Everyone's A Cameraman: The Ease and Dangers of Filming in the Modern Age

 If I see one more GoPro strapped to someone's head, I think I may scream...

 As of this moment, I am sat in Gatwick airport on a transfer flight between Geneva and Jersey. I'm flying home after a weeks ski holiday in Chamonix, France, which as much as it had it's highs and lows (including my father dislocating his knee on the first day), taught me a lot about the filming technology your average Joe has at his finger tips now in 2019.

 Skiing the slopes in Chamonix I saw many a thing: from dogs dressed in thermal jackets, to those clad in official 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics kit. One thing all these had in common however, is that if I caught a glimpse with my own eyes, no doubt someone's GoPro or phone camera did too.

Skiing in Chamonix 2018/19 (Source: Own photos)

 As Lee Bell recently stated on Fobres.com, the GoPro is a "ski essential", saying "there's really no other way to capture special holiday moments". The usage of wearable devices such as this is ever increasing in the modern day, with the latest GoPro HERO 7 being named as one of the most popular gifts this Christmas for instance. Their reasonable price in comparison to other filming devices has contributed to its popularity with amateur photographers around the globe, including Chamonix this winter. According to Club Med, more than 1 in 5 Brits brought an action camera such as a GoPro (23%) on their last ski holiday.

(Source: Absolute Snow)

GoPro Gumption...

 Despite their popularity, wearables such as GoPros are still associated with their dangers, one of which is described as "GoPro Courage". According to Tom Stienstra of the San Francisco Chronicle, this phenomenon is derived from people daring to risk their lives to get the most views, likes and followers on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. They battle for popularity, attempting to outdo one another's risky stunts - be it jumping off a cliff, swimming with sharks, and so on.

Is our life just worth one photo?

- Vishnu and Menakshi Moorthy 

 The quotation above comes from two daredevil travel bloggers who lived and worked in the Silicon Valley. Months after they posted this to their Instagram, they fell 800 foot at Yosemite National Park whilst taking a selfie, and died. 

Alleged injuries?

 Not only have wearables caused injury from daredevil stunts, they have also been criticized for inflicting the injuries themselves. In December 2013, Formula 1 legend, Michael Schumacher hit his head whilst skiing in the French Alps. According to Sky Sports, he suffered "a severe head injury with coma on arrival [to Grenoble Hospital], which required immediate neurological intervention". Now, five years on from the accident, Schumacher is still recovering from his life changing injuries.

Schumacher and his wife, Corrina, on a ski holiday in 2003 (Source: The Telegraph)

 Understandably, I'm sure this story seems completely irrelevant to this post. However with such a devastating story circulating the news since it first arose, along has come allegations to what caused the injury... a helmet camera. 

 Two months after the crash, The Telegraph reported that investigators now believed Schumacher's "helmet camera could have actually worsened the blow, and caused the helmet to shatter into pieces".

In interview with the Cologne Express, Franck Leplanquais of sports equipment test lab CRITT explained how the helmet camera could be to blame:

The camera is another element between rock and skull, and at the wrong angle could lead to a 'shock-effect', cracking the helmet

 Despite these allegations however, the crash was ruled purely accidental in February 2014. Although this incident was not confirmed to be caused by a helmet camera, it definitely shows another significant example of how providing the public with more and more opportunities to film things themselves can be truly catastrophic in some cases: a significant point to ponder as we enter into a new year of technology dependence.