Privacy (Bolivia, 2009) – Travelling is something special – you come for the first time to interesting places with different cultures, architecture and people. Everything is new and fascinating – so fascinating, that many forget that they´ve got human beings with the same rights in front of them. Just imagine: You are sitting on your veranda, working in your office or playing with your kids – and a stranger comes along and starts taking pictures of you without asking. Clic, Clic, Clic. And the scene repeats itself every single day. A kind of your very own, personal “Groundhog Day”. Probably, you would become baffled, maybe even angry. And that’s what happens with the locals too.
Additionally, imagine that you just shot the perfect picture of a woman wearing traditional clothes and didn´t ask her permission before or after the fact – legally, you´re not allowed to publish the photo, not even on Facebook. So show the people the same respect you would expect – ask them, even if just by a gesture. They won´t agree every time, but they´ll do it more often than you think. Another thing is if you´re visiting a community that lives of showing their traditional way of life to tourists, or if there´s a public event – in most countries it´s allowed to take pictures of the participants – or if only the back o silhouette of the person can be seen. Regarding the picture shown, the girl, a resident of the Island of the Sun on the Lake Titicaca, didn´t want to have her face shown. So I couldn´t publish the picture where she can be recognized chatting with a friend happily.
