Lining up to go through security at the airport is probably the least glamorous and most stressful part of most holidays . So to find out about a new trend that has apparently been sweeping social media, in which people try to take "aesthetic" photos of their belongings in airport security trays, has left us a little bemused. Look, in general we're big fans of a pleasing travel photo, but at the risk of delaying an already lengthy part of the airport experience, this is a trend we won't be getting behind.
READ MORE: Flight attendant's number one tip for surviving plane travel There are more than 16 million related posts that have tagged the "airport tray aesthetic". And it's being picked up by people around the world taking a few extra minutes to curate colour-coordinated pics of their personal effects neatly positioned inside the grey security containers. READ MORE: The best places to stay in Dubai for every kind of traveller NYC influencer, Chelsea Henriquez, recently shared a video of her and her friends doing it, and the footage has clocked over 370k views.
"I take the tray with me after going through TSA, and curate my items near the benches where people put their shoes back on," she points out to The New York Post. "This way I'm not rushing to set up the tray while on the TSA line and I'm also not inconveniencing fellow travellers or the TSA folk by getting in their way." But of course, as with anything airport related, not all travellers are as considerate to other people, and may not follow that protocol.
In a statement to The Post, the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are "aware" of the movement, "As long as the staged glamour photos are not causing delays or issues with other passengers in the checkpoint, there are no issues," they said. "Travellers should take care to secure their IDs, passports and any light items on top that could be swept out of the bins when they go into the machines," the agency added. It's also worth pointing out that taking photograph at security is generally forbidden, due to the risk it poses.
"Such restrictions are carryovers from the changes to airport security following the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks," Doug Drury is Head of Aviation at CQUniversity in Australia, previously told Stuff NZ "Security teams change their processes frequently to prevent having any identifiable patterns that could be used to create a security breach." As with most trends, there are the followers and the naysayers which are taking to plenty of the social media posts calling out the practice. "I'm sorry but no one is actually that aesthetic," one person commented.
"I am not my kindest self in the airport if I catch you taking Pinterest pics in the TSA line I'm putting my bin ahead of yours." "What airport are you going to that lets you artfully organise your stuff and take aesthetic pictures? If I tried this at any airport in the tri-state area TSA would scream at me.".
