A viral video that pokes fun at travelers tending to take the same image at famous landmarks includes Route 66 among those images.
“Instatravel,” created on Vimeo by Oliver KMIA, includes the Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, Christ the Redeemer, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Mona Lisa, passport photos and spots in the Southern California desert where a Route 66 shield is painted on the roadway.
Oliver KMIA explained on the video description how the clip came about:
I came up with this idea last year while traveling in Roma. I wanted to take a look at the popular Trevi Fountain but I never managed to get close to it. The place was assaulted by hundreds of tourists, some of them formed a huge line to get a spot in front of the Fountain. Needless to say that I was very pissed by this sight and left for the not less crowded Pantheon.
I was shocked by the mass of people walking all around the city, yet I was one of them, not better or worst. Like all these tourists, I burned hundred of gallons of fuel to get there, rushed to visit the city in a few days and stayed in a hotel downtown. Then, I remembered a video I watched a few months earlier from the artist Hiérophante (vimeo.com/151297208). I decided to make this kind of sarcastic video but with the focus on travel and mass tourism. Hiérophante admitted that his video was “cliché” and that he got inspired by other videos. So I’m basically making fun of something I’m part of. The irony is strong.
While the era of mass world tourism and global world travel opened up in the 60s and 70s with the development of Jumbo Jets and low cost airlines, there is a new trend that consists of taking pictures everywhere you go to share it on social networks. 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.
In a recent article published by the Guardian, journalist Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett described this phenomena:
“These Instagrammers are collectively sucking the joy and spontaneity out of travel photography, and for those unfortunate enough to bump into them abroad, possibly travel itself. We must pity the poor locals, who have to put up with them. […] Social media encourages the memeification of human experience. Instead of diversity we see homogeneity. It’s extremely boring.”
theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/17/instagrammers-travel-sri-lanka-tourists-peachy-backsides-social-media-obsessed
In the extreme situation, this image rush can have negative impact on the environment
dpreview.com/news/3305755990/tourists-are-destroying-new-zealand-s-iconic-lake-wanaka-tree-for-instagram-photosHowever, I was able to find plenty of nice accounts over my research on Instagram. Some of them were inspiring and lead by talented persons. In the end, social networks are just a tool. For better or worse, (or both).
Eventually, I couldn’t secure a picture of the Trevi Fountain for my Instragram account but I still had a very nice time in Italy.
He said it took months to compile the images from public Instagram accounts and align them to the next. Each image is shown for only one-fourth of a second.
Using the same format, you could make a similar video of Instagram images of the road sign that signifies the start of the road in Chicago, Gemini Giant, Gateway Arch, Cadillac Ranch, the midpoint of Route 66, Blue Swallow Motel neon sign, Petrified Forest National Park, Grand Canyon, Roy’s of Amboy, “End of the Trail” sign on Santa Monica Pier and a dozen others I’m blanking on.
I don’t begrudge people tending to take the same sort of images at familiar Route 66 landmarks. Traveling that 2,400-mile path is a rite of passage for many. But I have to admit Oliver KMIA may have a point — some of those photos shared on social media are not for sharing joy or capturing a memory, but for narcissism.
(Hat tip: The South African; screen-capture image from “Instatravel” video of a tourist next to the Route 66 shield in Southern California)
I recall, on visiting Disneyland in 1979, finding pairs of oversize painted feet along walkways – and signs telling visitors not just where to stop to take photos, but also the exact position and direction in which to stand. Having visited many “tourist sites/sights” over some six decades, I have shied away from the “tourist brochure” type shot, often taking no pictures at all. I once read of an American husband and wife at an art gallery. One read from the catalogue describing the paintings while the other briefly looked at the relevant masterpiece.
Another compulsion is tourists stuffing themselves with the local food, when they would never eat it when in their own countries.
It was Noel Coward who opined: “But why, oh why, do the wrong people travel, when the right people stay at home?”
When I worked at the Rail Haven, I was often assaulted by 66 travelers wanting to show me the video footage or social media accounts they were building of their trip as they traveled. Every time I would wind up laughing at them. When they asked why I was laughing, I would tell them, well, yes, nice blog write up of Ted Drewes. But did you see The Route 66 State Park? The Black Madonna Shrine? Oh, you stopped at Circle Inn in Bourbon, another nice write up. And I see you found the Rocking Chair at Cuba. But what about the Wagon Wheel Motel? The Cuba murals? What about this or that? They’d give me a puzzled look. No, we didn’t see those things. Yes, sillies … because you were too busy trying to impress everyone with your social media prowess and blogging. So take some unsolicited advice – close the computer, put down the phone. And look out the window while you are traveling. You will see 100 times more interesting things and have a heck of a lot more to write about – when you get home.
And therein be wise – it is a trip. A vacation. A holiday. Make it be such. Report on it when you get home, not while it is happening. Vacation is the time you should stop and smell the roses and make happy memories with your traveling companions. You will be a lot less stressed, have a way better time, and end up with a lot better memories if you do this. Trust me.
Actually, I like this video. It’s well done. It captures the best of slavish conformity to bad taste, and makes its point well, chiding without being overtly negative. Thanks!
For several decades I took photos for picture libraries which were always asking for “different” shots of famous landmarks. Yet it was often the ‘standard’ views that tended to be accepted and to sell. People like the familiar.