'Selfie tourism' - AIBU?

[SunflowerPosers]

This weekend I went to a beautiful sunflower field not far from where I live (NC for this as don't want it to be too outing), and I just wondered if anyone else feels the same way as me or whether I'm being too judgey and unreasonable?

There I was with my little DSLR camera trying to get some nice photos of sunflowers, and I couldn't believe the number of people who clearly thought the place existed for their own personal photo shoot.

Women (of a range of ages, not just the early 20s 'influencers') all clearly dressed up, doing 'candid' poses (where they deliberately don't look at the camera for some reason), instructing increasingly exasperated partners to take 20 more photos of them doing very similar poses. People walking around with obnoxiously large 'selfie sticks' where they've got the camera trained only on themselves the whole time, rather than just taking a moment to put their phone down and be present.

Maybe it's my age, but I don't really get it, and just think it all looks so cringeworthy. Of course, I understand wanting to get one or two photos of yourself in a nice location, but some people seem to take it to an extreme level of narcissistic behaviour.

And it seems to be common at so many places now. Go anywhere pretty, and you can barely move for the amount of people with selfie sticks. I'm half convinced that a lot of people you see on walks are only interested in getting photos of themselves to show where they've been, rather than actually enjoying walking!

Apparently there's a term for this sort of thing that I wasn't aware of, selfie tourism. People who specifically go to a location to get the perfect photo of themselves, rather than appreciating where they actually are.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this is crazy?

Well I think it's quite sad that these people feel the need to seek constant validation online from posting photos of themselves whenever they go somewhere. I think if that's the case, something's missing from your life. I don't think it's particularly healthy behaviour or something that we should really be encouraging.

This was a thing in Victorian or Edwardian times too, except it was photography studios with painted backdrops rather than real places. You could hire fancy suits and fur coats to look rich and successful.

Are you not looking for validation of your opinion? If not, why post?

It’s definitely getting quite bad in places. I’m all for a good old fashioned quick photo, but I can’t bare this influencer style photoshoot that goes on in places, and also how even people taking a “normal” photo have become so rude and entitled.
I went on a big holiday a couple of years ago visiting various places, and it quickly became tiresome having to move aside for people’s photos. I’ve come a long way to see some sights and I want to stand and enjoy them, not make way for people’s photos. The worst memory for me was standing by a beautiful, still lake in a small bay, with me and Dh stood there looking out admiring the view. A woman asked if we could move out the way whilst she took a photo, I sighed but did it anyway as by this stage I was sick of having this happen everywhere we went, but after the photo told us we could go back to standing there now she was done 🙄

I was at Stonehenge recently and a woman was asking people to move so that they weren't in the background of her photos. Last year in Hollywood we went into the theatre which is used for the Oscars and another visitor demanded that we stop looking at the displays on the stairway so that they could get a photo.

But, as explained, it’s not always about seeking validation. I do it for the memories.

I voted YANBU because I really don't "get" why these places exist but after reading some of the responses here I've changed my mind.

I went to a pumpkin patch a year or two ago and I don't know what I was expecting but a field of pre-picked pumpkins and some props was not it. I want to take truly candid photos of my child that reflect the activity he was enjoying. I'm not paying money to go somewhere that exists for the sole purpose of taking fake candid shots.

But you went to a place that exists for photographs and then seem surprised that people are taking photographs... Sure, I'm not into selfies but I'm not into landscape or nature photography either and to say one is more worthy of the space than the other is rather snobby, in my opinion.

Exactly this. Just because you’re taking a photo doesn’t mean you get priority!

One could say the same about taking a pointless photo of a sunflower that will sit on your hard drive for years, never seen by anyone, because you've placed some kind of objective measure of worthiness on sharing it. I think that's really sad. That you think so little of your own ability.

As i said, at least they have the guts to actually put themselves out there and share it. Its much easier to hide away and snipe at other people than it is to be brave and run the risk that you invite sometimes negative opinions on your photos.

I was just interested to get people's views, and see whether it's a generational thing and I'm just out of touch. But there's a difference between posting one thread on a discussion forum to posting a photo of yourself every day/week on social media, surely?!

Maybe they find it sad that you go to a sunflower field and take photos for you to look at later and not show anyone else.

Different people derive pleasure from different things but most people can understand that.

I think people get to choose what they want to do with their free time and we shouldn't dictate. Obviously visitors should be accommodating of each other, but I don't have a problem with people spending their time doing things that I personally don't enjoy but they do.

There I was with my little DSLR camera trying to get some nice photos of sunflowers, and I couldn't believe the number of people who clearly thought the place existed for their own personal photo shoot.
...
... rather than just taking a moment to put their phone down and be present.

🤔

As sad as seeking validation from MN by posting their opinion in AIBU. Is something missing from your life? You don't know them, you don't know their motivations for posting, and you don't even know if they are posting. They could well be keeping the photos for their own portfolio, they may post them for friends and family to see, they may post on a superpopular account for an income stream, they could post because they think they look great and want to share! So many reasons to have a photoshoot in a sunflower field designed for taking photos in, and all are as valid as your desire to take photos just containing the flowers. At least they aren't posting here with an air of moral superiority.

I couldn't have put it better myself.

I mean whats the difference between you taking pictures of sunflowers to them taking pictures of themselves next to a sunflower.

Why is yours less cringeworthy.

"People who specifically go to a location to get the perfect photo"

Isnt that precisely what you were doing?

Agree in general (though to be fair you were taking photos too, rather than experiencing the moment).

When I see these selfie-takers, I feel like saying "Out of all the billions of photos on the planet, why would anyone care about yours except you? Nobody else will ever care, either now or in the future".

Just pointless.

Oh please. Social media is massively damaging - how many stories do we hear of (particularly) young women developing all sorts of mental health issues as a result of social media, through comparing themselves and their appearance to others? There's nothing gusty about that.

As you so politely point out, there are plenty other people capable of taking photos of sunflowers, so my work is nothing unique or particularly special to be worth sharing. But then again, I don't think sharing images of one's self is particularly unique or special either.

Well, other people would probably think it was ‘quite sad’ that someone who describes themselves as an ‘amateur wildlife and nature photographer’ would not be trying to photograph somewhere or something (natural phenomenon or animal) seldom photographed, but trundled along to a sunflower field specifically set up, not for the crop, but for the selfie opportunities.

I mean, it’s not ‘nature’, really, any more than quirky corners set up to attract selfie-takers in big cities. Why not go somewhere where no one else is? There are highly unlikely to be slews of selfie takers photographing horseshoe crabs in a rock pool.

I went to Barcelona recently after a gap of about 15 years. The change to the way people behave at some sites was really noticeable. We were in Casa Batllo which gets very crowded and in one particular room I couldn't understand the hold up. People were just either shuffling or standing there not being able to move. The cause? A stupid influencer standing in front of a window while someone with a tripod was taking multiple photos of her all in different poses and with different looks on her face.

What's worse is that clearly some of the people not able to move were watching this and discussing that that was a good spot for THEM to have their picture taken. So they were adding to the issue. When people are going to see the architecture of a house they want to study it and look at the details close up, they aren't bothered about having multiple selfies to make themselves look good. I just don't get it.

The selfish woman with tripod assistant was all round the house getting in our way after that. I got so fed up, I ignored them in the end and walked where I needed to go rather than stand and wait for them to finish posing. I didn't care one jot, I had paid my entrance fee like everyone else. If they wanted to hire the whole place out and treat it as their own personal studio time then that's what they should have done.

Actually the organisation who run the house had clearly noticed this desperate need for selfies because they'd created this place on the roof with a bit where you could queue to stand in front of some mosaics, and that's what people were doing. Some of them were waiting up to 10 mins just to pose. I was too busy looking at the rest of the mosaics freely available around the roof with plantpots, and reading about them. I feel those people queueing had COMPLETELY missed the point of the visit. Same people didn't seem to be bothering with the audioguide either.

I do all of those things, regularly. However, sunflowers are one of my favourite flowers due to their colour, and are also excellent for attracting bees and I wanted to experiment with some macro shots.

Hope that provides an adequate explanation?!

You're making quite a few assumptions here.

Personally, I love Facebook in the summer when I can see the photos my friends and family have taken on their travels.

This. I think people need to stop making way for people having photoshoots or demanding others get out of their way at these sorts of places as it’s just getting out of hand and ruining people’s enjoyment of these sights.

Oh come on, you must be able to tell the difference between one or two photos of something beautiful versus multiple differently-posed photogrpahs of yourself in front of the beautiful thing.

Oh yes, you're so terribly concerned about the mental health of young women.

Give me a break.

Maybe taking the photos of themselves being young and beautiful in a beautiful place helps them feel better about themselves and improves their mental health.