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-photos
However, 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.
► Production:
I used images available on public Instagram accounts. Finding and sorting the material took a lot of time but I produced the video over several months when I had time. The process of aligning each and every images manually in relation to the next was very tedious.
In terms of copyright, I believe that this type of use fall under the fair use. This is not a commercial project and every image appears for less than 1/4 of a second.
Image credit of the video Thumbnail:
Eiffeil Tower: Pixabay
Lady with Iphone: Stokpic
Lady on the beach: Wendy Hero
Selfie: Tookapic
Japanese temple: Pixabay
Map: Pixabay
Taken from pexels.com/ (Creative Commons Zero CC0 license)
