Photo by Martin Parr
...Because, he says, now when he takes pictures of tourists taking pictures, he doesn't have to choose between including their faces or the scene they're photographing; he can get both in the same shot.
Martin's article about selfie sticks is here.
Mike
(Thanks to Kevin Purcell)
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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:
Craig Arnold: "I love Martin Parr, have a pile of his books, and yet it never occurred to me before that he would have a website! Now I have it bookmarked of course. Everything really good photographically passes through this place eventually. Thanks Mike!"
I wish Phase One offered a selfie stick!
Posted by: Gary | Wednesday, 03 June 2015 at 03:29 PM
Wow! Replies to two topics in one!
1. How I ended up with a selfie stick.
When I first saw this young woman with her selfie stick hanging around at a very famous photogenic spot, internal judgement alarm bells went off. But I was wrong. She was using it creatively as an extension of her arm to take very close-up/macro shots/videos.
So I then of course needed one in my bag of tricks.
2. I believe this qualifies as a non cliché image of Weston Beach. \;~)>
Posted by: Moose | Wednesday, 03 June 2015 at 04:10 PM
He'd better enjoy it while he can -- they'll soon be replaced with drones: http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/12/8586105/lily-drone-throw-flying-camera-autonomous
Posted by: Euan Forrester | Wednesday, 03 June 2015 at 04:18 PM
No, Martin Parr likes selfie sticks because he has found yet another way to mock the people he takes pictures of.
Posted by: Nigel | Wednesday, 03 June 2015 at 05:11 PM
Excellent. The man is a genius.
Posted by: Ger Lawlor | Wednesday, 03 June 2015 at 06:24 PM
Thanks for the link to Martin Parr's site Mike. A dash of serendipity led me to his 2010 list of art and documentary photography clichés http://www.martinparr.com/2011/photographic-cliches/
Posted by: Peter Barnes | Wednesday, 03 June 2015 at 09:25 PM
If you are beautiful and talented enough, you don't need a stick.
[Shot before the artificial selfie aids existed. /;-|> ]
Posted by: Moose | Thursday, 04 June 2015 at 01:42 AM
Martin Parr has also an article on clichés on his site: http://www.martinparr.com/2011/photographic-cliches/
His other articles are interesting as well, and his writing resembles his photography.
Posted by: Christoph | Thursday, 04 June 2015 at 04:50 AM
"No, Martin Parr likes selfie sticks because he has found yet another way to mock the people he takes pictures of."
I'd not heard of Martin Parr before and just read the article. It doesn't make completely clear to me that mocking his subjects is a primary goal of his work.
Nonetheless, in my opinion, tourists taking "selfies," with or without sticks, deserve all the mocking they might get. :-)
Posted by: Sal Santamaura | Thursday, 04 June 2015 at 11:31 AM
I'm finishing up a two-week tour through France and Italy tonight. I think an interesting short film could be made in which a person buys every selfie stick they are offered in Venice, Paris, Florence, Rome, etc. Over the course of a week, the resulting haul would fill a 23-window VW Microbus nicely.
Posted by: Paul De Zan | Thursday, 04 June 2015 at 12:48 PM
Parr is pretty controversial, and I would say I have an instinctive ughhh reaction to his work. I knew that selfie shot was his as soon as I saw it as it - even in a small way - made fun of the people who are his subject matter, I think. If you google his images there are many pictures of overweight, working class, people. With no 'taste', But beautifully shot and very distinctive.
Posted by: Nigel | Thursday, 04 June 2015 at 04:37 PM