The New Family Holiday Snap

John V Willshire on August 5, 2015

We’re sitting on a bench overlooking The Lizard, the most southerly point of the UK, on a typical blustery Cornish summer day. The weather comes over at a hundred miles an hour, it seems. One minute it can be sunny and twenty-two degrees, the next the sun disappears and a few spots of rain appear on your white paper Cornish pasty bag.

Another family comes down the path, and stops not far away. Mum, Dad, two teenagers. They spend a couple of minutes admiring the view, gently thrilled as the waves splash against the rocks.

“Ooo, we could take a selfie” says Mum. “Have you got your stick with you?” she asks the daughter.

She quickly finds the a selfie stick in her jacket pocket, and takes Dad’s iPhone to perch it on top. They move closer to the edge, turn around, and spend a few minutes arranging themselves, finding the correct angle for the selfie stick to get them all in, and a little bit of scenery behind.

Is this the new family holiday snap? Instead of trying and failing to capture the spectacle of the view, of those waves crashing against the shore, it’s a picture of the whole family instead.

It’s still a picture that says “we saw this”, but now the focus is less on view, and more on the family – “we saw this” instead of “we saw this“…

family selfie

5 Replies to “The New Family Holiday Snap”

  1. Steve Brunt August 7, 2015 at 8:28 am

    Hi Jon, a guy called Alexander Short has done an exhibition of photos of people taking selfies with the brilliant title “Take a good look at yourself”. Thought you might like it. “http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/alexander-short-ander

    1. john v willshire August 24, 2015 at 5:30 pm

      Thanks Steve, will go and have a look 🙂

  2. Steve Brunt August 7, 2015 at 8:29 am

    Sorry for name typo!

  3. nick August 10, 2015 at 10:31 am

    Nice observation. I think we’re going through the obligatory cultural sneery stage with selfies that we do with any bit of tech that changes how we act in public. I like them — everyone huddles round and squashes up. Much more fun and natural than lining your family up in front of some view that always looks rubbish in the photo anyway (and usually has one person missing..)

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