10 Selfies So Reckless, You’ll Wonder How Anyone Thought This Was a Good Idea
A selfie is supposed to capture a great memory.
But some people seem to have a very different definition of “great memory.”
They climb to dangerous heights, get ridiculously close to wild animals, lean out of moving trains and stand inches from cliffs just to get a picture.
The results can be spectacular.
They can also make you wonder what was going through the photographer’s mind.
Here are some of the most extreme selfies worth seeing.
1. The Lion Selfie
Most people would be happy seeing a lion through a camera lens.
This guy apparently wanted the lion in the selfie.
The photograph shows a man lying remarkably close to a large male lion while holding out his phone. The animal looks calm, but that doesn’t make the situation any less astonishing.
There is an important detail, though: the photograph was taken in a controlled wildlife setting, with other visitors visible behind a barrier. So this wasn’t necessarily a person casually approaching a wild lion in the middle of the bush.
Still, getting this close to a predator capable of doing serious damage makes for one unforgettable photograph.
2. The Cliff-Edge Selfie
This is the kind of photograph that makes you instinctively lean away from your screen.
The person appears to be standing right at the edge of a huge drop, holding a phone out for the perfect shot. From the photographer’s perspective, the view must have been incredible. From everyone else’s perspective, there’s one obvious question:
Why are you standing there?
Cliffside selfies have become especially popular at scenic tourist destinations, where people sometimes move beyond barriers or designated viewing areas to get a more dramatic photograph. Authorities and locals have repeatedly warned visitors about the danger of getting too close to the edge.
3. When the Train Becomes Part of the Selfie
There’s a normal way to take a selfie with a train.
Stand on the platform.
Then there’s this.
The photograph shows a man leaning out of a moving passenger train while holding a selfie stick. The tracks stretch behind him, creating an image that looks like something from an action movie.
It’s also a good example of why extreme selfies can become dangerous very quickly. A 2018 study of reported selfie-related deaths found that transportation incidents were among the leading causes, alongside falls and drowning.
4. Standing Beside a Waterfall
Waterfalls are some of the easiest places to understand the appeal of a selfie.
They’re beautiful, dramatic and almost impossible to photograph badly.
But the rocks around waterfalls can also be wet and slippery, and getting too close to the edge can turn a beautiful photograph into a dangerous situation.
This couple managed to capture a spectacular selfie with the Iguazu Falls behind them. The photograph is dramatic without requiring them to do anything particularly ridiculous.
Sometimes the scenery does all the work.
5. The Volcano Selfie
Taking a selfie at the top of a volcano already sounds impressive.
Taking one beside a crater makes it considerably more dramatic.
This photograph was taken at Irazú Volcano in Costa Rica, where a tourist captured a selfie at the main crater. The strange volcanic landscape makes the photograph look almost unreal.
And unlike a normal tourist attraction, you’re taking pictures in a place shaped by volcanic activity.
A Wikimedia Commons photograph specifically documents a tourist taking a selfie at Irazú’s main crater.
6. When the Drop Is Right Behind You
Some extreme selfies don’t look particularly dangerous until you notice what’s happening in the background.
At first, you see a person smiling at the camera.
Then you notice the enormous drop behind them.
That’s when the photograph changes completely.
A person standing near a cliff can look perfectly safe in a photograph because you can’t always judge the depth or distance. But one slippery step can change everything.
7. The Bear That Took Its Own Selfie
This one is different.
The person isn’t the one taking the selfie.
The bear is.
A grizzly bear at the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, Montana, found a GoPro camera in its enclosure and accidentally recorded itself. The resulting footage shows the bear playing with the camera and capturing its own images.
And there’s an amusing legal detail: the footage is listed as public domain on Wikimedia Commons because it was created by a non-human animal.
So technically, this might be the safest selfie on the list.
The photographer was a bear.
The original Wikimedia Commons files identify the footage as public domain.
8. The Selfie With a 600-Meter Waterfall
This one looks almost peaceful.
A tourist is taking a selfie with Langfossen waterfall in Norway behind them. The waterfall drops roughly 600 meters from the mountain toward the fjord.
The person isn’t hanging from the waterfall or balancing on a tiny ledge. They’re standing in a relatively accessible tourist area.
But look at the scale of the waterfall behind them.
It makes the person look incredibly small.
The original Wikimedia Commons photograph identifies the location as Langfossen in Norway and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
9. When Everyone Wants the Same Selfie
Extreme selfies aren’t always about one person doing something crazy.
Sometimes it’s an entire group.
At Watkins Glen State Park in New York, tourists were photographed taking a group selfie beneath Frowning Cliff.
There’s something funny about watching a large group of people squeeze together for one photograph while surrounded by a spectacular natural landscape.
Everyone wants to be in the frame.
Nobody wants to be the person who gets left out.
A Wikimedia Commons photograph documents tourists taking exactly this kind of group selfie at Watkins Glen State Park.
10. The Selfie That Looks More Dangerous Than It Is
Not every extreme-looking selfie actually involves someone taking an unnecessary risk.
Sometimes, it’s simply the angle.
A person standing on a scenic viewpoint can look as though they’re balancing over a massive drop when they’re actually standing on a safe platform or behind a barrier.
That’s one of the strange things about selfies.
The camera removes context.
You don’t always know how close someone really is to danger.
The Selfie Is Sometimes the Least Important Part
There’s a reason these photographs are so difficult to ignore.
A normal selfie tells you what someone looked like on a particular day.
An extreme selfie tells you something about where they were willing to stand to get the picture.
And that changes everything.
Researchers have documented hundreds of deaths associated with selfie-taking in dangerous situations, with falls, drowning and transportation incidents among the major causes reported in studies.
So the next time you see someone taking an unbelievable selfie from the edge of a cliff, remember that the photograph may look effortless.
Getting it might have been anything but.
The best selfie is still the one where you get the picture and make it home to post it.
