Bossot. I mostly do though. Travelling to the other side of the globe, making staged, photoshopped images of the locals is of course the choice of each individual. Where it's getting problematic is when the images are presented as genuine, like this is what reality looks like. Most of the time it doesn't.

Unfortunately, some rather famous travel photographers have made this a habit, and they are earning good moneys from it. Again, nobody can deny them the freedom to do that, but those who haven't been at the location to see what life is really like there will get a distorted view of the world. Does that matter? Yes, I think it does. Is this something new? No, it isn't, but technology is making it worse.

Beautiful photos, fake reality.

https://www.picsofasia.com/the-library-of-fake-travel-photos-in-asia/

Another aspect to this, one that I've never understood, is why so many photographers are trevelling to the same destinations, often trying to make copies of photos that they have seen taken by others. As is also mentioned in the article, some of those locations are so crowded with photographers that it's difficult to understand why photographers bother. Difficult for me to understand anyway. I've seen it once, during sunrise at Angkor Wat, and I told myself "Never again".
 

AlanS

Well-known member
Another aspect to this, one that I've never understood, is why so many photographers are trevelling to the same destinations, often trying to make copies of photos that they have seen taken by others. As is also mentioned in the article, some of those locations are so crowded with photographers that it's difficult to understand why photographers bother. Difficult for me to understand anyway. I've seen it once, during sunrise at Angkor Wat, and I told myself "Never again".
Totally agree Jorgen, I once did a sunrise at Bamburgh Castle not realising it was a "trophy shot" destination and was amazed how many people turned up! I also said "never again", I prize my solitude when shooting landscape!
 

PeterA

Well-known member
There is almost an inverse correlation between what photo forum participants give likes to and what kind of images are commercial or taken on by galleries - amazing but true. These 'travel shots' are postcards that tourists like and travel agents put on brochures.
 

Shashin

Well-known member
I always found the reality of a place more interesting than our conception of it. The White House, Washington DC.

 
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