A man who lives on one of the UK’s most popular streets has said influencers are taking over the area as they pose outside his home daily. The man – who goes only by the name Bart – claims hundreds of people come down his street for a photoshoot as they try to get the perfect Instagram snap.
And while he’s able to laugh at this, he said it has become more extreme, with some even lying on homeowners’ doorsteps and setting off smoke bombs.
The colourful street is said to be one of the most Instagrammable in the whole of Notting Hill thanks to being lined with colourful houses.
Bart has lived in the area for three years now but it wasn’t until earlier this month that he began documenting the number of influencers snapping away.
He said: “On social media, we’re often presented with highly curated snapshots of people’s lives portraying seemingly picture-perfect moments, but what lies beyond the camera lens remains unseen. I figured this would be an angle of TikTok that people would enjoy, which has proven true so far.”
Despite finding the photoshoots somewhat inconvenient, he admits he “loves the free entertainment”.
He said: “The lengths people go to for the perfect picture is quite amusing. The other day I saw someone skip down the street seven times with five cameras following him.
“One of the videos shows a woman lying on her back next to a pile of rubbish that was waiting to be picked up by the bin men. It would annoy other people, I’m sure, but I actually view it purely as something to have a good laugh about.”
Bart decided to start a TikTok account to document his experiences, with viewers finding the scenes equally as entertaining.
He added: “Living in a place like Notting Hill, you get a front row seat behind the comical process of capturing the ‘perfect’ shot. [They come to do] TikTok dances and modelling especially, and others come simply to take a picture of a colourful street.”
Notting Hill shot to fame thanks to its prominence in the 1999 Julia Roberts film that showcases the pretty area in all its glory.
Now, it’s one of the most expensive places to live in London, with the average house price reaching nearly £2million.
