# Soul Stealing Photography?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soul-stealing-photography/370540
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 28, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soul-stealing-photography/370540 "2006-08-28T16:13:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@ChicanoRojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChicanoRojo)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2006, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soul-stealing-photography/370540/21 "2006-08-29T03:58:46Z")
> [@SmackFu](#):
>
> Oops… you’re right about that. I conflated the sign with the separate warnings from our local guide to not take photos of the indigenous peoples unless we had permission. So, they were very anti-photography, but perhaps not in the steal-your-soul sense.
>
> It was really a shame, since the church was mind-blowing.
Well. No. The sign doesn’t say you can not take photos of the church per se, what it says is that you **can not** take photos of the rituals that occur in the church or anywhere else in the grounds.
For what is worth, here is what a [wikipedia article states:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamula)
> [@](#):
>
> Priests, usually non-Mayan, can be seen performing Catholic masses in one corner of the church, while the rest of it is used by Chamulans for their own worship. Photographs are STRICTLY prohibited. Any attempt would expose you instantly to an extremely negative reaction from the worshippers. The explanation often given to outsiders, especially by tourist guides who themselves are outsiders, is that Chamulans believe photographs will scare away the saints that live there. However, when asked, Chamulans often give more prosaic explanations, for example, **that taking photographs interferes with the worship or that it makes people feel as if they’re putting on a show.**
The statement in bold is probably the reason for the prohibition. One, the act of taking a photograph makes the religious act seem like a folk dance for the tourists. Two, since many of the followers are native Mayans, they do not want to feel like they are part of “Hey-Look-At-The-Natives!” photoshoot. Afterall, would you want someone to take a photo of you when you are in middle of church services. You know. Just as you are about to drink the wine in Mass, some person blinds you with flash and shouts, “Hold it! Don’t move! Awesome! He is doing something magical! Wow!”.
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### Author:  [@tygerbryght](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygerbryght)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2006, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soul-stealing-photography/370540/22 "2006-08-29T04:13:17Z")
> [@The Eater in the Round](#):
>
> … people of certain cultures objecting to having their picture taken because they believe their soul, or a part of their mana, will be taken from them in the process…
>
> Was/is this an actual belief or is this just an example of a creative myth that has become popular for storytelling purposes?
>
> \
>
> Where did this idea come from, is it for real?
My Gramma never consented to her photo being taken. She was Cherokee. But one time my father was taking pictures of me in front of her bedroom window, and she was looking out at us. He got her in the frame, and took it. Nobody told her, or let her see it, and I think it was that fall she died.
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### Author:  [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2006, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soul-stealing-photography/370540/23 "2006-08-29T04:30:07Z")
I encountered this superstition Liberia. When we first got there we were warned not to take photographs of Liberians without their permission because there were still some tribal beliefs that taking a picture would steal their soul. The really interesting thing about this is that many of those people were willing to SELL you their “souls” for a couple of bucks.
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