A collaborative exhibition at The Heritage Centre, Bellingham
Exploring themes of truth and storytelling, the exhibition looked at photography’s past, present and future. The overall message is think before you share in order to keep a hold of your story.
Some important practical tips are included below.
Think before you share!
- When we share photos online there is always a risk we will lose control of those photos. Ask yourself ‘Am I willing to give up control of this information?’
- Think carefully about where you share and who you share your photos with.
- Remember, it can be very hard to remove photos once they are online.
- And check whether the person being photographed (or if it’s a child then their parents) is happy with their photo being shared online.
How can you keep hold of your pictures?
Tell people what you want to happen to your photos – if you don’t want them to share them you need to say. This article provides more information: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/oct/24/posting-children-online-social-media-family-conversation
If you only want your friends and family to see your photographs set your privacy settings to private – see https://www.facebook.com/help/2335165983413024?helpref=about_content and https://help.instagram.com/116024195217477
If you don’t want to share publicly but only with family and close friends, consider one of the private family social networks like Family Space (on android and ios). There are also specialist children’s social networks like Zigazoo which allow parents to limit children’s interactions to their school or community.
The Information Commissioner also provides helpful guidance on safe social media use: https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/online/social-networking/#9
What if someone has used your photos in a way you didn’t anticipate?
If your own image or a photograph you have taken has been used in a way you didn’t expect, first ask the individual or organisation on whose profile the photograph appears or the owner of the website where the photograph is displayed to delete or remove the photographs.
Social media sites provide guidance on what to do if a photo has been shared that breaches privacy – see Facebook https://www.facebook.com/help/428478523862899 and Instagram/Threads https://help.instagram.com/contact/267832646728129
If an organisation has shared your photograph without permission then they may be in breach of the General Data Protection Regulation https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/data-protection-complaints/data-protection-complaints/
Where photographs have been misused by the news media contact https://www.pressjusticeproject.org/how-we-can-help
Did you know?
Digital photographs come with an embedded data file known as the metadata. Various things may be included such as:
- Photographer’s name / copyright information.
- Location (a viewer can bring up on a map the spot the shot was taken).
- Date and time (not always reliable as an aide memoire as this may change as images get shared and saved).
- Camera settings such as aperture and shutter speed, flash etc
Much of this information will be written by the camera or phone – the camera settings is a good place to check or change permissions. Although the metadata can be edited deliberately or parts may get overwritten, often it will travel unchanged with the file.
To minimise the chance of forgetting the story behind your photo or to embed some hints that are retained when your picture gets shared we have a few tips:
- Use the built-in edit function on your computer or phone and write or type on top of the image.
- Use photo software which supports adding keywords which are labels or tags. Intended for organising your image collection these allow you to search by category and quickly find relevant photos. These keywords can be embedded into the metadata making them readable by others after the image has been shared.
- Rename your image so the file name contains three or four relevant words. This requires no special software.
This information has been provided as part of ‘Picture This: Marking 20 Years of Facebook & 120 Years of Photographs’, a free exhibition organised by Dr Claire Bessant from Northumbria Law School. The exhibition was part of the 2024 Being Human Festival and took place at Bellingham Heritage Centre from 7-17 November 2024. The nationwide Being Human Festival celebrates the humanities with hundreds of free events across the UK. The exhibition was made possible thanks to a grant of from the Ray Wind Fund CIC Community Benefit Fund. The fund has been established by energy company Vattenfall for the benefit of the communities hosting the Ray Windfarm. Exhibition copy wording by Jo Scott Heritage. Design by Chris Woodcock of White Oak Studios.
