The legs-in-bathtub Instagram: A risky move
Baths are relaxing, but photos of baths are another matter entirely.
The legs-in-bathtub shot has become an Instagram classic: legs outstretched, a bath bomb deployed, candles lit on the corners of the tub. Everyone from celebrities to lifestyle bloggers to the confusing normals on my Explore page have posted these things, and I get why. As someone who has Instagrammed my curtains because the light "looked nice" on them, I understand the appeal of sharing serene everyday moments. They are hard to come by, after all.
But even though I know it's my loss, I will never find a bathtub photo relaxing, nor will I ever be able to post one. Why? For a bathtub photo to be posted, it must first be taken. And for it to be taken, a phone -- perhaps even an iPhone -- must be inside the perimeter of the bathtub.
This fills me with anxiety. It cannot be that this is worth it.
You could plunge your phone into the bowl of rice. You could wait 24 hours to no avail. You could lose your phone forever!
Here is the bad thing that could happen in this scenario: you could drop your phone. The phone could fall into the water. The phone could meet its ruin in the Lush-scented suds abyss you have created for yourself. You could panic and hoist yourself out of the bathtub. (Please do not slip.) You could pour some rice into a bowl from a plastic bag of rice you purchased at Costco in 2016. You could plunge your phone into the bowl of rice. You could wait 24 hours to no avail. You could lose your phone forever. And your photo.
Remember extreme phone pinching? We all thought that was bad. And taking a legs-in-bathtub photo involves a risk level too similar for me to even consider. Drop your phone off a mountain? It's dead. Drop your phone in water? It's probably dead, too. The only difference is the height from which it falls. (And the pinching, but don't pretend your hands aren't going to be slippery in that tub. It's wet!)
Of course, I do not think ill of those who take legs-in-bathtub photos. A pleasant bath is a luxury to be celebrated, and if you feel that hoisting your phone above a steaming tub of death water is worth the 'gram, then go for it. Take that shot. Put your phone on the back of the toilet afterward. Shoot for the stars that I cannot reach.
But if you find yourself unable to enjoy other people's legs-in-bathtub images, know that you are not alone. It's a risky business, water-adjacent iPhone photography -- one that not everyone is cut out for. Me? I am not cut out for it.
But I still love baths.
Topics Instagram
Chloe was the shopping editor at Mashable. She was also previously a culture reporter. You can follow her on Twitter at @chloebryan.
