You can get privacy without paying by not using Facebook. Getting someone to host your pictures and provide you a platform to share them isn't a fundamental right.
I’d agree if Facebook wasn’t such a monopoly. Most digital social interactions are walled behind Meta products.
You want to organize a protest? Create a Facebook event. You want to keep up with news in your town or neighborhood? Join the local Facebook group. You want to chat with someone? Add them on Facebook Messenger.