A Plea to Photographers
by Bill Caulfeild-Browne
(I originally wrote this article in 1984 for Seasons magazine. I understand it was subsequently used by Cornell University as part of one of their courses. I reprint it here because the message is now more relevant than ever.)
Celebrities whose private lives are unremittingly hounded by news photographers might agree that many of those wielding a camera are clumsy and unthinking people. Wildlife photographers, for all their art and technical expertise, occasionally fit this description too.
I am struck by a couple of examples in particular. There is the photographer who indulges in extensive "gardening" to improve the framing, foreground or background of a photograph of a flower. In the process, he or she often breaks twigs and grasses or other flowers; he may actually be destroying the environment in which the plant can survive. If other photographers then follow to photograph the same specimen, particularly in a bog or a pasture, we are left with a trampled area marked by boot prints and destroyed vegetation.
Another example is the gardening done by the cameraman trying to photograph birds or animals. In order to clear a view, he pushes aside the cover that provides the nest with protection, thereby exposing it to the elements or to predators. In addition, he may frighten the species so much that it will never return to its nest.
The obvious premise to my remarks is that it is more important to leave a plant or an animal undisturbed and its environment undamaged than it is to take a photograph. This thought seems to elude a lot of people; in the thrill of the quest for the "perfect picture", they simply forget the well being of the subject itself. I have no desire to dictate how pictures should be taken, or to interfere with an artist's creativity, but I do think we should avoid certain practices. Here are few hints on how to take photographs with a minimal impact on the environment.
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