Hey guys,
Today when I was waiting for my sandwich a couple in their 40s started looking at me a bit strangely and then one of them held his camera phone right up to my face and took a photo.
This is the second time someone has taken a photo like this recently. Has this happened to anybody else here? It’s a bit weird.
Andrew
Perhaps your fly was undone? There’s also a competition on facebook to photograph the funniest-looking foreigner: facebook.uglylaowaicomp. Could that have been it?
You troll jimi. Failed on several levels though:
pages are uglylaowaicomp.facebook.com , not facebook.uglylaowaicomp.com (Western style - smallest to largest)
Missed the .com …
Failed to include a rickroll. How could you?
bumclouds, I’d advise you to ask to see it and then delete it each time. That’s incredibly rude, and Taiwanese people know it, too. None of this ‘it’s the culture’ BS. Locals would be offended if somebody acted like that towards them, they just somehow fail to think ‘what if that were me?’ before acting a lot.
They probably think you look like someone famous.
I was sitting down at a table.
Seriously though, second time in 3 weeks! If it happens again I’ll have to find out what it is that makes me photograph worthy.
Post your picture here and maybe we can tell you!
I see Taiwanese people do it to other Taiwanese people on an almost daily basis so I wouldn’t think too much about it. Perhaps they thought you had an interesting expression or something. There’s nothing you can do about it so don’t worry about it.
One can practice a few ungainly expressions in the mirror, and then strike that pose within a moment’s notice. A combination of crazy eyes & a twisted grimace seem to get the most laughable reactions on the clocks of those would-be soul thieves.
Whatever you do, DO NOT swear at them or give the middle finger to anyone who takes your picture. You could find yourself with more trouble than simply having rude Taiwanese take your picture.
Well, the few times it’s happened to me I’ve put my hand over the camera (as if to grab it, but just holding my hand there, not actually taking it) and told them in Chinese to not take my picture and don’t be rude. Use a stern voice and expression, but don’t swear or flip the bird. They usually feel embarrassed and either apologize or smile gormlessly.
I guess it happens to all foreigners once in a while, happened quite some times to me over the years. Some people here just don’t get that it is irritating and that it might feel weired to you to be “addressed” this way, like a object or a animal, especially if the folks that take your pictures are close and you can actually hear them talking about you.
As a Westerner you stick out and you are exotic, that’s all.
As others did point out, there is not much you can do about, and it can easily get worse. People who don’t understand that they make you feel uncomfortable probably won’t get why you act annoyed either.
[quote=“bumclouds”]Hey guys,
Today when I was waiting for my sandwich a couple in their 40s started looking at me a bit strangely and then one of them held his camera phone right up to my face and took a photo.
This is the second time someone has taken a photo like this recently. Has this happened to anybody else here? It’s a bit weird.
Andrew[/quote]
Rude bunch of pricks I’d tell them it was impolite in an impolite way
I may not use foul language, but I would definitely voice my displeasure. I’ve done it several times since my two, tall, teenage daughters have been photographed numerous times without permission. If they ask first we usually say OK. Just accepting it as something people do is not the answer for us.
I often take pictures like this.
Have you ever visited a foreign country to see the exotic-looking locals going about their daily business in what are to you interesting ways? And taken a photo of them? Wearing a douli and carrying two baskets of vegetables hanging off either end of a bamboo pole? Driving an ox-cart along a country lane? Balancing a load of goods on their head? Wearing saffron robes and walking out of a temple? Driving a herd of camels along the ridge of a sand dune? What they’re doing is something similar.
Where is the idea that permission is required coming from? it’s never been the norm anywhere to ask first and certainly not in any western country where I assume most posting here come from.
I feel there’s a bit of a difference between taking a photo of someone walking along the street and holding a camera up to someone’s face in a restaurant.
Who else thinks so?
Well stick a camera in someones face and take a photo may result in getting your nose broken in many parts of the UK. Especially in Great Yarmouth.
Just looking at people wrong can get you killed in some parts of the world.
Well stick a camera in someones face and take a photo may result in getting your nose broken in many parts of the UK. Especially in Great Yarmouth.[/quote]
That still doesn’t imply permission is required.
If someone waves you away or asks you not to take a photo, then it’s common decency to comply (in most cases - there are exceptions however), but the only way to avoid having your picture taken unwillingly is never to leave your house. In public places, you don’t have that same right to privacy.