Geo-Tagging…. My opinion…
Being on Instagram a lot with my work, this is something that is coming up more and more. I do get asked a lot why I don’t put the exact locations on my images when I tag them. This is something that even I have been on both sides of the fence on. But, after a lot of thinking , self reflection.. I decided I was not going to do it .. for a few reasons.
First, after witnessing it myself, first hand… damage to the environment. I have seen more an more places tagged.. and now these places are over run with people. Area’s that previously were almost deserted are now full of people, trash, and sometimes even graffiti, damage.. its heart breaking. I do find myself getting angry at the fact people , and a good majority of them have absolutely no respect for the land or wildlife. I actually used to tell myself that it is a very small percentage of people that does not have the respect or common sense to respect and preserve the areas we visit and photograph. After almost 30 plus years in this photography game.. I am now convinced it is the opposite. There are very few of us with that respect and common sense.
I spend a huge amount of time in National Parks, and it seems it gets worse every year, and yes, the crowds are worse every year. I believe it was 2019 ( sometime before the pandemic) this issue really hit home with me . I was in Yellowstone and decided to go shoot a favorite spot of mine in the park.. I had found a dead tree with some amazing character to it, that overlooked an amazing valley. I had shot this tree many times.. and every single time.. I was alone. The tree was there , undisturbed for many years. Once I started posting it, I kept getting questions on where it was and where in the park. So, I started tagging it. The last time I went to this spot, there it was.. names carved in it, a well worn path going up to the tree.. trash, littered around it. I was disgusted.. now, do I think it was all because I tagged it.. no.. not at all.. I don’t have that amount of followers and I don’t have that kind of influence. BUT, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat responsible. And it stuck with me.. so from that day I decided to stop tagging exact spots.
Another issue that has come up in this day of tagging is… no one finds anything original anymore. Every photographer has the same exact image.. no one discovers anything new anymore. Ever been to Mesa Arch?? What a nightmare.. Everyone wants the image they scrolled past on IG.. so they look for the tagged spot, put it in GPS and there they are… same spot. Same composition. Same time of day. All creativity is gone..
What happened to stopping and just hiking in the backcountry and see what you could find. Hiking for miles just hoping to find a spot you have never seen an image of before? Honestly , some of my best images came out of me being lost… well… I’m a man, so I’ve never been “lost”… just a little confused for a few hours… or days….
I believe this time of social media has stolen our sense of adventure, creativity, personality, and art… its all duplication now.. no individuality… so if you see me with a tag that is made up, the total wrong location, or if I tag every image as Mesa Arch… this is why..
What is your opinion?
