Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
It’s sad but true that nowadays it’s hard to imagine our social media feeds without selfies. And what’s even sadder is that people get killed while trying to capture the most like-worthy snapshot of themselves.
The selfie as a phenomenon has already been a topic of studies, and a recently published one explores the issue of fatal selfies. A team of researchers has published the results, exploring the numbers of selfie-related deaths, as well as the main reasons behind these tragedies.
Plenty of selfie-related accidents and deaths happen each year, and the majority of them occur in India. In an attempt to increase safety at popular tourist spots, the country is about to introduce “no-selfie zones,” where visitors, as you can guess, won’t be allowed to take selfies.
I thought the wave of stupid selfie deaths had ended, although it seems you’re still more likely to die from a selfie than a shark attack. The latest in the long line of no-longer-with-us selfie shooters is Prabhu Bhatara. The Independent report that after stopping to go to the toilet on his way home from a wedding, Bhataru spotted an injured bear in the Nabarangpur district of Odisha in India.
They say that fellow passengers suggested it might not be the best idea for him to take a photo with the animal. But it seems that he knew better and tried anyway. After getting close to the bear, it struck out, which was followed by a struggle between the two. They also report that a stray dog came to the man’s defence and bit the bear, while onlookers, umm… looked on, but it failed to deter the bear.
As the selfie bar keeps getting higher, we report more and more sad selfie stories, and while some may argue that selfie caused deaths is the new natural selection (or Darwin award candidates), no one should pay with their life for a stupid photo decision.
According to the shanghaiist, a man visiting the the Yeshanko Wildlife Zoo in China took a selfie with some of the animals, including a walrus. In what speculated to be a “game” or a “hug attempt”, the walrus drowned the man to death. A zoo keeper, who according to the report, was caring for the animal for over 10 years jumped to the rescue, but was also drowned to death.
The selfie craze claims another victim, this time in Asia.
A Japanese tourist visiting India’s Taj Mahal died on Friday after slipping down the stairs at the Royal Gate.
An eyewitness told BBC Hindi that the incident took place while the tourist was taking a selfie at the famous monument.
Many people seem to leave common sense behind when it comes to taking photos, especially selfies, as if they’re somehow safe if what they’re doing is for a photo. Sadly, the selfie craze claimed another victim on Tuesday as a gun held by 19-year-old Deleon Alonso Smith accidently went off.
Smith’s cousin, who was in another room at the time of the accident, said they found the gun earlier that day.
KPRC’s report does not specify if the gun was faulty or if Smith pulled the trigger, but either way the desire to get a cool selfie lead to a fatal shot to the throat and two young children without a father.
Modern armies have endless amounts or rules and regulations set in place, some more out there than others, but most have been implemented following a rather bad situation.
One of the very basic rules is that army info stays in the army; you don’t share it, especially when it comes to operational information. Once upon a time this meant you weren’t allowed to talk about anything secretive with friends, but nowadays efforts to maintain military secrets focus heavily on social media.
Being a fairly new militant group, ISIS (or ISIL or Daesh, whatever they’re calling themselves this week) is still learning its lessons the hard way as was revealed a couple of days ago.
It turns out that one of the ISIS guys thought it would be cool to take a selfie outside one of the group’s secret headquarters and share it on social media. Well, the United States Air Force thought it was pretty cool as well…
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
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