Member-only story
Stop Taking Pictures at National Parks
and other thoughts on changing our relationship with public lands.
Ah, Yosemite. If God had a living room, this would be it. Look at that photo. Look at that California sun setting over El Cap, the last warm glow of the evening bathing Half Dome in a glorious mantle of gold.
Look at that photo. It already exists. We really don’t need to take the same photo again, do we?
Look — I’m not saying this to shame you; that would be completely hypocritical of me. I went to Yosemite this summer, too. I took pictures to prove it, too. How could I not? The way beauty makes us want to catch it. I didn’t just take those pictures so I could post them on Instagram. I took pictures because Yosemite is the most beautiful thing in existence and I like beautiful things. I’ve taken all kinds of beautiful pictures in all kinds of beautiful places, and enjoyed every step of the process.
I tell you all of this so you know that I do not judge you if you take pictures at national parks. I do not judge you if you take filtered pictures of your idealized life for social media. I do not even judge your selfie sticks. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with taking pictures at national parks.
