What do you say when people ask you to move so they can take a photo? Not because you're standing between them and the camera but because you're standing in a place they want to take a perfect shot for their socials?

[Wreckshaw]

I have never encountered this before but I had it several times today. I am on holiday and went to a very nice place for a day trip. I've been there before a few years ago and people didn't act like this then. Obviously people took photos - I take photos too. But this was different. There were small groups of two or three people in various places who were repeatedly posing, over a prolonged period, and repeatedly taking pictures - I assume for socials. When I was in the areas, they asked me to move "because it's a photo taking spot". One guy said I was "in the way" and I pointed out that I wasn't and he was perfectly free to take whatever photos he wanted just as I was free to go about my business. I was pretty taken aback to be honest and couldn't think of a better response. I'll probably just go for "fuck off, you're chatting shit" next time, but what do other people say when they encounter this vapid bullcrap?

Bad manners to spend ages posing for loads of photos while other people are waiting is exactly the issue here:
There were small groups of two or three people in various places who were repeatedly posing, over a prolonged period, and repeatedly taking pictures
People being asked to move out of the way not just for 30 seconds for a picture, but for ages while all the posing goes on. Whether it’s stopping other people taking pics or other people just admiring the view is irrelevant.

I was visiting a very popular church in Spain with a group of friends. Loads of tourists who didn't care what the building was about (one kept referring to it as a castle!). One of my friends deliberately photobombed all their photos!

But then you move and take a photo without random people in it. You don’t tell them to move when they are doing nothing wrong

In answer to the OP I would probably just ignore them or tell them they could move

My husbands had a couple tell him to wait, when he was trying to get in his car! The woman was posing kind of lying on the bonnet, while the man took photos. It’s an unusual car, but it’s 8 years old and probably not very clean.

OMG how rude of these people! I’d probably say ‘I’ll move when I’ve completed my mental selfie as I don’t need to record every second of my life which I will probably never watch again’.

The need to live life through a lens is disappointing and frankly horrible. People should enjoy the moment and sure take a few snaps but otherwise they don’t own the best clip space.

I see it all the time when people take out their phones instead of experiencing the event. Awful.

I'd have just got in and started the car. That would shift them.

Travelling in various parts of Italy last year, I frequently encountered the Insta posers taking more than their fair share of time being photographed at busy beauty spots. There was even one solo traveller who'd bought a tripod in her handbag and spent ages posing. I never asked any of them to move though. I either took my photo of the view with them in it or didn't bother with a photo at all. It is very selfish behaviour though, in my opinion, especially in very busy places.

Yes, this happened to me and a friend at an exhibition last week. We were standing about 2m back from a painting - and a woman said excuse me, brandishing a camera and started taking photos.
To my annoyance, my friend and I both instinctively moved. Then we thought ‘why?’
The entitlement is just mind boggling.

It's the fact they're not bothered about how lovely somewhere is, it's all about them. I just want to see the view, I'm not vain enough to think everywhere looks better when I'm there.

If they ask nicely I'll move, if they're rude, no chance

The solo traveller reminds me, a few years ago DH and I were on holiday in Slovenia. One morning we were waiting at a jetty to get a boat down the lake. A young woman turned up on her own, set up her camera on a tripod, did all the "Hey, look at me I am having a crazy good time with a manic grin" poses. Examined the resulting photos. Obviously wasn't completely happy. Repeated the performance then left. On her own. We just sat there in silence watching open mouthed and wondering why?

I work in central London and the amount of people who expect everyone around them to freeze for five minutes while they pose is bonkers. I’ve seen people yelling at pedestrians for daring to walk past. It’s central London, it’s busy - deal with it.

I take some comfort in the fact that a lot of this posing involves tourists getting in red telephone boxes. I’ve seen what happens in those first thing and at night. You couldn’t pay me to stand in one 🤢

A few years ago again in Italy we visited the local town one evening after dinner and as expected it was Rammed. With. Tourists. Fine, we knew to expect that and it would take us a little longer to wander down the pretty cobbled streets to find some lovely gelato.

Suddenly foot traffic a came to a halt. It turned out that some Insta Idiot had her friends stopping people and creating an open space around her as if they were fucking traffic wardens so she could do that “Look at me meandering down this pretty deserted Italian street” video bollocks.

Selfish twats.

although someone did decide to photobomb the video right at the end which was amusing to all but Insta Girl and her mob. He did it just as the crowd started moving again so they couldn’t do another take 😁 I really hope he was the DH of a MNer!

What will happen when every possible photo has been taken?

Is this Santorini? There was a piece on how terrible it is with all the picture taking.

I haven’t encountered this yet. I was in some beauty spots last summer with my mum and took quite a few pictures for people together. I was happy to help.

When I was in Rome there was an insta idiot causing chaos by poutily posing for endless photos in front of the Victor Emmanuel II monument on a busy street rammed with tourists. I don’t know what’s with this pouty posing, they’re not doing it for a laugh, they really seem to think they look like a supermodel on a Vogue photoshoot.

If everyone takes turns to spend 20 seconds getting a nice snap of the place, that's fair.

Spending a prolonged period to do a photoshoot and inconveniencing everyone else in the area is completely unreasonable.

I've not been asked to move but at Xmas went to a well known stately home that has multiple beautifully decorated trees and themed rooms.Groups of tourists posing for ages to get the perfect photo
Drove me nuts as could barely see anything. In one room an attendant did ask them to move on and let others enjoy the experience. Good for her.

This

In Goa in Feb there were lots of couples posing on the beach totally aiming for the perfect insta shot, many had props, flowers etc, carefully draped scarves so they blew in the breeze, mainly Indian couples. It was very amusing.

We got asked to move for an Insta photoshoot in Central Park last year. There were 2 'crews' in this same area taking photos. We are not talking normal tourists posing for photos. they had tripods, umbrellas, the poser and the photographer (or two). Not paying any attention to the actual view or surroundings. We did instinctively move but then were annoyed at ourselves for doing so.

To think our grandparents fought and lived through a war for this... 🙄

I honestly think they have been poisoned by vanity and I feel sorry for those in the grip of it. Not very fashionable to think this, but it is what I think. I think it's really sad.

Insta / Travel vloggers get right on my wick. When I am researching a trip, Google seems to throw up oceans of this shite, filled with photos of women wearing a floaty dress and quite often a big hat, posing in front of the view du jour. When we were in Italy the last couple of years, they were everywhere -blocking the view/street whilst their "assistant" hands them different sunglasses and scarves. I had a quite an amusing afternoon watching one posing for hours by a roof top pool in a very skimpy bikini with her arse hanging out, til it occurred to me that I might end up on Only Fans in the background....

I think Italy may be a hotspot for this, we stayed on Lake Como in 2022 and these vapid idiots were everywhere, queuing en masse to pose with massive sunglasses and skimpy outfits and pouting at the camera.

Particular highlights were at Bellagio where we sat and had lunch watching two women posing in a lovely square with numerous outfit changes for nearly an hour, and an historic villa with beautiful gardens and a museum where a couple paid to go in and spent just half an hour there with her posing for him with his massive camera.

There was no chance in most places for most people to just enjoy the view, I find it very sad really.