- We are a culture that is obsessed
with capturing and sharing moments.
It has almost become second nature
when we see something beautiful,
we reach into our pocket,
we take out our phone and we take a photo,
sometimes to remember the moment
and sometimes to share it.
Photo taking has become so ubiquitous
that sometimes going to your favorite outdoor viewpoint
can feel more like going to a crowded concert.
Even me I mean I'm a travel photographer,
which means I take a ton of photos
so I have a lot of questions when it comes to
how photography impacts the outdoors.
Is there a benefit to this newfound obsession
or has photography ruined our enjoyment
of the great outdoors?
(gentle pulsing digital music with chimes)
My name is Erin.
I am a travel photographer
taking a closer look at what the future
of the outdoors looks like.
(gentle pulsing digital music with chimes)
So just got to Utah and heading to Zion
and Horseshoe Bend,
which are some amazing places to take photos in nature.
That said I'm not exactly the first person
to figure that out.
So here we go.
(gentle chimes and relaxing harp music)
Collectively, we take more than 1.4 trillion
photos a year and every day we post
more than 95 million photos to Instagram alone.
We are doing a brave thing today.
(laughing)
We are going to Zion National Park.
National Parks were established in part
as a way to protect nature and wild spaces,
but in the last 15 years,
visitation numbers have surged
and that is causing a crisis of popularity.
At Zion National Park where we are right now,
attendance rates continue to be over 4 million a year
and this isn't just a US issue.
Take Norway's iconic scenery,
between 2009 and 2014,
visitors to Trolltunga increased from 500
to 40,000 in what many consider a wave
of social media-fueled tourism.
But what does this have to do with me taking a selfie?
(beating low piano notes)
All right welcome to the Narrows.
This is the start of the hike.
We can't actually hike out
because the water level is too high,
but as you can see behind me
there is a fair crowd here.
While taking photos at iconic locations
may be natural,
it wasn't until recently that you could
immediately share it and include its exact location
so others could find it.
- My name is Rachel Ross.
I'm a video editor for a guided company
in Springdale Utah.
People are wanting to go to the most popular spots
they see on TV, social media, their friends.
So the Narrows is interesting because it is a
highly impactable location.
So all of the trails within the Narrows
are social trail.
So I see the trails getting wider,
tons of different social trails breaking off
into the foliage where they shouldn't be,
trash has been a big issue,
human waste has been found in the Narrows
and this is off camera they found like
20 pounds of poop in there last year (laughs).
- [Camera Woman] So gross.
- I know.
This is what many refer to
as being loved to death.
Elisabeth Brentano has seen first-hand
how popularity can lead to vandalism and destruction.
- I think whenever we say places are loved to death,
you know there's obviously people who wanna visit
these places with respect but there are just as many people
who either don't understand what it means to be
a responsible visitor or who are gonna take it
a step further and behave selfishly in these areas
putting their photos and their experiences
over the best interests of the wilderness,
wildlife and local communities.
- [Erin] She started a petition encouraging Facebook
and Instagram to hold people accountable when
they break the rules.
- I thought there has to be a way where like if someone sees
this image pop-up on social media,
they can immediately flag it where the post
would be removed.
Say hey just so you're aware,
this might actually cause some damage
to this area so here's the proper way
to visit this spot.
- [Erin] What you don't see here at
Oregon's Kiwanda is a classic sandstone formation
called the Duckbill.
Many snuck past the guardrail risking their life
to snap the iconic photos.
And it's not just here,
many people are putting themselves in harms way
to get the shot.
In fact Yellowstone has gone so far as to start
a safe selfie policy,
which includes never approaching animals for selfies
as many people have been injured while trying to do so.
So with all this negative talk about posting
and sharing your photos,
should we just ban selfies in nature altogether?
Can we do that?
So we're heading to Horseshoe Bend,
which is another area that has just seen
a skyrocket in visitors over the last few years.
This has changed.
Whoa there's an entrance station!
So the last time I was here was
three and a half years ago
and this was just a tiny dirt lot
and now it is a huge parking lot.
There's an entrance station.
There's construction happening.
They're building more access
and there's a ton of people here.
Just me and a few hundred of my closest friends.
- My name is Amanda Hammond,
I'm a park ranger at Glen Canyon national recreational area.
- Ranger Amanda grew up in Page
and has seen a transformation of this area
over the last 30 years.
- Yeah I've seen at both ends of the spectrum,
when you used to be able to come out here
and there was nobody but you
and today,
I mean the explosion has just been so rapid.
When it first became apparent that
we had so many more visitors coming here,
we started putting trash cans out.
As soon as we did that they started filling up faster
than we could empty them.
It's just impossible to keep up
with the explosion and visitation here.
For people that are concerned about places
like this being loved to death,
it's really important to use your voice
to help other visitors understand
how to take care of a place.
Taking care of these places isn't about keeping people out,
it's about helping people understand
how to care for it themselves when they're here.
- [Erin] While many people despise the crowds
of selfie takers there are actually quite
a few benefits to our snapping.
For example when more people
are outside using these locations
they may become easier to protect.
Many places are seeing a rise in awareness
and protection simply because it was easy
to share on social media.
And while some people might not enjoy their time
as much with all of the selfie takers nearby,
those people taking photos might actually
be enjoying their experience more.
- We did a lot of studies.
- [Erin] Kristin's a researcher at USC
and has done group tests on
how photography affects our experiences.
- So what we find is when people take photographs,
they actually enjoy the experience more.
The reason why that is is that it gets them actually
more engaged with the experience.
When you actively take photos,
you actually have to think about
what it is that you want to take a photo of,
and by thinking about that more,
you get more engaged with what's in front of you.
It doesn't matter why you're taking photos.
If you take photos for yourself,
you'll enjoy the experience more
than if you take photos
with the intention to share.
I know oh I'm going to share this,
then the question is is that sunset
really pretty enough for Instagram?
Am I gonna embarrass myself by having
this mediocre beach photo?
- [Erin] So I want to go to two more places.
First we're going to the super uber iconic wave.
In fact it's become so popular
that the permitting system is wild.
Let's find out if we can even get one.
Many people argue that people are focused solely
on getting the shot for the 'gram.
- People go outta their way to get these photos.
- An Instagram account called insta repeat shows
the sameness of a lot of outdoor photography.
- These photos are created because they are popular,
and this game is a popularity contest.
There's a demystification I think going on
on Insta repeat that people get something out of,
even if they aren't thinking about it
exactly in those terms.
- Who wants to see the wave?
(crowd cheering)
- All right let's go down this side this morning.
All right ready?
(crowd cheering)
131 applicants we will be drawing for 10 spots.
All right number 33.
- [Person In Crowd] Yes!
(crowd laughing and clapping)
- Number 33 is a group of four.
- [Crowd] Whoa!
- All right it's a group of two.
Number 30! - [Woman In Crowd] Yay!
- Number 31.
(man whooping and crowd clapping)
- Thank you thank you.
- 18.
- [Man In Crowd] Yep.
- All right that thus concludes today's lottery.
(crowd clapping)
- I didn't get in.
Okay well maybe we can find a place
that's kind of similar.
Here we have girl out window on dirt road.
A classic.
So we came to this site,
we heard that it's similar to the wave
and it's down a dirt road,
it's an adventure to get to
but it's not too far.
There are definitely cars here,
it's not like totally abandoned
but it's nothing compared to what
the other site is like just
with hundreds of people waiting in line
for a permit.
Who's to say that the wave is cooler
than this one or that this one's cooler than the wave?
It's just interesting how there can be such
a huge contrast in the number of people
that are coming to these sites
and how they're regulated as a result.
I have the most beautiful view right now.
(upbeat techno music)
It is beautiful there's a lot
of really cool rock formations here.
You can just run around and play.
Hello!
The light is getting to be beautiful
and I'm gonna take everything that we found
about today and just take some photos
for me personally,
and for creativity's sake.
- We have to be educating as much as we're inspiring.
- So you can't post something
and say I'm just sharing it's like
you're sharing but are you caring?
Is sharing caring in that aspect?
Sometimes it's not.
- I think you have to use your voice
to help educate kindly
your fellow visitors and how they also
can play a part in caring for these special places.
- [Erin] Our photo taking obsession shows no signs
of slowing down.
But maybe the encouragement is
to go find somewhere you'll enjoy,
not because someone else took a photo of it
but somewhere unique.
Capture it through your lens.
Be present,
remember to stay safe and keep the land protected
and in the process you might end up enjoying
the outdoors a little more.
Hi everyone thank you so much
for watching again my name is Erin
and we really wanna explore some questions
about the outdoors with this series
so if you've got any questions or topics
you wanna see here please let us know
in the comments below and we'll see you next time.