7 ms·

Sums up everything I detest about photography and mainly typical instagrammers. You have the same problem where I am in Bali - idiot instagrammers using the fa

by jwmoz 7y ago

Sums up everything I detest about photography and mainly typical instagrammers. You have the same problem where I am in Bali - idiot instagrammers using the farmers rice fields for their selfies, whilst the farmers are breaking their backs. I wonder how they'd feel if tables were turned - farmers all photographing young people on their laptops in cafes etc.

thaumasiotes 7y ago
They probably wouldn't notice, but if they did they'd be unlikely to mind. If you go to China, Chinese tourists will want to take pictures of you (assuming you're white). And they really like taking pictures of white kids. It's kind of funny, but I've never seen anyone react by thinking the Chinese are all selfish jerks. That just wouldn't make sense.
- mdpye 7y ago
  There's a power imbalance there. You're on holiday, exercising your economic power and generally having a good time. How would you feel if hoards of Chinese people came over to photograph you in your native environment, say, stuck in traffic on your commute, or late to drop your kids off at school, or while they're standing in your front garden while you're up a ladder trying to clear the guttering? Perhaps you'd tire of that more quickly?
  - thaumasiotes 7y ago
    Why? What happens if I show up in a Chinese photo album? I think the problem in this subthread started when jwmoz decided the "equivalent" of tourists coming to your fields, trampling your crops, and cutting and taking bunches of produce for themselves was tourists coming to a Starbucks and taking pictures.
    - mdpye 7y ago
      It's the taking of the photos which is an intrusion, not the photos themselves.
      - thaumasiotes 7y ago
        No, it's the trampling of the crops that's an intrusion.
  - ahartmetz 7y ago
    There is also an old-fashioned way to put it without reaching into the social justice toolbox: people doing something pleasant gawking at people doing something unpleasant. Imagine a tourist having a minor traffic accident or dropping their backpack into the mud, and locals standing around it taking pictures. It is less about a global power imbalance and more about a situational one.
    - mdpye 7y ago
      That is what I meant (situational). The people you're you're meeting on holiday may well take nice holidays too, but they are not right at that moment :)
- gadders 7y ago
  A friend of mine is of Ugandan extraction, and she had lunch with her sister in China. She said people were staring through the window watching her and her sister eat.
- Freak_NL 7y ago
  The reverse situation is not getting stared at by local farmers when you visit a foreign country; but when Chinese tourists visit your country, walk into your private garden, and stare into your house through the windows. Which is exactly what happens in many countries. In the Netherlands this is a common (and recent) issue with Chinese tourists visiting folkloric villages that have normal people not living there who are not part of the tourism industry as well — like picturesque canal-strewn Giethoorn.
pembrook 7y ago
On a recent trip to some more remote areas of Southeast Asia, I had this exact experience. Since westerners were a rare sight in many of the villages I visited, my friends and I found ourselves constantly being photographed, with the local teens and even older adults alike all posing in selfies with us in the background. I’d say we were photographed roughly 20-30 times per day, for the the month we were there. I’m not kidding. I’m sure we looked like clowns to them with our height and big noses. I found it hilarious and am glad I brought some amusement to these folks. Side note: I see every person on this thread thinks they aren’t part of the problem. It’s the other people of course! Tourists complaining about other tourists has a real irony to it. Rich people getting mad they have to share the worlds treasures with a growing population of other rich people. Boo boo. A certain percentage of the population is always going to be assholes, whether they live in a place or are just visiting. Instagram isn’t the root cause to why people suck, this too shall pass.
- rofo1 7y ago
  > Instagram isn’t the root cause to why people suck. That's even more depressing (if true) than this abomination of "social networks" that we are seeing right now. But still, even if your point might be true, we should stop giving people easy ways to be degenerates. There should be repercussions or something, but good luck codifying it into a law :) It's a difficult problem.
  - speedplane 7y ago
    > this abomination of "social networks" that we are seeing ... we should stop giving people easy ways to be degenerates. There should be repercussions or something, but good luck codifying it into a law You don't always need laws to stop bad behavior. Influential social shame and scorn are often just as effective.
    - xiphias2 7y ago
      It would be interesting experiment to link the article as comments in the lavander selfies.
    - 7y ago
probably_wrong 7y ago
> I wonder how they'd feel if tables were turned - farmers all photographing young people on their laptops in cafes etc. I wondered if we could get a contest running: for every "influencer" picture, see who can find the most unflattering backstage picture for that set. Maybe once people realized that behind each "young and carefree" photo there's a professional photographer, lights, a mobile wardrobe, a ladder, and hundreds of people doing the same, then the madness would stop. But then I realised that I just re-invented the paparazzi. And if they haven't changed people's perception of Hollywood glamour, neither will this plan.
- stevekemp 7y ago
  I think things like this demonstrate that quite well: https://www.buzzfeed.com/mariahoxley/whys-she-so-small https://www.buzzfeed.com/mariahoxley/whys-she-so-small Of course a lot of "tourist attractions" are like that day-in, day-out.
speedplane 7y ago
> I wonder how they'd feel if tables were turned - farmers all photographing young people on their laptops in cafes etc. easy, they'd say "thanks! Follow and subscribe!!"

by jwmoz 7y ago

thaumasiotes 7y ago

They probably wouldn't notice, but if they did they'd be unlikely to mind. If you go to China, Chinese tourists will want to take pictures of you (assuming you're white). And they really like taking pictures of white kids. It's kind of funny, but I've never seen anyone react by thinking the Chinese are all selfish jerks. That just wouldn't make sense.

mdpye 7y ago
There's a power imbalance there. You're on holiday, exercising your economic power and generally having a good time. How would you feel if hoards of Chinese people came over to photograph you in your native environment, say, stuck in traffic on your commute, or late to drop your kids off at school, or while they're standing in your front garden while you're up a ladder trying to clear the guttering? Perhaps you'd tire of that more quickly?
- thaumasiotes 7y ago
  Why? What happens if I show up in a Chinese photo album? I think the problem in this subthread started when jwmoz decided the "equivalent" of tourists coming to your fields, trampling your crops, and cutting and taking bunches of produce for themselves was tourists coming to a Starbucks and taking pictures.
  - mdpye 7y ago
    It's the taking of the photos which is an intrusion, not the photos themselves.
    - thaumasiotes 7y ago
      No, it's the trampling of the crops that's an intrusion.
- ahartmetz 7y ago
  There is also an old-fashioned way to put it without reaching into the social justice toolbox: people doing something pleasant gawking at people doing something unpleasant. Imagine a tourist having a minor traffic accident or dropping their backpack into the mud, and locals standing around it taking pictures. It is less about a global power imbalance and more about a situational one.
  - mdpye 7y ago
    That is what I meant (situational). The people you're you're meeting on holiday may well take nice holidays too, but they are not right at that moment :)
gadders 7y ago
A friend of mine is of Ugandan extraction, and she had lunch with her sister in China. She said people were staring through the window watching her and her sister eat.
Freak_NL 7y ago
The reverse situation is not getting stared at by local farmers when you visit a foreign country; but when Chinese tourists visit your country, walk into your private garden, and stare into your house through the windows. Which is exactly what happens in many countries. In the Netherlands this is a common (and recent) issue with Chinese tourists visiting folkloric villages that have normal people not living there who are not part of the tourism industry as well — like picturesque canal-strewn Giethoorn.

pembrook 7y ago

On a recent trip to some more remote areas of Southeast Asia, I had this exact experience. Since westerners were a rare sight in many of the villages I visited, my friends and I found ourselves constantly being photographed, with the local teens and even older adults alike all posing in selfies with us in the background. I’d say we were photographed roughly 20-30 times per day, for the the month we were there. I’m not kidding. I’m sure we looked like clowns to them with our height and big noses. I found it hilarious and am glad I brought some amusement to these folks. Side note: I see every person on this thread thinks they aren’t part of the problem. It’s the other people of course! Tourists complaining about other tourists has a real irony to it. Rich people getting mad they have to share the worlds treasures with a growing population of other rich people. Boo boo. A certain percentage of the population is always going to be assholes, whether they live in a place or are just visiting. Instagram isn’t the root cause to why people suck, this too shall pass.

rofo1 7y ago
> Instagram isn’t the root cause to why people suck. That's even more depressing (if true) than this abomination of "social networks" that we are seeing right now. But still, even if your point might be true, we should stop giving people easy ways to be degenerates. There should be repercussions or something, but good luck codifying it into a law :) It's a difficult problem.
- speedplane 7y ago
  > this abomination of "social networks" that we are seeing ... we should stop giving people easy ways to be degenerates. There should be repercussions or something, but good luck codifying it into a law You don't always need laws to stop bad behavior. Influential social shame and scorn are often just as effective.
  - xiphias2 7y ago
    It would be interesting experiment to link the article as comments in the lavander selfies.
  - 7y ago

probably_wrong 7y ago

> I wonder how they'd feel if tables were turned - farmers all photographing young people on their laptops in cafes etc. I wondered if we could get a contest running: for every "influencer" picture, see who can find the most unflattering backstage picture for that set. Maybe once people realized that behind each "young and carefree" photo there's a professional photographer, lights, a mobile wardrobe, a ladder, and hundreds of people doing the same, then the madness would stop. But then I realised that I just re-invented the paparazzi. And if they haven't changed people's perception of Hollywood glamour, neither will this plan.

stevekemp 7y ago
I think things like this demonstrate that quite well: https://www.buzzfeed.com/mariahoxley/whys-she-so-small https://www.buzzfeed.com/mariahoxley/whys-she-so-small Of course a lot of "tourist attractions" are like that day-in, day-out.

speedplane 7y ago

> I wonder how they'd feel if tables were turned - farmers all photographing young people on their laptops in cafes etc. easy, they'd say "thanks! Follow and subscribe!!"