A number of friends having profession as a photographer, both the amateur and professional, complained about one important thing related to their hobbies as well as job. Actually, other than those friends, some others who are working as journalist also complained about the same subject. Possibly, the list of complaining people can grow longer. What is the matter?

Apparently, they have a problem where they can no longer take photos or images at their own will. In other words, it is not only the object snapshot considered sacred, but they are indeed not allowed to take any photos by the owner of events. Moreover, they are also asked for money when taking photos at few tourist attractions. “It happens at the famous paddy field attraction in Tabanan as well as in the northern areas of Gianyar,” complained the photographer. Once upon a time, he would like to take photographs but he was prohibited. When asked why, the man prohibiting him told that he should pay a sum of money. “It’s about USD 10 or approximately equal to IDR 100,000,” he said.

What kind of indications are these? Well, let us look back to the past when the Bali tourism just emerged around the 1920s. At that time, Balinese people were so happy to be photographed because the photo appeared in a sheet of paper. By all means, it was considered a miracle and so forth. Travelers continued to inform to the rest of the world about the face of beautiful Bali. It offered beautiful scenery, while its people were always smiling suavely through simple photos and videos. All travelers talked about Bali and everyone got profits. So, there was a mutual action. Bali is famous and the photographer was getting good moments and images regardless of whether they were professional or amateur photographer who simply snapped for memories.

How about the current conditions? It can be understood that in general there is something wrong. And we can immediately find out the answer, even though it is not exactly correct. It is the matter of the tourism pie that is not distributed evenly. Some people consider themselves to be made as an object only and there are parties getting benefits as subject. Probably, the current farmers whose terraced paddy field and him photographed are only made an object so that they are entitled to ask for payment if their land and his activities as a farmer are photographed.

This imbalance causes people to think economically and pragmatically. It is not solely because they are materialistic. There is a ‘protest’ against the imbalanced condition. It is not only in photography, but also about the matter of land, job opportunities as well as the opportunity to enjoy the fortune in tourism sector. Actually it is just a small protest. However, it is very significant if the government and stakeholders should understand and respond. There must be a solution to prevent the imbalance from getting larger.

No photo sir… actually poses a moral movement about how they can get the attention. It is the same as the case of terraced paddy field view deliberately hampered with zinc sheets and the entrance to tourist attraction that is blocked by local residents and so forth. However, the problem is that whether the relevant parties can capture these messages or not.