We have the same in Belgium in the Haller Bos (Bois de Halle). People walk on the flowers, pick them.
https://www.halle.be/node/61837
Each year there are more restrictions to enter the wood while the flowers are there.
Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful
211–220 of 222 posts
Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful
#212Grew up in one of those picturesque Maine villages you see, this is definitely getting worse as time goes on, but it is hard to put a stop to this because it also brings in lots of money to otherwise impoverished areas.
Which village, if you don't mind my asking (fellow Mainer here)? I grew up in a beautiful area that has never (and probably won't) seen the effects of tourism due to accessibility (read: The County), but have since moved to Southern Maine. Maine has done a pretty good job of keeping tourism in check (I would say) despite being labeled the Vacationland, but I wonder if that has to do with our state having a more "plai…
Stonington!
Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful
#213I 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…
Not to be rude, and i could be wrong, but the rules you mentuon sound stupid and gratuitous, rather than the photographers being a problem.
Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful
#214https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugly_American_(pejorative) Whenever I see this kinda stuff, I can't help but think of the "Ugly American" trope and how it seems like it's an insanely (and desperate to be) visible minority of the whole world now
For photography abuse, I don't see Americans singled out by anyone--not even the author at Petapixel--as being better or worse than any other group of people.
No, I was just saying the behavior is typified by that stereotype. The trope is American in name but the practice now is everywhere
Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful
#215Earlier quoted context omitted.
That sounds like a lame excuse - sorry. Every child knows that you don't do whatever you want on the grounds of other people, in their gardens and homes. Stop being jerks and just ask people politely if it's ok for them that you take a picture. Also I don't get how they all need a picture of the same place. In the end all they do is to deprive themselves from real happiness and the possibility to just enjoy the momen…
> Also I don't get how they all need a picture of the same place. It's because they don't care about the place, they care that they've been there. This is a problem as old as photography; I remember watching tourists on my daily commute coming to the same spots, day in, day out, and shooting the exact same photos of the exact same buildings from the exact same angles. All I could think of is, "your exact photo is on…
That's true.
I think they are harming themselves by doing this because they can't really enjoy the moment and just "be" there.
I rarely take pictures because I always think "there's already awesome pics of this on the net" and also when I'm back I don't want to overwhelm people who want to see them with a collection of "just 1000 photos of me in front of the Louvre".
Of course I'd love to have a picture of me standing in front of Taj Mahal but in the end it's not so important. The pictures people haven't seen yet are much more interesting (to me), especially places where tourists don't want to be or perspectives they shouldn't see.
E.g. the "Golden Beaches" in Bulgaria. Stay in the tourist zone and you'll have the typical beaches, hotels, bars etc. But the exciting part of the area is when you leave this "paradise" and see the massive destruction tourism, the hotel lobby etc. bring to nature and the people.
Seeing these scenes changed my mind and I realized I'd never want to do "all inclusive" at the places where all people go again.
I think people need more stable personalities so they can break out of their "hive-mind-thinking" and start sensing their environment and enjoying themselves without the constant feedback of "the hive". Behaviour like this reminds me of the Lemmings and the Borg.
Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
That sounds like a lame excuse - sorry. Every child knows that you don't do whatever you want on the grounds of other people, in their gardens and homes. Stop being jerks and just ask people politely if it's ok for them that you take a picture. Also I don't get how they all need a picture of the same place. In the end all they do is to deprive themselves from real happiness and the possibility to just enjoy the momen…
> That sounds like a lame excuse I didn't mean to excuse this behavior, what they are doing is certainly not good. My point is only that in their desire to photograph, there must be some level of appreciation for it, and it would be more productive to develop that appreciation than shut everything down. As a simple example, the next farmer that gets instagram-mobbed, rather than putting up a "No Trespassing" sign, co…
Basically yes. But I would maybe like to be left alone on my beautiful farm without all the people visiting me.
If I'd want to have so much company I'd have opened a store or museum I think.
Where I come from we really had something that was called "privacy" and "intimacy" and when we were at our place it was given to us without struggle. When I think about massive tourism, satellites in LEO and drones above our heads I see this in decline without a real choice or possibility to avoid it from coming to my little farm.
Of course I'd not want to have to put up signs or even technology to keep people, drones etc. off my grounds but I'd rather do that than being disturbed by strangers (or strange technology) every waking minute.
It's not like one person comes over on a sunny Sunday to ask me about farming but the 1000 people who have the same idea that day or the couple who want's to shoot their love scene in my yard at midnight in the moon light while I just want to fall asleep with the sounds of the crickets and not some fuck-fest.
Don't get me wrong here - I am very open minded. But I value my privacy etc. and I see it being taken away without me having a chance to decide/stop it/whatever. It's not the one person, but the mass of people who care more for their damn picture than respect for nature and people who happen to live there.
Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
That sounds like a lame excuse - sorry. Every child knows that you don't do whatever you want on the grounds of other people, in their gardens and homes. Stop being jerks and just ask people politely if it's ok for them that you take a picture. Also I don't get how they all need a picture of the same place. In the end all they do is to deprive themselves from real happiness and the possibility to just enjoy the momen…
I don’t think permission is the main problem here, it’s the volume of people taking the exact same picture. I wouldn’t want a stream of Instagrammers at my door “asking for permission” to take a photo either. That’s also annoying.
+1 That's totally true and understandable. I feel exactly the same way.
Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful
#218Is this a recent phenomenon? I traveled to Valensole two years ago, and haven’t seen anything like this. There were some people taking Instagram shots, of course, myself included, but nothing disrespectful, and certainly nothing like that. What’s even the point of being the “influencer”, are people looking up to it?
> What’s even the point of being the “influencer”, are people looking up to it?
Economically, you might get "famous" enough for small brands to send you free stuff to show in the photos, in the long run they want to win the recognition lottery and get more and more famous. It's very self-referencing
Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful
#219Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There have been multiple instance where the tripod guy has prevented a child a quick picture because they see their picture as more important. I think that there is virtue in patience. That tripod guy has patience to setup the tripod and camera and carefully compose the shot for perfection because this might be his way to have a perfect Sunday. Why do you want to deny this because somebody does not have enough pati…
Children generally only take up the space for a few seconds, so being patient with them is easy. Someone who is taking their time setting up a tripod is blocking the space for significantly longer. If you want to close off a space for a while so that you can carefully compose the perfect shot, either do it somewhere remote or consult with the owners to arrange an appropriate time.
You seem to prioritize parents instant gratification. The fact that you may service large volume of them does not make it more right automatically.
I do not agree that photographing a child is certainly faster.
First you have to position your child and only your child in front of the object. This means that at the same time other parents and also tripod guys and girls can't take the picture.
So now instead of letting tripod users to take the picture and move on, they have to endlessly wait for the moment where no parent is blocking the view.
Naturally these two groups are in conflict and it is up to event organizers to realize this and organize two different kind of events.
Re: Photographers, Instagrammers: Stop Being So Selfish and Disrespectful
#220This 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…
Some say Hemmingway killed himself over his dispair for introducting the world to the running of the bulls festival. It seemed idyllic, and amazing in his book - Went there in 2014, and it's a bunch of tourist getting absolutely shit faced, and trying to mess with the bulls.