‘Feeling the need of an escape from this endless English winter, combined with a recently found interest in the Roman Empire, I decided to sneak off to Italy a couple of weeks ago for four days of being a full on tourist and pointing my camera at stuff.

I planned for a fully packed schedule of Now That’s What I call Rome, along with a drive-by look at the Amalfi Coast and a plod around the weirdly intact streets of Pompeii.  But it turned out I was not the only person intent on looking at and snapping this splendid peninsular, as apparently every tourist in the World had decided to join me that week.  Everyone seemed either bored to death or armed with selfie-sticks and some really peculiar camera faces, as they jostled for some magic in front of the Trevi Fountain, Colosseum or Spanish Steps.  Nobody seemed to be actually looking at anything but rather looking at themselves standing in front of antiquity.  The tragic story of Pompeii seemed mostly lost on an endless trudging procession of bored teens whilst the rest looked bemused as they listened to the commentary on their shared headsets whilst getting lost and hot and bothered.  So obviously, from a photo safari point of view, it was great!  Veni Vedi Selfi!!’