#instatravel, #passportlife, #wanderlust. We’ve all seen these travel hashtags permeate our Instagram feeds, usually used for glamorous shots of people doing enviable things in exotic places. Now a perspicacious person named Oliver has created a video aptly titled “Instravel — A Photogenic Mass Tourism Experience,” which is a Black Mirror-esque look into how our fixation with capturing the perfect image has homogenized our creativity.
Oliver writes that he was inspired to create the video after becoming frustrated with tourists while traveling in Rome (though also noting that he himself was one). He writes:
“During my trip, I felt that many people didn’t really enjoy the moment and were hooked to their smartphones. As if the ultimate goal of travel was to brag about it online and run after the likes and followers.
The video starts with the obligatory passport shots, followed by photos of plane wings in the clouds. The video shows that photos in front of places like the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, Machu Picchu, and Fushimi Inari-taisha in Japan, are often taken from the same angle with the same framing. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is constantly being turned into an ice cream cone, and we always seem to want to straighten it. I myself, have been guilty of taking these kinds of photos and hashtagging them to death. Be an explorer not a tourist, is a mantra more easily said than done.
The people this worst affects, in my view, are the Boyfriends of Instagram, who have to obligingly twist their bodies into weird angles to capture the perfect image for their beloved:
Oliver does point out that in researching photos for the video, he did find some inspiring and talented people — for better or worse, social media is just a tool. Still, it’s an eye opening look at how our collective behavior can be governed by our need to perform for an app like Instagram.
Comments
I feel like there’s so much bad news everyday and it makes me so happy to see a ton of people around the world that have fun traveling and experiencing other cultures and sharing it with their friends (or followers).
By friseurtermin on 02.02.18 5:58am
I think a significant amount of the bad news we hear about every day is a direct result of 10 years of people chasing likes and spending too much time in their feeds (aka ‘sharing it with their friends’)
By Jonners88 on 02.02.18 6:35am
Exactly! As if I gave a shit what some "Oliver" dude thinks about my pictures. I am having fun and am sharing it, my way.
By Enema Stone on 02.03.18 5:37am
This is really well put together! like the sound effects to go with it. He has put a lot of effort into how the photos are resized, aligned, moved so one object is the sole focus e.g. the Eiffel Tower.
By BobHarris on 02.02.18 6:05am
I think the video is great.
I too see only people travelling the world and seeing some of the amazing places there are out there.
"During my trip, I felt that many people didn’t really enjoy the moment and were hooked to their smartphones. As if the ultimate goal of travel was to brag about it online and run after the likes and followers."
I don’t really understand who this person is to judge that people aren’t enjoying the moment? These pictures don’t take long to take and they’re fun. Why does 1 photograph suddenly sum up an entire holiday/trip? If i’m going to see the Mona Lisa, you bet i’m taking a selfie whilst there.
So what if they’re similar to other peoples? What else do you want people to do? Just look at the Eiffel Tower and move on? Photography it from underneath?
By adammrsmith on 02.02.18 6:13am
to be fair, a photograph from under the Eiffel Tower would turn out great.
By Dolan Duk on 02.02.18 6:23am
I actually shot this very same photo in 2015. But hey, Probably at least one person does it every day
By Some Calibrations on 02.02.18 6:26am
I mean… he literally posted a stock photo lol
By stevsey on 02.02.18 7:08am
By urname on 02.02.18 10:21am
It’s a cool video but trying to rack down on people recreating cool photos with themselves or complaining that everybody photographs the Eiffel Tower is just arrogant.
By Daniel Raniz Raneland on 02.02.18 10:27am
I feel like I’m violating the Eiffel tower here…
By anymunch on 02.02.18 1:11pm
As long as you two truss each other it should all be fine.
By Dolan Duk on 02.02.18 3:56pm
What the filmaker is dealing with is Vemödalen. It’s that feeling you get when you are taking a photo that that exact photo has already been taken a million and one times. I dabble in photography, and I have felt this feeling many. many. times. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything significant. It’s just kind of a bittersweet feeling you get in this day and age. When photographers used film cameras, I imagine this feeling was FARRR less prevalent. But. It’s been a long time since you could take ~30 photos before having to pay someone and wait a couple days before getting your photos back.
https://petapixel.com/2014/11/10/fear-everythings-done-video-identical-photos-taken-different-photographers/
By stevsey on 02.02.18 7:12am
My Fiancee at the time and I went to Japan last year before we got married and I took a ton of photos and she took like 1. She regrets not taking more because we love to go through and look at the photos and the memories that were in each photo. Half of the photos were shit but it was really great looking back at all of the things we did.
By Lovin-NY on 02.02.18 10:29am
I know that feeling. I’m a little into photography, enough that I have a full-frame camera and a few lenses. The thing about being the only person in a group that’s into photography is that you always come out of a trip with terrible pictures of yourself that others got on cellphones. While everyone else gets much nicer pictures.
By Dolan Duk on 02.03.18 6:40am
THIS JUST IN: Pictures of thing45 all look like pictures of thing45!
By Delucifer on 02.02.18 6:27am
"Yes! We are all individuals!"
By Ollieollieollie on 02.02.18 6:29am
Rest assured:
I just logged in to upvote your comment!
"The shoe is the sign!"
By Furtin on 02.02.18 8:15am
"I’m not."
By Frankthuss on 02.02.18 8:24am
"I say You are, Lord, and I should know. I’ve followed a few".
Bugger – wrong scene.
FOLLOW THE GOURD!
By Dobba Jenkins on 02.02.18 8:55am
Oliver must have been really inspired by the 2 years old videoclip of Hiérophante – Clichés.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqwbqxzsA2g
By ali0cha on 02.02.18 6:51am
Oh the irony.
Thank you for posting this!
By CodytheNoble on 02.02.18 9:21am
The new cliche trend, making videos of cliche trends.
By duuktoprock on 02.02.18 9:45am
THIS. Needs to be upvoted/rec’d more. Didn’t know this existed, but it’s hilarious given the context.
By urname on 02.02.18 10:24am
Haha, busted!
By Daniel Raniz Raneland on 02.02.18 10:28am