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The article was fairly nuanced and even-handed. The anecdote about a photo yielding some enlightened experience seems like an absurd stretch, and does little to

The article was fairly nuanced and even-handed. The anecdote about a photo yielding some enlightened experience seems like an absurd stretch, and does little to counter the overwhelming evidence that people are more concerned about telling others about their experience than actually experiencing. Memories and being able to share our awesome travel experiences with friends and family is. Indeed. One of the primary criticism of this philosophy is that it's a giant lie. That people use this sort of "share how awesome it is" approach as a compensation for it not being awesome. As the stated quote says, the camera is the ultimate fantasy machine. The peaceful picture of Angkor Wat (or the Pyramids, or countless other big instagram game sites) is essentially a lie -- the image of peaceful historic tranquility is a fraud.

camikazeg 10y ago
I agree, the giant lie is the problem. It has taken me a fair amount of travel; getting repeatedly lured in to tourist destinations based on the amazingly beautiful and serene photos of them to realize that it is all a lie and to try to plan my vacations around avoiding that lie. Two situations really stand out in my mind: The first was at a tiger temple in Thailand, where the monks would run tourists through a photo assembly line of sorts. They would have all of the tigers out at specified times of the day in a controlled area, the tour bus arrives, everyone files out in a single file line, one monk takes your camera out of your hand while another leads you around to the various tigers that are setup in photogenic poses while the first snaps a photo with each of them, and then leads you out. The second was at Antelope Canyon in Arizona. All of the tourists get loaded in to an off-road bus and driven to the entrance of the canyon. Because it is such a narrow and twisting path through the canyon, they are able to shove huge numbers of people through while allowing everyone to get the perfect shot. When I was there it was before Instagram, but the guides would go so far as tell everyone the proper f-stop and shutter speed to capture each photo correctly as they tossed dust up in to the rays of light piercing the canyon, or put sand up on a ledge to get the photos of it cascading off. Then they would hold each group back for a few minutes until the group ahead cleared out of the shot. It was a cattle call in both experiences but the photos represent an experience completely unlike what actually happened. I have learned that when vacationing, you are much better off going to the "second rate" destination if you actually want to enjoy anything. Just a few miles from Antelope Canyon is another slot canyon called Water Holes Canyon that was only 70% as impressive as Antelope Canyon, but we were the only people there and could explore it however we wanted! Once you know about the lie, it's easy enough to avoid, but sometimes the pull to get that shot is still strong. The picture of me with the tiger is pretty damn impressive!

camikazeg 10y ago

I agree, the giant lie is the problem. It has taken me a fair amount of travel; getting repeatedly lured in to tourist destinations based on the amazingly beautiful and serene photos of them to realize that it is all a lie and to try to plan my vacations around avoiding that lie. Two situations really stand out in my mind: The first was at a tiger temple in Thailand, where the monks would run tourists through a photo assembly line of sorts. They would have all of the tigers out at specified times of the day in a controlled area, the tour bus arrives, everyone files out in a single file line, one monk takes your camera out of your hand while another leads you around to the various tigers that are setup in photogenic poses while the first snaps a photo with each of them, and then leads you out. The second was at Antelope Canyon in Arizona. All of the tourists get loaded in to an off-road bus and driven to the entrance of the canyon. Because it is such a narrow and twisting path through the canyon, they are able to shove huge numbers of people through while allowing everyone to get the perfect shot. When I was there it was before Instagram, but the guides would go so far as tell everyone the proper f-stop and shutter speed to capture each photo correctly as they tossed dust up in to the rays of light piercing the canyon, or put sand up on a ledge to get the photos of it cascading off. Then they would hold each group back for a few minutes until the group ahead cleared out of the shot. It was a cattle call in both experiences but the photos represent an experience completely unlike what actually happened. I have learned that when vacationing, you are much better off going to the "second rate" destination if you actually want to enjoy anything. Just a few miles from Antelope Canyon is another slot canyon called Water Holes Canyon that was only 70% as impressive as Antelope Canyon, but we were the only people there and could explore it however we wanted! Once you know about the lie, it's easy enough to avoid, but sometimes the pull to get that shot is still strong. The picture of me with the tiger is pretty damn impressive!