Tacky Tourist Photos

SUBMITTED BY: Jerry Monkman  LOCATION: Acadia National Park, Maine (2011) It’s so true: Families who push boulders off cliffs together, stay together. This Road Runner-Wile E. Coyote photo-op is on the Bubble Rock hiking trail near Jordan Pond. (Nature photographer Jerry Monkman is the author of “The AMC Guide to Outdoor Digital Photography.”)  

SUBMITTED BY: Debra Furlong, Mike and Christine     LOCATION: Sedona, Arizona (2011) Dance for me, puppet! In the mystical New Age paradise of Sedona, Arizona, where crystals and “positive energy” is sold at every gas station, there’s a small prancing tribe of gnomes who will perform on command.

SUBMITTED BY: Noelle Boc   LOCATION: Charlestown, Mass. (2011) When you kiss a fish, it is better with your eyes closed? Rumor has it that smooching with this Fish Sentinel, the official guard of City Square Park near Boston Harbor, will make you grow fins. (Noelle Boc is a hip children’s librarian and movie reviewer […]

SUBMITTED BY: Aaron Whitehead   LOCATION: New York, NY (2011) Legend has it that rubbing the brass balls of the Wall Street Bull statue, formally known as “Charging Bull,” will bring good luck to your portfolio.  Is it only a matter of time till the Occupy Wall Street mob attempts castration?

SUBMITTED BY: David Meerman Scott LOCATION: Nantucket, Massachusetts (2011) The big question unanswered at the Nantucket Cranberry Festival: What’s underneath the red tide? Do cranberry farmers swish around the wet bogs in their bare feet, giving the juice that extra special bite? (Marketing strategist David Meerman Scott, who blogs at Web Ink Now, most recently […]

SUBMITTED BY: Ursula K.  LOCATION: Middlebury, Vermont (2011) So if you’re in the market for a cheese factory, the abandoned Kennedy Brothers property is for sale. Not sure if this eyeless cow will be tossed in the deal, but odds are that she will be living in a University of Vermont or Middlebury College dorm […]

SUBMITTED BY: Tessa Windt    LOCATION: Somewhere in Texas (2008) Are rainbow rays like Skittles or M & M’s?  Do the yellow and green rays taste just like the red and orange ones? (Tessa Windt found this photo-op during a cross-country drive on Texas backroads. She is also “endlessly attracted to the undulations, mobilities and […]

SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Garnick and Sarah Ekbatani   LOCATION: Westford, Massachusetts (2010) There’s no better way to impress the ladies than to engage in some old-fashioned butterfly role play. (Kyle Garnick and Sarah Ekbatani are hip college students at the University of New Hampshire).

SUBMITTED BY: Tim Chapman   LOCATION: Hayward, Wisconsin (2009) These cute little anglers assume that this giant Sunfish will be satisfied with the worm and not go after the bigger treats at the end of the line. In addition to fulfilling fishing fantasies, the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame also lets you crawl inside […]

SUBMITTED BY: Ben and Sarah Cole   LOCATION: Glenwood Caverns, Colorado (2011) At the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park and Historic Fairy Caves, all is not magical.  The best part of this classic Tacky Tourist Photo? — it’s the acting, of course! Great job, Ben!  Looks like you could be the next James Franco. (Ben and […]

SUBMITTED BY: Tamar M.  LOCATION: Yellowstone National Park, Montana (2009) If Yellowstone Park were South Park, here’s what the tourism poster model would look like. More proof that deep within each and every one of us is the spirit of an 11-year-old boy! (You can recreate this pose in the privacy of your own home […]

SUBMITTED BY: Ari Zackin   LOCATION: Dead Sea, Israel (2010) How much actual reading gets done in the Dead Sea is unknown, but posing with a magazine or newspaper to “prove” it won’t get wet is a classic Israeli (and Jordanian) photo-op! (Ari Zackin will do anything to model for Tacky Tourist Photos, even take a […]

SUBMITTED BY: Salena Stinchcombe   LOCATION: Dead Sea, Jordan (2007) No one has ever died from a shark attack in the Dead Sea, making it the ideal place to bodysurf and yuk it up in the mud… The water is 35-percent salt, making it impossible to sink, but still very possible to drown. You don’t want […]

SUBMITTED BY: Eugene Mirman   LOCATION: Moab, Utah (2011) On the right, Eugene’s horse is named Dalton. Katie’s horse is named Cisco. Years from now when they have grandchildren — Cisco and Dalton, not Eugene and Katie — they will be flipping through their photo album and reminiscing about their days working the trails at the […]

SUBMITTED BY: Eugene Mirman & Katie Westfall-Tharp LOCATION: Moab, Utah (2011) In the majestic Utah desert, not far from where James Franco grimaced for his Oscar nomination in 127 Hours, comedian Eugene Mirman opted not to pretend to saw his arm off with a pocket knife. Splattered blood is a major turn-off for his girlfriend […]