Is Adventure Photography Killing Adventure?
Is Adventure Photography killing the sense of adventure? I’m not sure I’m in any position to decide if it is or not, but it’s been eating at me and I figure since I own a website I might as well put my thoughts to paper.
*For the record, there is very little “photography” in this article on purpose. I’d prefer it not distract from the intent.
In The Beginning
I have this memory of when I was a kid visiting my Great Grandparent’s house in Oklahoma where a gigantic stack of National Geographic magazines lived. Whether my memory serves me correctly or not, all I know is that I was in a room that smelled like old and I had the world at my fingertips in the form of magazines. Maybe that’s where it began for me. Those images stuck in my head of far-off places taken by far-off photographers whose duty it was to bring what was out THERE to little old me in the form of a still image.
Back then the image was the image. It was taken on a roll of film with little to no doctoring. I’d imagine the only photoshop that existed was a guided comment by the photographer saying to look here or look there. If it didn’t exist at the time, you likely couldn’t make up for in post-production.
Those images filled me with adventure. I could pretend what it would be like to be an explorer and I think you could make a convincing argument that the seed of what I’m doing now was likely planted around that time while I thumbed through those pages in a dimly lit room in Northwest Oklahoma.
My First Camera
I have another very vivid memory of this camera bag my parents had in the closet. It was home to a Nikon that shot a 35mm roll of film and it was love at first sight. I’m not sure why, but I was drawn to it. I wanted to press that picture-taking button so freaking bad because it was like an adventure seeing what might pop out on the other side. If I could just have an opportunity to use it in a situation where I could create a sense of adventure, I knew I’d have a chance to prove my photography worth.
An upcoming trip to Yellowstone was my opportunity. I begged my parents to use the Nikon, but all I was given was a point and shoot. The telephoto lens and badass camera had to stay home because it was complicated and I didn’t know how to use it. Somewhere in a photo album lives some pretty stunning images of Yellowstone that I took as a child with a point-and-shoot film camera. When the photos came back after a week of being developed, my Mom allowed me to use the Nikon and from there on out, I attempted to chase adventure with a camera in hand.
War
In 2004 I went to war. I was 20 years old and brought a point and shoot film camera with me to document my experiences. The images aren’t great, but they mean something to me. I felt I was getting closer to documenting an adventure. I was in country for 7 months or so, went home, and came back again in 2005 for even longer. I again took a camera, this time a digital one, and the results weren’t too terribly bad. I look at those pictures with a sense of pride knowing that I was able to capture a moment in a time when each moment felt really weird. Whether they’re good or bad, they’re mine and they inspired me to continue pressing that shutter button over and over again with a hope of snapping that one image that might be on par with what I first saw in Oklahoma all those years ago.
As far as “adventure” goes, taking a picture in the middle of a war zone should qualify as such a thing. These images weren’t staged and weren’t doctored. They’re real moments in time.
The Rise Of Digital Photography and Social Media
I eventually upgraded my camera situation…a few times. With each upgrade came better photos and I felt inspired to shoot more and more. Shooting adventure-ish pictures meant I had to be somewhere that wasn’t where my normal life occurred. I had to be "out there” doing things. “Adventure photography” required adventure. I felt I had to capture what it was really like and when I couldn’t do it I would almost feel disappointed that I failed to meet my own expectations.
And then social media happened. Talk about expectations! Talk about comparing your art to the art of others! Yikes! If you’re not careful, it can a damn minefield of disappointment if you’re a creative. I’d take a photo that, for me, took YEARS to create but some photographer on social media would take a better one, and voila, all of a sudden I felt my photo no longer held water.
I was clearly doing something wrong. I either wasn’t a good enough photographer OR my “adventures” weren’t on the same level as these other picture-taking gurus.
As more and more photographers began using Instagram to showcase their work, it became more and more apparent that I had a lot of work to do. Both in photography and adventure.
I began to downplay my skills, my adventures, and the “epic-ness” of each time I went outside. It was like a slow death of creativity and fulfillment and the thing about it was because I do this stuff for myself and myself alone, it somehow hurt even more.
I take images for myself and there are some that I simply adore. Not because someone paid me to take them, but because they’re real. No one pays me for my work, and there’s a part of me that hopes that never happens because I’m afraid my creative integrity might come into question.
I don’t do photoshop and I can hardly edit an image. I refuse to shoot in RAW and I hate directing people to do things that aren’t natural. My pictures are about as real as they can be and while my skills in post-production are getting better, I do my best not to overdo it. If anything, I underdo it and end up with something that makes my own self wonder why I spend so much time watching photography videos on YouTube and spending money on gear no one pays me to use.
All these thoughts about my own work and worth as a photographer; it makes me wonder why. Is it because of the social influences and comparisons to other photographers?
The Pacific Crest Trail
I hiked over 2000 miles of the PCT in 2017 and took literally all of my images with an iPhone 7 Plus. Yes, that happened, and no I didn’t want to do it that way. I actually brought a nice camera, but hurt my foot on the second day and sent it home because I could save like 5 lbs. of gear by not carrying it. So it was me and my trusty iPhone to save the day.
I earned every damn picture I took on that trail. Every sunrise, sunset, mid-day shadow, and photos when life just sucked. Those images weren’t staged, they were real and I love them for what they are.
My iPhone pictures on the PCT were legit “adventure” photos. I was on an adventure and I took said photos myself. I documented what I could, tried my best to capture a few moments, and I personally think some of them worked out pretty well. Those images inspired me to keep pressing on. Keep finding adventures and keep pressing whatever shutter button I had nearest me.
And Then It happened. This “Adventure” Photographer Had Me Fooled!
I won’t mention his name here because it’s pointless to do so and because he’s one of many “adventure photographers” who stage their adventures rather than actually do them.
Like many others, his images are incredible and I used to look at them and wonder how the hell this guy could marry adventure and quality image taking like some sort of resurrection of the National Geographic images I saw so long ago. Time after time he knocked it out of the park; rapid-fire quality adventure photos. The views this guy could capture were nothing short of astonishing. He could find a way to put himself in just the right place and I felt inspired by it right up until I learned it was all staged, fake, and completely untrue.
The cat ran out of the bag light a lightning bolt when he shot a video of how he takes his images and uploaded it to YouTube. In short, my jaw about fell off when he hiked a well-worn path early in the morning, packed in climbing helmets and ropes to use as props, then waited for the light to be just right for his models to walk down a ridge that was right off the trail fully kitted in adventure attire that “popped” out from the landscape. Once he had what he needed, the scene cut to him sipping coffee at the lodge editing photos where he had woken up earlier that morning mere hours after he left his bed.
I about shat myself. On one hand, he was showing the truth, but on the other, I felt sick to my stomach thinking about how much damage his “adventure photography” had done to those wanting to get into such a thing.
This guy gets paid to take “adventure images” that are literally staged. There’s no adventure happening at all yet it appears there very much is. On the outside, he’s telling a story of “adventure” and posting to social media about how epic his images are so brands pay him money to sell their mission to customers when on the inside it’s all a ruse.
And here I sat judging and comparing my own actual adventure-inspired images to a dude that fakes adventures to earn a living. I naturally revisited his images with this new reality and found that he very clearly stages everything. The perfect motion during the most perfect light with the most perfect composition…. How I didn’t see it before then was beyond me and it got me thinking.
So…does adventure photography inspire or defeat?
Well? Does it? Which is it; inspiration or defeat? Are all these identical photos floating around the internet depicting the life of adventure beneficial or are they defeating to those who desire more than a cubical?
I suppose it’s a mixed bag, but the old man in me simply wants real images of real adventures even if it’s not perfect. A staged or manipulated photo is great, but I still want real. When I see a feed full of hundreds of images that look far too perfect I begin to wonder if what is in the image was even real in the first place. Look, I’ve backpacked and hunted enough to know that shit doesn’t turn out perfect all the time. The wild is just that, wild and unless you’re on a photoshoot waiting for the perfect light, perfect scene, and perfect angle, you can’t guarantee a hundred perfect images. The reality is, you’re lucky if you get one or two.
This whole idea of what “adventure photography” has become is like the airbrushed skin of a model who somehow has no pores on her skin and no wrinkles. Until you realize her skin and even body shape has been manipulated, you can’t help but compare yourself to that person. Even when you KNOW it’s manipulated, you run the risk of comparisons.
The Risk of Comparing Yourself to Others
If you’re not careful, you’re putting your very own happiness at risk because you start thinking that your experience is somehow not as good as what you’re seeing in a social media feed. Who the hell says your time in the field isn’t as good as someone else’s?
If you live in the midwest, are you wishing you didn’t because you don’t have mountains? If you live in the mountains and you see images of Iceland, do you think your area is somehow less special? Has “adventure photography” impacted how you view YOUR adventures? Do you think less of them if the vista isn’t perfect or the sunlight isn’t magical or do you not care at all?
If you’ve answered “yes” to any of the above questions, you need to do some serious thinking and self-reflection. You need to ask yourself why you think where you live isn’t as special as somewhere else. If it’s because you’re comparing your area to an area you don’t live in and it’s causing your enjoyment to decline, just stop yourself right then and there. Use your sense of adventure to seek out and explore the area you think isn’t so “adventurous.” Challenge yourself to find new things, but most of all, realize that those “adventure” images you see all over the ‘gram, are more than likely fake.
Most adventures happen without documentation.
Do It For You, Not Them
I admit I was caught up in comparing myself to others. I’d experience a war, hiked the PCT, and taken some pretty neat images along the way yet I found myself feeling inadequate as a photographer and lover of the outdoors.
It was foolish to think my adventures were somehow any less cool than what someone else was doing.
What’s not cool is NOT going in the first place or not being present when you do go. That one single YouTube video smashed me over the head with the reality that you shouldn’t always believe what you see. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Marketing is a son of a gun and when it works…it works great. I fell victim to a guy who faked adventure and now I just laugh when I see the perfect picture because I know there’s a hell of a lot of manipulation being done to make it that way (colors don’t always pop like that). I’m more than happy with my noisy, low-lit, blurry, and poorly composed image if it means it’s the real deal.
Today I take images and find adventure for me. I’ll tell you about it, but don’t expect perfection. I fail a lot and that’s perfectly fine. It’s the getting back out there to do it again that matters. Hopefully, that’s enough for you to feel inspired.
How Do You Feel?
So I want to know; how do you feel inspired? How do you feel about the idea of “adventure photography?” Are we doing a good thing by posting images or are we simultaneously crushing the desire of someone out there who is trying their best to escape to the wilderness when they can?
I know I struggle with it. Do you? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. You can email me at emory@byland.co or shoot me a note by using the form below.