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Photography and terrorism


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Perhaps it's a bit shallow to broach this topic given the recent tragic events in Paris, but I'm sure that everyone has thought about it. How is the threat of international terrorism -- which will be around for a long time by the looks of it -- going to affect photographers and photography markets? The USA has gone so far as to issue an unprecedented "international travel alert." Measures like this aren't good news for travelling photographers. I would certainly think twice about hopping on a plane to Istanbul (and a lot of other places) these days.

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The Foreign Office issues specific travel guidance based on intelligence and the only advice for Turkey is to stay away from the Syrian border, so I'd have no problems with Istanbul.

Fortunately my government wouldn't do it, but if I was basically told 'don't go anywhere' I wouldn't know what to think. It's pretty useless advice, but then if it's true that Americans as a whole don't travel much it may not take much to put them off.

I was in Paris the week before and no black-hearted killer is going to tell me where to go.

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Having flown as recently as three weeks ago, I didn't much think about the danger, and that was after the Russian plane bombing.  It definitely would be a consideration for many people to get on a plane.  Yet, I feel when my time is up, it is up. I believe in God, and I believe He knows when my time will be up.

 

That said, I don't feel that way about my children and grandchildren.  I'd prefer to wrap them in cotton batting and stick 'em in a safe place.  Maybe what it comes down to is I feel I've had a good life, and if it is my time, so be it.  So I think if I want to fly again, I'll fly again.

 

Flying may approach the peril of sky diving, extreme skiing, and other very dangerous sports.

 

Betty

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The Foreign Office issues specific travel guidance based on intelligence and the only advice for Turkey is to stay away from the Syrian border, so I'd have no problems with Istanbul.

Fortunately my government wouldn't do it, but if I was basically told 'don't go anywhere' I wouldn't know what to think. It's pretty useless advice, but then if it's true that Americans as a whole don't travel much it may not take much to put them off.

I was in Paris the week before and no black-hearted killer is going to tell me where to go.

 

The US isn't telling its citizens not to go anywhere, just warning them of increasing danger from terrorist activity around the globe. Tourism in a lot of countries -- e.g. Egypt -- has already taken huge hits. Surely, things will only get worse before they get better.

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I regularly used to travel to Belfast for work at the height of the troubles, a fantastic place. I would have no hesitation in traveling to Istanbul, but would think twice about much of the rest of the Middle East, and only for work leaving the family safe behind.

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No worries with Istanbul.

 

I think the older we get the less concerned about our own safety we become (but agree with Betty's comment re relatives!)

 

Kumar (sadly not flying out anywhere in the near future)

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Photographers are obviously brave souls (I've been to some dicey places myself), but I'm not sure that the general vacationing public is as fearless, which could have a negative impact on the demand for images (other than news photos, of course) of some popular travel destinations. This might also result in more demand for images of less-visited places that are now perceived to be safer. Now I'm starting to sound opportunistic. Don't mean to. Hopefully, the terrorists won't stop the majority of travellers from going wherever they want to. 

 

P.S. Sorry I mentioned Istanbul. Bad example, apparently, for the time being anyway. 

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I have been in West Turkey last October and I felt 100% secure. Terrorism can attack in any part of the world, Madrid, London, Paris, NY, Mumbay,  etc. and for that you are not going to travel to those places. Terrorisms must to win that war to to put fear in our bodies and no to travel to places where tourism is the unique source for prosperity. Of course there are no-go countries, but there are few.

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I have been in West Turkey last October and I felt 100% secure. Terrorism can attack in any part of the world, Madrid, London, Paris, NY, Mumbay,  etc. and for that you are not going to travel to those places. Terrorisms must to win that war to to put fear in our bodies and no to travel to places where tourism is the unique source for prosperity. Of course there are no-go countries, but there are few.

 

So you don't think that terrorism will have any effects (negative or positive) on travel photography or on the demand for some travel imagery?

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There are lots of things that can cause temporary dips and rises in travel.

 

There's no shortage of visitors on the streets of NYC . . . and we are the city of 9/11 and still a major target.

 

I worked in-house at American Airlines, and when business went soft what we did was run more ads and do more marketing . . . which means more stock photo sales, not less. 

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I would imagine that staycations will become even more popular and an increase in relevant images searched.

 

Yes, I think you're correct. Staycations will probably become more popular.

 

I've been "staycationing" for a couple of years now myself, mainly for financial reasons, not because I've feared flying, etc. 

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There are lots of things that can cause temporary dips and rises in travel.

 

There's no shortage of visitors on the streets of NYC . . . and we are the city of 9/11 and still a major target.

 

I worked in-house at American Airlines, and when business went soft what we did was run more ads and do more marketing . . . which means more stock photo sales, not less. 

 

Interesting, more marketing might indeed mean more stock sales, except for some places that will obviously remain a total no-go for the foreseeable future.

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There are lots of things that can cause temporary dips and rises in travel.

 

There's no shortage of visitors on the streets of NYC . . . and we are the city of 9/11 and still a major target.

 

I worked in-house at American Airlines, and when business went soft what we did was run more ads and do more marketing . . . which means more stock photo sales, not less. 

 

About "no shortage of visitors on streets of NYC":  

Last week, the day after ISIS posted propaganda video threatening Times Square, I dropped relative off at Penn Station, and decided to walk to Times Square, with iphone.

There were plenty of people out and about - but things did not feel normal - not even the 'new normal.'

 

Related to what Betty LaRue wrote - my relative called me the next day to make sure I was back home okay.  Ann

 

[edited to add: As I took care of my infant granddaughter today, my heart sank when I heard about Turkey/Russia.] 

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I have been in West Turkey last October and I felt 100% secure. Terrorism can attack in any part of the world, Madrid, London, Paris, NY, Mumbay,  etc. and for that you are not going to travel to those places. Terrorisms must to win that war to to put fear in our bodies and no to travel to places where tourism is the unique source for prosperity. Of course there are no-go countries, but there are few.

 

 

So you don't think that terrorism will have any effects (negative or positive) on travel photography or on the demand for some travel imagery?

I think the effect is negative for certain countries, because why a magazine, or travel guide, needs to publish an article about a country that is being targeted by terrorism? For example Mali, Libya, etc. When was the las time that a Yemen guide was published?

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Speaking of Turkey, this sounds like a very serious new development.

Yes indeed, but Turkey is a big country. Tourism felt 50% this year w.r.t last year because people think that Turkey was at war with Siria when Turkey is a BIG country and most of the tourist attractions are thousands of kilometers away from the trouble areas.

 

Syria and Jordan were empty during Irak war although those countries were safe at that time.

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About "no shortage of visitors on streets of NYC":  

Last week, the day after ISIS posted propaganda video threatening Times Square, I dropped relative off at Penn Station, and decided to walk to Times Square, with iphone.

There were plenty of people out and about - but things did not feel normal - not even the 'new normal.'

 

Related to what Betty LaRue wrote - my relative called me the next day to make sure I was back home okay.  Ann

 

[edited to add: As I took care of my infant granddaughter today, my heart sank when I heard about Turkey/Russia.] 

 

 

Times Square is hardly indicative of the rest of the City. Police with assault rifles are no more common than topless women in most neighborhoods. Aside from the memorial and tributes in Washington Square I haven't spotted anything particularly out of the ordinary. As Ed said, there's no shortage of tourists, and I've noticed many of those tourists are French.

 

I did hear about a couple of groups who cancelled their annual trips to New York but they're probably people who are afraid to ride the subway ;)

 

fD

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I agree with Ed, ....those marketing people will be doing overtime....and they'll be buying for the next & the next holiday season when people will have forgotten today's terror alerts.

 

Oh! and it's probably safer for some of us to go abroad than stay at home, (OK, this poster is a few of years old but still relevant).

fogletweet2_0.png

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Tell you what though, the Russians will think twice before flying over their airspace again. 

 

That's probably true, but there's no telling what Mr. P. will do next. He has his own agenda.

 

Yes John. Here's hoping any retaliatory response is within reason.

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