Landscape photographer Dani Watson loved posting photos of stunning, remote and unusual locations. Then she realised she was fuelling a dangerous selfie-taking culture. Within hours of posting an image on social media, she would receive a flood of messages from followers.
"They’d ask: 'where did you take it?' 'How did you get there?' 'Can you pinpoint it on Google Maps?'" she told Insight. "I realised I was sort of creating a roadmap for tourists and influencers." While she may have taken the photo with a drone, having got all the right permissions, the average person trying to replicate such a picture could be putting their lives in danger, she said.
"Photographers like me were taking photos and geotagging and hashtag tagging them, which was creating a wave of popularity in certain locations with tourists or others who wanted to go and capture those images. "I was part of the problem." Monique Sherar knows all too well the perils of accessing dangerous places to take a photo.
One beautiful day after lots of rain she was at Empress Falls in the NSW Blue Mountains. She wanted to capture the view but didn't plan to take a selfie. In the end she fell before she even had the chance to take a photo.
"One minute I was walking on the track and the next minute I was tumbling through the air," she told Insight. "I just remember hitting the ground and having this full-body burning sensation. Just like a pain that I never felt before.
" After an eight to 10-metre fall, Monique landed i.