Fed up with iPhone 6 news? This man travels the world doing naked handstands, to raise awareness of 'planned obsolescence'
He believes our consumer world has too many short-life products
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Your support makes all the difference.Everyone likes taking a few cheeky snaps while on holiday. Photographs keep the memory of a trip alive long after the jet lag wears off and the tan fades.
Not many of us, however, would be so bold as to photograph ourselves stark-naked in front of some of the most iconic locations around the globe.
The Naked Handstander, an intrepid traveller with a penchant for gymnastics, has spent the past five years doing just that.
The anonymous exhibitionist, who has stripped off in 17 different countries across the world - including China, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, Norway, the US, and Australia - posts his unusual tourist snaps on his blog.
He’s posed in striking locations such as Uluru in Australia and the Great Wall of China, and has visited the UK twice, handstanding on Brighton beach and on the backs by Cambridge University.
“It began back in 2009 on a black pebble beach in Vik, Iceland...I'm not exactly sure what triggered the first naked handstand, it just came naturally,” he said.
The nudist has encountered his fair share of troubles along the way though, including a run in with some undercover police in Rome.
“They didn't really see the funny side at first and deleted my photograph. But they printed one for their own safe keeping,” he said. “Each naked handstand has its own special, ridiculous encounter.”
The handstands aren’t just a way for the bare-bottomed acrobat to show off, however. The blogger is actually trying to raise awareness about ‘planned obsolescence’, which is the deliberate shortening of products’ useful lifespan in order to force the consumer to buy or upgrade repeatedly.
On his blog, he writes: “There is too much crap consumed and disposed daily in the world and we are slowly destroying it... we need to put things on their head and end this throw away culture we currently live in. The world is spectacular and full of amazement, get out there and explore it as best you can and you will see for yourself.”
On the new Apple iPhone 6 and Apple Watch announcements, he wrote to The Independent:
"Like any Apple product, it's classic planned obsolescence. Apple and most other large corporations don't have any serious regard for the environment nor do they have a sound closed loop manufacturing strategy in place. They put paper profits first and everything else comes secondary."
"Sure Apple do make some very well designed products, but I think they need to change their tact and adopt a cradle to cradle type closed loop product approach. They have a great opportunity to be the first large corporation to do so."
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