Everyone Takes This Photo (9 Photos)

November 10, 2026

By Vidar

The pose everyone does

Some places come with a move. In Pisa you push the tower, in Ireland you lean backward over a castle drop, and in London you cross the road in single file. Nobody hands out instructions. People just arrive knowing what to do, and someone else holds the camera.

Five of these nine run on forced perspective. A photo has no depth, so a hand half a meter from the lens and a tower hundreds of meters away can line up as if they touch. The other four need no trick, only the right spot and some patience.

More: Copying the Pose (8 Photos)

🤸 Four States at Once — Four Corners Monument, USA 🇺🇸

Two hands and two feet, each in a different state. This boy did it in 1965 at the Four Corners Monument. The monument is still there for anyone who wants to try.

💡 Corner Fact: It is the only place in the United States where four states meet at one point, and the site is run by Navajo Nation Parks.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsFour Corners MonumentChandler Robbins (survey) · 1875 · Navajo Nation, USAFour statesNavajo Nation ParksSurveyed 18751NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey says the monument does correctly mark the four-state intersection point.NOAA NGS2Navajo Nation Parks & Recreation calls it the only place in the United States where four states intersect at one point.Navajo Nation Parks1875Robbins establishes the point · NGS1931Bronze disc set in concrete · CLUI1962Larger concrete pad laid · CLUI196513 MayA boy in four states at once · Commons1992New bronze disc set · CLUI2010Current monument opens · CLUI202630 AprThe bronze disc in granite · CommonsMore photos2026 The 1992 bronze disc in granitePhoto: Christian David / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)Read the full file →

📷 Photo: ProveIt / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

🤏 Pinching the Eiffel Tower — Paris, France 🇫🇷

Finger and thumb, a step back on the Champ de Mars, and the tower fits between them. Photographer Vincent Lock captioned it “the one shot that everyone who visits the tower has to have.”

💡 Temporary Fact: The tower was built for the 1889 World’s Fair and was only meant to last 20 years. The science experiments Eiffel encouraged on it saved it, in particular the first radio transmissions.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsEiffel TowerGustave Eiffel · 1889 · Paris, FranceChamp-de-MarsHistoric monument 1964Gustave Eiffel1The tower was built for the 1889 Exposition Universelle, and its top was completed on 31 March 1889, according to its operator.Tour Eiffel (official site)2France listed the tower as a historic monument by decree on 24 June 1964.POP · Mérimée188931 MarTop and assembly completed · official site196424 JunListed as a historic monument · Mérimée20083 JulA visitor “pinches” the top · Commons202311 SepThe tower from beside it · CommonsMore photos2023 The tower from beside its basePhoto: APK / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)Read the full file →

📷 Photo: “holding the eiffel tower” by Vincent Lock / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

🧴 Standing on a Bottle — Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia 🇧🇴

Arms out, one leg up, balanced on a plastic water bottle. On the flat white salt of Salar de Uyuni there is nothing to judge distance by, so a man standing farther back looks small enough to fit on a bottle.

💡 Salt Fact: It covers over 10,000 square kilometers and is the largest salt flat in the world.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsSalar de UyuniNatural formation · Altiplano, BoliviaSalt flatAltiplano, BoliviaWorld’s largest salar1ESA reports that the salt flat’s surface varies in elevation by less than one meter.ESA2NASA calls Salar de Uyuni the largest salt flat in the world, in Bolivia’s Altiplano.NASA Earth Observatory20053 NovAstronaut photo from the ISS · NASA200819 NovA visitor “on” a bottle · Commons201724 FebTour jeeps on the salt · Commons201717 MaySentinel-2B satellite image · ESAMore photos2017 Tour jeeps out on the saltPhoto: Loïc Mermilliod / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)Read the full file →

📷 Photo: “Balancing” by Chris Feser / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

🪨 Out on the Troll’s Tongue — Trolltunga, Norway 🇳🇴

A thin shelf of rock about 700 meters above Ringedalsvatnet lake, with two hikers out on the tongue while others wait by the cliff. Getting here means a 27-kilometer round-trip hike to Trolltunga.

💡 Queue Fact: The official site warns of a 60- to 90-minute wait for the photo on Saturdays. About 80,000 hikers come each year, up from 800 in 2010.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsTrolltungaNatural rock formation · Ullensvang, NorwayUllensvang, Norway1,180 m above sea levelRingedalsvatnet1The official site says the wait for a photo on the ledge can be 60–90 minutes on Saturdays.Trolltunga (official site)2Store norske leksikon says 81,000 people hiked to the outcrop in 2019.Store norske leksikon201814 JulHikers out on the ledge · Commons201814 JulThe queue for the ledge · Commons201981,000 hikers that year · SNL20212021 queue times in an image caption · official siteMore photos2018 The queue for the ledgePhoto: Frankemann / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)Read the full file →

📷 Photo: Frankemann / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

🫳 Patting the Sphinx — Giza, Egypt 🇪🇬

An outstretched hand, the right angle, and the Great Sphinx gets a pat. The real face is far out of reach.

💡 Nose Fact: Napoleon’s soldiers usually get the blame, but Frederic Louis Norden’s drawings from 1737 already show the Sphinx without a nose. The medieval historian al-Maqrizi blamed a 14th-century Sufi named Muhammad Sa’im al-Dahr.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsGreat Sphinx of GizaGiza Plateau, EgyptGiza PlateauWorld HeritageLimestone1Smithsonian Journeys says Frederic Louis Norden’s 1737 drawings already show the Sphinx without a nose.Smithsonian Journeys2UNESCO names the Great Sphinx among the monuments of its Memphis and its Necropolis World Heritage property.UNESCO1737Norden draws it without a nose · Smithsonian200625 DecA visitor “pats” its face · Commons202320 SepIn profile with the pyramid · CommonsMore photos2023 In profile, with the Great PyramidPhoto: Mustang Joe / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)Read the full file →

📷 Photo: “Giza: Carlo accarezza la sfinge” by Francesco Gasparetti / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

🙌 Holding Up the Leaning Tower — Pisa, Italy 🇮🇹

Hands up, one knee bent, and a friend in front with the phone. Look behind them on the lawn at Piazza dei Miracoli: more people are lining up the same shot. The tower was begun in 1173 and has been getting this help for a long time.

💡 Lean Fact: It doesn’t really need holding anymore. Engineers drilled under the north side, removed small amounts of soil and straightened the tower by 38 centimeters in work completed in 2001.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsLeaning Tower of PisaPisa Cathedral bell tower · 1173 · Pisa, ItalyBell towerPiazza del DuomoBegun 11731UNESCO lists the bell tower, “the ‘Leaning Tower’”, among the medieval monuments of Pisa’s Piazza del Duomo.UNESCO2Work completed in 2001 straightened the tower by 38 cm, according to the Institution of Civil Engineers.Institution of Civil Engineers2001Stabilisation work completed · ICE201721 MayVisitors push the tower · Commons20239 AugVisitors pose to hold it · CommonsRead the full file →

📷 Photo: “People taking photos at the tower of Pisa” by Sebastiaan ter Burg / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

💋 Kissing the Blarney Stone — Blarney, County Cork, Ireland 🇮🇪

Sitting on a mat on the roof of Blarney Castle, facing the iron bars over the drop, with an attendant’s gloved hand on the rail. Everyone has to lie on their back and lean over the edge to reach the stone.

💡 Legend Fact: The castle was built in 1446 by Dermot McCarthy, King of Munster. The legend says the kiss gives you the gift of the gab.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsBlarney StoneBlarney Castle · Blarney, County Cork, IrelandBlarney CastleGift of eloquenceCounty Cork1Tourism Ireland says visitors lie on their back and lean over an open parapet drop to kiss it.Tourism Ireland2According to Tourism Ireland, one legend says the stone was brought from the Holy Land after the Crusades.Tourism Ireland199522 AprA visitor prepares to kiss it · Commons200413 JunA visitor kisses the stone · Commons201712 OctA visitor at the parapet · CommonsRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Gerd Eichmann / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

☝️ Holding the Taj Mahal — Agra, India 🇮🇳

Four men, four raised arms, four sets of bent fingers, in the gardens of the Taj Mahal. From this angle, not one of the hands is anywhere near the dome.

💡 Love Fact: Emperor Shah Jahan had it built between 1631 and 1648 in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsTaj MahalShah Jahan · Agra, IndiaWhite marble mausoleumYamuna RiverWorld Heritage Site1UNESCO says Mughal emperor Shah Jahan ordered it built in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal.UNESCO2Agra’s district administration says it is closed to visitors on Fridays, except for namaz at the mosque.District Agra20199 NovVisitors “pinch” the dome · Commons20238 AprSeen through an arch · CommonsMore photos2023 Seen through a dark archPhoto: NITHIN JOY22 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)Read the full file →

📷 Photo: Buiobuione / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

🚶 Walking Abbey Road — London, England 🇬🇧

Single file across the stripes, and one friend standing in the road with a camera. This is a working crossing on Abbey Road in St John’s Wood, and fans keep copying the Beatles cover on it.

💡 Listed Fact: Iain Macmillan took the original photo on August 8, 1969. In 2010 the crossing was listed Grade II, the first crossing of its kind ever listed.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsAbbey Road Zebra CrossingThe Beatles’ album cover · 1969 · Abbey Road, LondonGrade II listedBelisha beaconsBeatles cover, 19691Historic England says Iain Macmillan took the Abbey Road cover photo here on 8 August 1969.Historic England2In December 2010 it became the first crossing of its kind ever to be listed, at Grade II.GOV.UK19698 AugBeatles cover photo · Historic England201022 DecListed Grade II · GOV.UK201324 AprFans re-enact the cover · Geograph202522 JulFans on the crossing · CommonsRead the full file →