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Cambridge International AS Level English General Paper

One of the main reasons selfie snappers aggravate their fellow travellers is their tendency to get in the way. It’s a problem that has existed ever since cameras became affordable, but that stretched-arm pose adopted by selfie snappers does intrude further into other people’s space than more traditional photo-snapping stances.

Instead, Du Camp focused his camera on the area’s ancient relics. To give a sense of scale of the massive monuments, Du Camp included the figure of a man in many of his photos. Yet to modern eyes, however, it is outrageous to see someone carelessly clambering over ancient statues.

However, this is merely a symptom of a much larger problem, according to travel photographer Richard I’Anson: the need for better camera etiquette across the board. I’Anson, who leads photography trips to various countries, notes that many people seem to assume that holding a camera gives them a licence to intrude.

“The idea of photography ethics is something I talk about on my photography trips,” he says. “As a photographer, I try to do what I do as discreetly as I can; I know I’m intruding on people’s privacy. We have to be aware and we have to be sensitive and treat people with dignity.”

Despite the lines of etiquette selfies tend to cross, there is another aspect of the travel selfie phenomenon that is often overlooked. One of the reasons that they have taken off, I think, is because other souvenirs have largely lost their lustre. We used to eagerly carry home exotic items from our travels: carved jade from China, camel hair caps from Morocco, carpets from Iran. In today’s globalised world, these hard-to-get items have lost their mystique. Chances are, the store down the road stocks something similar; if not, you can always order it over the internet. The glamour-backdrop selfie has taken over as the way to prove your status as an experienced traveller.

Yet the issue of ethics is hardly a new phenomenon.

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Take Maxime Du Camp, the man behind what was probably the world’s first coffee table travel book. Accompanied by one of his friends – a thenunknown writer called Gustave Flaubert – Du Camp took a trip through Egypt and Syria in 1849. Du Camp recorded their travels using an early Calotype camera, and the photographs featured in a book that was published upon his return. In those days, photography required long exposures, which made street scenes impossible to capture.

However, it’s worth remembering that both selfies and souvenirs are, in some ways, a distraction. Travel is not just about what you see and do in a destination; it’s about the impact the destination has on you. For ultimately, destinations work on us like Nietzsche’s abyss: even as we try to capture them with a camera, they are also capturing us. Abridged and adapted from an article by Ute Junker on www.traveller.com.au, 3 September 2016

ARTICLE GLOSSARY

advent: the beginning of something condemnation: very strong disapproval Nietzsche’s abyss: refers to a quote by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: ‘He who fights with

monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.’

exam-style questions 3

Answer the reading comprehension questions 1–8. 1 Identify two reasons why the travel selfie should be deemed acceptable in today’s society, as mentioned in the article. [2] 2 Identify two pieces of evidence the author uses to expose the drawbacks of mixing selfies and travel. [2] 3 Explain in your own words as far as possible: a Sue Badyari’s point of view regarding selfies as a part of travel, as stated in lines 31–37. [3]

b the similarities between selfies and souvenirs, as stated in lines 97–104. [3] 4 What do you think is meant by: a Richard I’Anson’s term, ‘photography ethics’ (lines 71–75) [3] b the line about Nietzsche’s abyss that ‘even as we try to capture them with a camera, they are also capturing us’ (lines 109–111)? [3] 5 What is the author’s purpose for including the information about Maxime Du Camp? Explain in your own words. [2]

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