Group "Selfie"

 

Group Selfie at the Coliseum in Rome.  Gabor Gasztonyi Photo 2014

Recently while in Rome this week I toured the Coliseum along with thousands of other tourists.  Everyone of course carried a camera as tourists often do.  In Rome you cannot be without one.  Oddly the cell phone camera has replaced many of the compact cameras recently.  Olympus has moved to abandon this market as the Iphone photo has become very detailed and "good enough" for most folks.

I observed that instead of taking pictures of the sights, the statues and ruins most people were taking self portraits with their cell phone cameras.  The fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld says no to selfies saying they distort the forehead and deepen the chin making for really ugly photos.  Frightened of old age he also insists they make him look unfashionably older.  Needless to say he keeps his camera in his pocket.

Vendors were selling mini group selfie tripods everywhere in Rome and now the selfie has become a group phenomenon.  No longer do you have to ask someone to take a lousy photo of a group with the lens set on wide angle.  No now you can now include yourself in the picture and your friends as well. 

You can preview the result and take it again if everyone isn't smiling properly.  

Italian men are everything that the stereotypes describe.  They love expresso, motorcycles, women and soccer. They also shave once a week.