Quote: (03-27-2019 02:10 PM)Buddydowrongright2 Wrote:
I'm not fully on the Instagram hate train as I tend to think that the Internet in general has made the vast majority of people insufferable cunts on many different vectors, and that social media is only the natural endpoint of that, but I did notice while I was in Iceland that pretty much anywhere within a 3-hour drive of Reykjavik that was worth seeing was absolutely flooded with cocksucking motherfuckers doing the same exact pose they saw their skanky friends doing on social media...
This was a big thing I experienced in Iceland more than other places I've been. Iceland being my first spot nature was the primary thing on display everywhere, I realized how quickly it can be deflated by too many people doing pose pictures. Dealt with a couple annoying groups on my way. It's true that the Golden Circle is a tourist trap and pretty much every nature spot within an hour or two of Reykjavik is gonna have people. Funny thing is though once you go a little farther out, there may be a little bit of tourists, but maybe handfuls at most. 3-4 hours north was when I really started to feel like I had these sites more in their natural habitat. Some of my favorite sites were really ones not huge on the radar of Iceland compared to others. Riding through small northern fishing towns was incredible.
Quote: (03-27-2019 12:59 PM)zoom Wrote:
Yes nowadays people (mostly women) aren't traveling to see sights, they are traveling to sites in order to take pictures for instagram. OP I can imagine how frustrating that would be to try and enjoy the Northern Lights while being surrounded by annoying instagram-obsessed people.
Quote: (03-27-2019 06:39 PM)nomadbrah Wrote:
People don't seem to realize the mortality of the moment. That they'll likely never in their life experience it again.
These two quotes go hand in hand for me. I think what bothered me in my OP was that the girls got so caught up in Instagram that they forgot to recognize the mortality of the moment they were witnessing. I've been through a near death experience in my past at a pretty young age. I don't think that drives my thought process in seeing rare sites or experiencing rare moments in life, but it does make me damn appreciate being alive once I can get that near 100% connection. Despite Instagram pulling a Hollywood stunt with the Northern Lights, it is still something I'm never going to forget sitting outside by myself in 20 degrees just watching a sky I have never seen before being surrounded by practically untouched nature. Growing up where I did, you forget places like that and things like that exist in other parts of the world.
When I experience something like that, I can't help but think about all the other places big and small I've been so far. How many moments have been truly great to witness? How many of those have I actually been back to? The first answer is small. The second answer, I have only been back to a handful of places I saw a first time if that.
I connect a lot with this movie scene specifically, which is ironically one of the main motivators for me going to Iceland in the first place:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfjkiTB1fHQ
Quote: (03-27-2019 06:39 PM)nomadbrah Wrote:
Photos of "stuff" is not very interesting. Looking back at pictures, I smile at photos with people, not fancy backgrounds, not status symbols. A picture at McDonalds with your friends can elicit more emotion, than that specific object of the trip. I see this as more brand building, than actual photography. I appreciate the skill of the photograph, sure, but it's not an experience so much as a new advertising campaign.
This is where I disagree a bit. A lot of my favorite pictures don't have me in it. I'm far from a great photographer, but I do like to capture something I really like, which some guys reminded me does help anchor the memory of it. When I think back on things I've seen at a pretty young age, I look at those photos without the distraction of my friends, girls, or me in it, and it just seems so pure and real. In nature spots at least, I tend to believe people can ruin what the moment is supposed to capture. That the Earth is bigger than us and it's humbling while delivering such a sense of beauty and serenity at the same time.
Maybe I'm just meant to be behind the lense rather than captured in front of it, but it never really felt natural to put myself into sights that I was seeing. Not that I never do, it's just a very small percentage of the photos I actually take. I like to capture things from my perspective.
As far back as I could remember, I always wanted to be a player.
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