Much has been written about the pernicious spread of the selfie, but I wonder if you’ve encountered something just as self-obsessed, but even more inconvenient to passers-by?
It’s where a stranger asks you to take a snap of them - and then they ask someone else to do the same thing, straight away afterwards. And not just one snap, but several.
For the volunteer photographer, it’s a bit insulting, as well as a waste of time!
It’s where a stranger asks you to take a snap of them - and then they ask someone else to do the same thing, straight away afterwards. And not just one snap, but several.
For the volunteer photographer, it’s a bit insulting, as well as a waste of time!
| It’s happened to me three times in the last year. And we observed it from a distance again recently - it was so egregious we couldn’t take our eyes off the comedy, as it unfolded over half an hour… Take a look at the sequence of photos here. Someone asks for a photo of herself. A couple obliges. They are thanked and they move on. Fair enough. But look at the last frame... | |
| | ...The subject is not happy with the result. So others are roped in. - Hair is readjusted. - Stance shifted. - Detailed instructions given. Again and again. |
| Often the photographer is labouring heavily under a misapprehension… Take this fella, who’s very kindly stopped riding his bicycle to lend a hand. The passing security patrol (a sad but necessary sight on the streets of Nice these days) knows he’s going to be disappointed. And eventually he is. He watches impotently as others try to do better than him. And eventually gets on his bike. | |
 | By now, at least nine individuals have helped take (surely) the most perfect shot in the world. And the woman’s satisfaction is complete. Once she's deleted most of the snaps, anyway. Maybe selfies aren’t so bad after all! |
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