'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?

How does taking a photo of yourself, photoshopping it so it no longer looks like you, and then getting lots of people saying how beautiful the fake you looks in the picture, going to help anyone’s mental health?

Yes, I don't understand the need to be so unoriginal either, and literally copy the same outfits, the same silly poses with the hands in the air, the short video of a twirl etc. Such sheep.

Judging how miserable quite a few of them looked other than when posing for their staged, beaming photos, I suspect not...

Yanbu OP. I wonder if we live in a similar area as there is also a sunflower field near me that has the same sort of thing.

What annoys me more is there is another place nearby that has famous poppy fields where people do the same with photos. These fields, however, have been planted with the explicit purpose of providing habitat for wildlife, increasing biodiversity, providing cover for ground nesting birds etc. There are many paths around the fields for people to walk on and signs everywhere asking people to please stick to the paths and not trample the poppies. Every single time I go there, there are many, many people just totally ignoring the signs, wandering into a scenic spot in the middle of the field taking pictures of themselves, babies, dogs, trampling everything in sight and not giving a toss. Really winds me up!!

Got it in one 😁

You don't understand why putting on a beautiful outfit that makes you feel great about yourself, and going to a beautiful place and taking a photo in which you look stunning might make you feel better about yourself?

Nobody said anything about photoshopping.

I really think maybe you should branch out into portrait photography. It might give you an appreciation for what other humans get out of it, and also the fact that nobody smiles 100% of the time. Shocker, i know.

You are coming across as pretty miserable yourself to be honest.

The reality is they ARE photoshopped before sharing on social media It’s now seen as normal for everything to be photoshopped. There are even apps that apply filters to video calls. None of this is good for anyone’s mental health.

You didn't answer my question.

You went to take photos but don’t like the way other people were taking photos.

I don’t like having my photo taken but even so would be more interested in a photo of eg my mate and a sunflower than just a sunflower. What’s the point of a photo of a sunflower 🤷🏼‍♀️

also on the actually does it matter side, farmers are able to coin it in for a few months charging people to walk around a scrubby field that would otherwise be unproductive (thinking of pumpkins here) so in terms of the economy it’s a good thing. So carry on I say

Thanks, but I prefer the natural beauty of nature and wildlife to other people. And wildlife tends to be far less self-obsessed/annoying than most people too.

No need to make things personal, either!

I don’t photoshop any of my pictures! The fact that we as young women cop so much shit for just feeling confident in ourselves is heartbreaking

What's the point of a photo of someone you've seen plenty of times before standing in front of a sunflower?

Would you mind standing aside at a beautiful or interesting scene when people aren't just taking two or three photos and moving along, but possibly dozens of themselves, thus preventing you from taking a couple of pics yourself unless you wait for god knows how long?

I'm sure you would mind if truth be known.

Think of any tourist attraction and you can instantly google high quality professional pictures of it - surely what most people want to capture is that they visited it, not merely that it's there - so I don't think taking selfies is unreasonable, although if people hog a spot for ages taking hundreds of pictures, that is selfish.

I might roll my eyes..i wouldn't take to Mumsnet whinging about it. Other people are entitled to use public spaces too.

Who cares! You were there taking photos just the same as they were.

Or is your version better because you have a "little DSLR camera"?

get over yourself

But YOU were there, taking photos........

Disingenuous much?

I might roll my eyes
So you'd find it annoying then! and I imagine you'd be even more annoyed if you had to wait for a number of people to get their multiple selfies in.

Other people are also entitled to take to Mumsnet and air their frustration too

Everyone wants to be a content creator nowadays - I avoid looking/watching all content of this kind.

The hilarious irony is staggering. 😂What part of YOU ARE ALSO THERE TAKING PHOTOS are you not getting? I bet £1000 that neither you OR the OP would take 'just two or three photos!' 😆

Stop being so hypocritical! Complaining about people taking photos in places of beauty, whilst you're doing it yourself is batshit! 😆

I know somebody like this. Posts ultra-glam filtered shots of herself in fancy cafés, looking like a sex doll. I often wonder what the men who drool over the photos would make of the real her - still pretty, but not recognizable as the same woman!

We met at a French class - she was obsessed with not making any mistakes and would always have her phone out using Google Translate to produce correct written exercises, whereas I would use my own brain and occasionally a paper dictionary to produce a rather rougher standard of work. In the final exam, I got 89% (the pass mark was 50%) and she failed and went back to her home country. I didn't feel any schadenfreude at all but I was happy to see my low tech approach vindicated, having not formally learned a language since the 1990s! I like her, but I don't understand the need for synthetic perfection, especially when it interferes with real life.

You really don't get it do you, ah well, never mind

Surely you see the difference between being interested in photography and taking landscape/nature/wildlife etc photography, to only being interested in having your photo taken? They are not the same thing.

One is a healthy hobby. The other, to excess, is highly narcissistic and not an appealing characteristic or trait.

The issue here is allowing tripods. So it’s down to whoever runs the place to stop that happening. Also have staff to move people along.