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Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

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Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

#171

Post by khalilravanna »

wellactually wrote: post #164

One trick I learned a while ago is that stepping back as far as possible and taking pictures of people taking pictures is far more interesting than yet another picture of the same thing. There are only so many interesting photos of the Mona Lisa. But there are an infinite number of interesting photos of people maniacally taking photos of the Mona Lisa. If you're lucky, you might snap a pic of an instagrammer falling…

I have a video of a woman holding a dog out over the edge of the Grand Canyon and having their friend take a photo, presumably trying to re-enact the Lion King scene. The level of absurdity on display is much more impressive than yet another picture of the Grand Canyon.

Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

#172

Post by jddj »

In Buenos Aires there's a beautiful old cemetery called La Recoleta.

One of my most jarring and bizarre memories from my time in Argentina was watching as hundreds of tourists took smiling/sultry pouting/peace sign selfies with the various graves and mausoleums.

Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

#173

Post by princetman »

neogodless wrote: post #151
holografix wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is obviously terrible behaviour. As an amateur photographer myself I particularly dislike the Instagram driven “race to the bottom”. However... I do think in a situation such as this it’s a missed commercial opportunity. If I managed a highly “Instagrammable” private location I’d aggressively enforce good conduct and at the same time have paid access to alternative times for photographers. You want to be a selfi…

You're a lavender farmer. Do you also want to run a tourism business, including hiring security to enforce that only paying customers get the exclusive benefit you are now selling? I doubt it. That "aggressively enforce good conduct" is key. There are dozens, hundreds of people showing up at the same time at some of these places.

Here in UK we have a few lavender farmers who does exactly that.

https://www.mayfieldlavender.com/mayfield-lavender-farm/

Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

#174

Post by Carpetsmoker »

DoubleGlazing wrote: post #105

I used to volunteer at a heritage railway in Northern Ireland. We had several old restored trains and we went to great lengths to make the station areas look authentically old. Naturally photographers loved it. Most photographers were Okay and respected the rules, but some some just refused and couldn't handle being called out. For example one rule was do not get in train cabs, unless by prior arrangement - which inv…

To be honest, at least part of this sounds more like inane British "safety" bullshit to me. Jumping on trains is clearly wtf and unacceptable, but no tripods because "too dangerous"? Yeah nah.

If you're getting a lot of abuse then your system probably stinks, as, by and large, people aren't assholes or want to be angry. They just want to take their holiday snaps, you know.

So here's an alternative take: just let people take their holiday pictures. If you're really that worried about people getting stabbed to death by tripods or whatever then set of a "tripod area", or make sure it's at least 4 metres from the rail track, or whatever. So many more options than "no fun allowed!"

(Of course, all the British all really tired of being told what to do all the time, so give a British person just one iota of power and they will transform in to the most pedantic and inflexible person.)

Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

#175

Post by JangoSteve »

whack wrote: post #169

> I’ve seen photographers edge further and further into the water – ruining the view for others, shouting at kayakers who “dare” to exercise their right to paddle around the lake while drifting into their shot It's ironic that the author is defending the rights of kayakers to do what they enjoy in the lake, while simultaneously berating photographers and "instagrammers" for "ruining the view for others" with their me…

I'm not sure the author was berating the photographers for ruining the view for others. I read it as revealing the hypocrisy of the photographers shouting at kayakers for doing the thing they were currently doing themselves.

Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

#176

Post by Carpetsmoker »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #101

This is as old as photography is a thing. I've been to that area in France many times in my life. My parents actually lived there for a while after they retired and it used to be our default vacation destination when I was young. It's been a popular destination for tourists quite long and tourism is a big part of the local economy. Vincent van Gogh did some selfies there way back before photography was a thing (with…

There's been a few changes which increased the scale of it: (very) cheap flights with RyanAir et al, anyone can easily reach an audience with their amateur photographs, and that most people can afford a reasonably decent camera.

Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

#177

Post by word-reader »

notyourday wrote: post #160
word-reader wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not nearly enough has been written about "travel as status-seeking". It is for some a way to portray that you're not materialistic, but still dunk on all the poors and other outgroup members while blowing thousands of dollars on what is ultimately a luxury. The sub-category of "travel as wasteful mating signal & ritual" deserves another novel on top of this. It didn't help that for several years (though it has thankf…

> Not nearly enough has been written about "travel as status-seeking". What are you talking about? Travel is status seeking and status displaying. It showed up after WWII. "I travel" is a polite way of saying "I am rich enough to travel". "I like going to places, seeing new things, meeting the locals and blah blah blah" is a polite way of saying "I'm rich enough to be able to take off work time for going to new place…

This might be frequently true of travel qua travel, but people also go places for other reasons, like business, meeting & having fun with friends, specific activities that can't be done at home, or just relaxation sans broadcasting it to all their peers and the world.

Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

#178

Post by Carpetsmoker »

robocat wrote: post #78

So, NZ is on the receiving end of some of this, and here's my opinion: * Our popular areas are completely overrun during tourist season - I personally think not much fun for tourists or locals (unless a crowd is good e.g. party zones) * As a local, I can usually find something way better when I travel in NZ that isn't overrun by tourists (e.g. from article, that one lavender farm in France is overrun, but I bet there…

> When travelling overseas, I skip anything "must see" that is in a guide or otherwise recommended (unless you want a tickbox or it is totally off-season). I go to small towns that are in non-tourist areas, and find my own awesome shit.

These things are kind of like Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian: famous for being famous, not for any actual intrinsic qualities they may have.

There are exceptions. For example Venice is VERY touristic, but also for good reasons IMHO.

I was actually in Wanaka last December, and yeah, it's a funny looking tree, but to go out of your way for it? Yeh nah. There were many more memorable/fun aspects of our Wanaka outing.

Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

#179

Post by throwmamatrain »

Carpetsmoker wrote: post #174
DoubleGlazing wrote: post #105

I used to volunteer at a heritage railway in Northern Ireland. We had several old restored trains and we went to great lengths to make the station areas look authentically old. Naturally photographers loved it. Most photographers were Okay and respected the rules, but some some just refused and couldn't handle being called out. For example one rule was do not get in train cabs, unless by prior arrangement - which inv…

To be honest, at least part of this sounds more like inane British "safety" bullshit to me. Jumping on trains is clearly wtf and unacceptable, but no tripods because "too dangerous"? Yeah nah. If you're getting a lot of abuse then your system probably stinks, as, by and large, people aren't assholes or want to be angry. They just want to take their holiday snaps, you know. So here's an alternative take: just let peop…

It's obvious you've never been to a place that has a wall of tripods setup. It doesn't have to do with being stabbed by a tripod, it has to do with a human taking up way more space than they should be in a crowded area. You're free to take up as much space as you like, but if you don't like people being upset at you (rightfully so?) then don't?

Let's take your tripping argument at it's face value, does tripping + trains sound like a good idea?

The better take is, if you don't like the rules you can simply leave.

Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful

#180

Post by zerkten »

DoubleGlazing wrote: post #105

I used to volunteer at a heritage railway in Northern Ireland. We had several old restored trains and we went to great lengths to make the station areas look authentically old. Naturally photographers loved it. Most photographers were Okay and respected the rules, but some some just refused and couldn't handle being called out. For example one rule was do not get in train cabs, unless by prior arrangement - which inv…

From a fellow Northern Irish person - thanks for volunteering! I'm a photographer and it really horrifies me when I see people acting like this. I research what is appropriate gear and technique for shoots. I try to influence situations when I see staff are under pressure from patrons, or someone is asking questions that have been clearly answered elsewhere, but it's often a losing battle.

People here in the US can be obnoxious at times, but I don't generally see the level of abuse that I've seen in NI. It's horrible that people even take this stuff online.

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