‘Dead’ly selfie mode on

It was in August 2013 that the word “selfie” was crowned as the Oxford Dictionary’s ‘Word of the Year’. Since then, from ‘selfies’ to ‘groupfies’ and  ‘ussies’, we’ve seen photographs flooding the social networking websites. Because normal selfies were not enough, there came the extreme selfies that saw every adventure as a possible setting for a selfie.

Some posed in front of a volcano, or with sharks less than a meter away, dangling from cables from a jet or at the tallest point of a building; mostly without any safety gear. “The problem starts with the desire to impress everyone, by showcasing his or herself to the world with an adventurous selfie. After the advent of social media, everybody wants to be noticed. The number of likes one gets on their Facebook page seems directly proportional to the risk factor. I feel this urge to be acknowledged makes one sacrifice safety, which should never be the case. Of course, pictures are priceless memories. But no picture is more precious than your life,” expressed Amar Ramesh, a popular photographer in the city.  

In the last one-and-a-half-years, over 27 incidents where people died trying to take selfies, were reported widely across the world, of which three occurred in India. In January 2015, three students died in Agra, while attempting a daredevil selfie in front of a running train. A mere two months later, seven drowned when their boat tipped over, while attempting a selfie. They were standing on the boat in Mangrul Lake, Nagpur. The recent one to join the list, is the death of an engineering student at Kolli Hills in Tamil Nadu. 

Another popular wildlife and motorsport photographer, Munish Raja said that one must be aware of their safety circle. “Yes, I do take selfies that are not adventurous but till an extent I can push the threshold. Not, beyond the safety limit. As part of my profession, I am often into the wild, or on the racing track wherein one needs to be very careful. There is a reason why there are rules and regulations. One must not go out of their safety circle and also must not compromise the safety circle of the subject. We definitely must be in sync with the technology and try inventions like the selfie stick, but must also regulate the pace.”

Stressing on the fact that photographs are meant to make memories and not to be the last memory, Pranesh Padmanabhan, another popular photographer from the city said, “This incident is a stark reality and a caution for everyone to ensure safety. We all have that adventure streak within us and at times we must be careful as not to overdo it.”