Lee Thompson has spent the last three months travelling around the world shooting incredible pictures, but rather than use the familiar “selfie” he believes the “surroundie” is the next big thing.
He has so far taken shots in Bolivia, Peru, India, Finland, and Sri Lanka as part of a marketing campaign for his company, Flash Pack. But the travel boss has his own wish list with top spot being taking a surroundie on top of the iconic Christ The Redeemer monument in Rio de Janeiro.
Lee, from London, says he has already approached the Brazil tourism board to ask permission.
He said: “I got 100 million views last time but I want to get back up and take a surroundie.
“I think the surroundie is the next big thing. The tourism board said they are going to try and let me do it, but I have to wait for the next time they do construction work to it.”
He added: “Photography is evolving so quickly and unless you keep up with the latest trends and technological advancements you get left behind.
“Being able to see the whole 360 image is as good as it gets.
“By using a selfie stick above my head I’m able to hold the Gear 360 camera as high as possible and take pictures on an app which leaves people guessing how you took it.”
Lee decided to start taking surroundies as an innovative way of attracting people on to his company trips around the world. The travel boss is the co-founder of group adventure travel company Flash Pack, which offers two-week trips to some exotic destinations.
Lee believes the “surroundie” could become newest trend in picture thanks to the rise of virtual reality (VR) headsets and affordable 360 degree cameras.
He added: “Last year lots of 360 cameras came on the scene and every camera brand is now bringing out a version. so it’s becoming more mainstream to use.
“I think it’s going to go off in a big way.”
Lee managed to convince the Brazilian tourist board to let him scale Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue and snap a picture of himself at the top in 2014. It took the 31-year-old almost half an hour to reach the summit of 124ft-high statue, before poking his head of the statue to see the city below.
The vertigo-inducing picture and video quickly went viral after Thompson posted it on his blog and racked up 100 million views.
