Successful people from world leaders to #blessed Instagrammers all tend to have one thing in common – behind the scenes there’s a supportive man or woman helping to make them look good. Sometimes quite literally, as in the case of the patient partners who’ve become unofficial photographers of their other halve’s lives, taking hundreds of near-identical pictures in the hope that one of them will be good enough to warrant a post and translate into vital likes. This selfless snapper is the ‘Instagram boyfriend/girlfriend’, a uniquely modern phenomenon.
Whether they’re holding back hordes of tourists, bending over backwards off the side of a boat or climbing on tables to get those important ‘what I ate’ shots, Instagram partners, bless them, do their utmost for the perfect shot of their wannabe beloved. But what if you’re single? Or – unthinkable – your beau can’t be persuaded to be your personal paparazzo? How are you supposed to create the illusion that your life is far more glamorous than it actually is?
Strike a pose / Image: Susan Wright
Well, you simply hire a boyfriend. No, not like that. Rome tour company Roma Experience has launched a package that allows people to rent an Instagram boyfriend for the day and I went to try it, to see if I could find love. Social love, that is. The Insta Boyfriend Rome Private Tour provides a professional photographer and driver for a three-hour photoshoot at Rome’s most iconic locations. At €599, it doesn’t come cheap, but could an on-call photographer really result in extra likes on my feed?
Things get meta when your boyfriend takes candids of you snapping pics / Image: Susan Wright
I meet Victor and his assistant, Anna, at the Trevi Fountain. Yes, that same old fountain that attracts 1,200 visitors every hour. Gulp. How we’re going to conduct a photoshoot among all the tourists jostling to get their selfies I don’t know.
“We just be patient,” Victor says with a smile. It must be said, having an entourage complete with professional camera and reflector certainly helps, as the other tourists stop snapping to stare at us for a moment – some take pictures of us instead – trying to work out if I’m someone important. I may not be, but I am a) happy to play the part and b) quick enough to swoop in and claim my spot in front of the fountain. But it’s still difficult to get any shots without other tourists in my frame. It’s vital on Instagram to look like you’re the only person there, even at the Trevi Fountain.
