When Photos Go Rogue on Social Media
The gulf between photographer’s intention and the viewers’ interpretation.
Welcome to In the Flash, a reader-supported publication about intent and creativity in photography.
One of the perks of being a National Geographic photographer is being able to post to the magazine’s Instagram. Nat Geo elbowed its way into a snug #14 spot on the Instagram popularity scale, right behind Justin Bieber, Ronaldo and all the Kardashians, but just ahead of Taylor Swift. My work is often racier than the Nat Geo ethos allows so I am careful in picking the images that go up on the account. When I uploaded a photo of a couple kissing by a fountain in Munich, Germany, juxtaposed with a lone figure of a woman in a burka, I thought nothing of it. I saw the photo as innocuous. The mega-hive mind of 246 million Nat Geo followers begged to differ.
In just a few hours, the post garnered thousands of comments debating if my image was insulting to Islam. Plenty of commentators were just as stumped about its controversial status as I was, but they were quelled by an avalanche of indignation. My personal inbox was flooded with messages ranging from questions to threats. An editor from Nat Geo stepped in and offered moral support. It was a riot.