Photobombing
{{Short description|Act of making an unsolicited appearance in a photograph}}
File:Halloween Banana Bomb Iowa City.jpg
Photobombing is the act of purposely putting oneself into the view of a photograph, often in order to play a practical joke on the photographer or the subjects.{{cite web|title=Definition of photobomb|url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/photobomb|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120827152009/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/photobomb|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 27, 2012|work=Oxford English Dictionary|accessdate=31 October 2012}} Photobombing has received significant coverage since 2009. In discussing a "stingray photobomb" picture that became popular, Andrea DenHoed suggests that the photobomb label "implies a narrative of surreptitious sabotage,"{{cite news|last=DenHoed|first=Andrea|title=A Few Words About the Stingray Photobomb|url=http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/10/a-few-words-about-the-stingray-photobomb.html|accessdate=31 October 2012|newspaper=The New Yorker|date=9 October 2012}} although in the sense of unintended or initially unnoticed people in the background of spoiled photographs, photobombs have existed for much of the history of photography.
In 2014, "photobomb" was named Word of the Year by the Collins English Dictionary after several photos of celebrities photobombing at awards ceremonies had gone viral.{{cite magazine|last=Shaffi|first=Sarah |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/photobomb-judged-collins-word-year|title='Photobomb' judged Collins' 'Word of the Year'|magazine=The Bookseller|date=23 October 2014|accessdate=2020-05-28}}
Examples in the media
File:Sally and Mrs Reed (4095065677).jpg
- Bill Clinton photobombed Kelly Clarkson during her performance of "My Country 'Tis of Thee" at the second inauguration of Barack Obama in 2013.{{cite web|last=Hayner|first=Chris E. |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/zap-bill-clinton-photobomb-with-kelly-clarkson-at--20130121%2C0%2C4579196.story|title=Bill Clinton photobomb with Kelly Clarkson at inauguration goes viral|work=Zap2it|via=Chicago Tribune|date=22 January 2013|accessdate=2017-06-04|url-status=dead|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20130123010757/http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/zap-bill-clinton-photobomb-with-kelly-clarkson-at--20130121%2C0%2C4579196.story|archivedate=January 23, 2013}} A few weeks later, Clarkson herself photobombed Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi at the 2013 Grammy Awards.{{cite web|last=Rubenstein|first=Jenna Hally|url=http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2013/02/11/kelly-clarkson-ellen-degeneres-2013-grammy-awards-photobomb/|title=Kelly Clarkson Pulled Off The Best Photobomb EVER At The Grammys!! (PHOTO)|work=MTV Buzzworthy|date=11 February 2013|accessdate=20 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130214041600/http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2013/02/11/kelly-clarkson-ellen-degeneres-2013-grammy-awards-photobomb/|archive-date=2013-02-14}}
- Aaron Rodgers, quarterback for the Green Bay Packers in the NFL, is well known for photobombing the captain's picture before every game (if he has not been elected a captain himself).{{cite web|url=http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1451220-the-best-of-aaron-rodgers-photobombs|title=The Best of Aaron Rodgers' Photobombs|last=Kruse|first=Zach|work=Bleacher Report|date=20 December 2012|accessdate=20 October 2014}}
- Queen Elizabeth II photobombed two Australian athletes at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.{{cite web|url=https://www.metro.us/newyork/news/international/2014/07/28/photo-queen-elizabeth-pulls-off-epic-photobomb//|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020222631/https://www.metro.us/newyork/news/international/2014/07/28/photo-queen-elizabeth-pulls-off-epic-photobomb//|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 October 2014|title=PHOTO: Queen Elizabeth pulls off epic photobomb|work=Metro New York|date=28 July 2014|accessdate=11 April 2020}} The resulting image was displayed for a question in that year's edition of The Big Fat Quiz of the Year.
- A putative "first photobomb", taken by Mary Dillwyn circa 1853, was discussed in a Wikimedia Foundation blog in 2015.{{Cite web|url=http://blog.wikimedia.org/2015/09/18/first-smile-photobomb-wales/|date=18 September 2015|title=The first smile and photobomb ever photographed|last=Erhart|first=Ed |authorlink=|work=Wikimedia Blog|accessdate=2020-05-28}}
- On social media, a man in a giraffe costume has been seen speeding past a family on a ski slope in Colorado posing for a picture, which is an example of a video photobomb.{{cite web|last=Moody|first=Darrell|date=10 March 2015|title=Skier in giraffe suit executes epic 'photobomb'|url=https://www.wdbo.com/news/news/local/skier-giraffe-suit-executes-epic-photobomb/nkR4j/|accessdate=2020-12-14|website=|publisher=WDBO-FM}}
- Prince Harry photobombing America's Next Top Model Winnie Harlow and her agent at a lunch after the Audi Polo Challenge.{{Cite web|url=https://graziadaily.co.uk/celebrity/news/prince-harry-photobomb-winnie-harlow/|title=Prince Harry Photobombs A Model|last=Rosseinski|first=Katie|date=30 May 2016|website=Grazia|accessdate=2020-05-28}}
- Paul McCartney photobombed fellow Beatle George Harrison and some female fans.{{Cite web|url=http://www.feelnumb.com/2016/04/18/paul-mccartney-1964-inventing-photobomb-george-harrison-the-beatles-photobombing/|title=Paul McCartney's Famous 1964 Photobombing The Beatles George Harrison|author=Raul|date=18 April 2016|website=FeelNumb.com|access-date=2019-06-05}}
- Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman photobombed Angelina Jolie.{{Cite web|url=https://toofab.com/photos/dc3e5a0a-f7fe-535b-9173-92de82f2a931/|title=Celebrity Photobombers|website=TooFab|date=3 May 2013|access-date=2019-06-05}}
- Ed Sheeran, fan of Ipswich Town F.C., photobombed a Norwich City F.C. fan along with Adam Drury and Grant Holt.{{cite news|last=Innes|first=Richard|title=Ipswich fan Ed Sheeran swearily photobombing Norwich City legends at East Anglia derby will make your day|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/row-zed/ipswich-fan-ed-sheerans-swearily-9926539|work=Daily Mirror|date=27 February 2017|accessdate=16 September 2018}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Photobombing}}
- [https://memebase.cheezburger.com/thisisphotobomb/ Cheezburger photobomb section]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20130121005217/http://photobomb.tumblr.com/ Tumblr photobomb section]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20171205044859/http://www.funnyordie.com/topic/photobomb Funnyordie photobomb section]