Welcome to the Blog of the responsible Nature Photography collective

Welcome to the Blog of the Responsible Photography Collective 

What we love, we care about. That single statement is at the heart of what we seek to do at the Responsible Photography Collective. The purpose of this website and blog is to serve as a center for learning for all photographers. And in this space, our contributors will share their expertise, their knowledge, and their experiences, as they have learned to be mindful and make responsible practices a part of their photography.

Since its invention in the mid-18th century, photography has been a powerful force for positive change. To name but a few examples, photographers aided the causes of Indian independence and American civil rights by broadcasting images of unjust events to the world. Photographers have aided environmental preservation efforts by capturing charismatic wildlife, beautiful scenery, and the destruction of those animals and scenes.

Digital cameras, and — even more so — cell phone cameras, have brought photography to the masses. This has continued to promote change for the good by, among other things, allowing for previously unseen bad behavior to be recorded so that its reality can no longer be denied.

But photography is not only a force for good. Photography has made locations “Instagram famous,” attracting too much human traffic, which has resulted in harm. In fact, many human-animal incidents are caused by tourists trying to get close-up photographs on a cell phone. Feeding animals or crowding them results in human and animal deaths.

Likewise, photography plays a role in the ways other human beings are exploited. The pressures faced by models would come as no surprise to any actress familiar with the so-called “casting couch” made infamous by the MeToo Movement.  

But the fact that photography has so often been a force for good shows that there are ways to be a responsible photographer.

Often, being a responsible, conscientious photographer means nothing more than stopping to think about the welfare of subjects and their environments. We provide resources to stimulate those thought processes and aid in considering ways to avoid harm.  

A photographer is simply a person who makes photographs. Thus, whether a person is a professional photographer or a casual tourist taking cell phone snapshots of their family, they are a photographer. They can be part of the problem. But they can also be part of the solution.

We at the Responsible Photography Collective do not claim to know everything, and we are not about forcing anyone to do anything. But we hope that sharing what we learn will equip others to practice photography in ways that do no harm to the world or its inhabitants. After all, we become photographers because we are passionate about the world and its inhabitants. What we love, we care about.

We hope this website will be a benefit in your photography journey. Feel free to reach out to Angie Maloney or Lori A Cash if you have any questions, comments or want to talk about responsible photography.

Angie and Lori

Co-Founders of the Responsible Photography Collective