The Four Most Annoying Tourist Photo Poses

February 20, 2012 at 1:20 PM | by JetSetCD | Comment (1)

So you want a photo of yourself in front of [insert name of famous international landmark], but you're not sure how to pose. Smile and snap? Jump up and do the mid-air thing? A casual lean? Whatever you do, don't do these, the four most annoying tourist photo poses of all time. We've spent this week in Santiago, Chile forcing our friend, Jared Hatch, to act them out...solely for illustrative purposes of course. Enjoy.

The Peace Sign:
Most commonly seen among packs of Asian tourists, the Peace Sign has managed to spread worldwide, infecting even suburban American teenagers posing for souvenir theme park photos. Our belief is that it originated from the desire to "do something with your arms" in a photo, and not look so awkward. Unfortunately, unless you're a cute and young girl, it usually ends up pretty awkward.
The photo: An elephant at Santiago's Zoologico Metropolitano

The Play on Perspective:
The most famous example of the Perspective pose is "leaning" up against the Leaning Tower of Pisa. However, simple distance and careful body positioning can lead to many things, such as having a fountain pour into your mouth or holding a building in the palm of your hand. Time spent arranging the shot usually holds up pedestrian traffic and makes you look idiotic, though. We got a little creative with this one.
The photo: Jared and a zebra at Santiago's Zoologico Metropolitano

The Statue Interaction:
It's such a frat pose, to put your arm around a statue of a famous poet or politician like you just returned from traveling back in time to get total drunkers with the real version of this piece of carved marble. In reality, it's still an inanimate object and you're probably getting very dirty all up on it like that.
The photo: Atop Los Leones, with the construction of Santiago's Gran Torre in the background

The Vulgar Vulture:
Boys and their weens, always hunting for opportunities to make stupid-funny photos to post to Facebook. A popular example of a vulgar shot is doing anything to the balls of the Wall Street bull, or standing in front of a fountain so it appears as though you're urinating. While fun, all evoke the question, "seriously?"
The photo: Santiago's Obelisk monument to President Jos� Manuel Balmaceda Fernandez

Bonus vulgar shot! (A fountain at Santiago's Bolsa de Comercio)

[Photos: Cynthia Drescher for Jaunted]

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