Hanging On

Remaining present during the Tarzan Challenge

The other day, Babycakes Romero was lamenting that street photography is boring now because everyone is on their phone all the time:

[People] aren’t actually part of the world around them. They are somewhere else. You are ultimately capturing an absence of something rather than a presence of someone. They are ghosts in their own space.

Even when we’re not on the phone, I feel that our presence has diminished. We are scattered, distracted, and alienated from those around us.

Thankfully, there are still a few moments of engagement left in the world, moments like The Tarzan Challenge.

The Tarzan Challenge is deceptively simple: hold on to a bar for 100 seconds and win £100. The catch is that the bar rotates, requiring constant readjustment, which means very few people succeed.

Some people think it is a scam, but it’s not like find the lady, which is impossible to win. It is more of a psychological trick that relies on the participants’ self-confidence.

The guy in the hat has been running the Tarzan Challenge in Glasgow for years. Every few months, he pops up on Buchanan Street hoping to ensnare some new hopefuls.

Indeed, it was striking how many of the people participating were immigrants to Glasgow or children …

In both cases, they were presumably unaware of the low chances of success.

It usually didn’t take more than 30 seconds for them to realise their mistake.

Given that holding the bar requires two hands, it is one of the few places where no one uses a mobile phone.

Even so, the spectacle was compelling enough for the crowds to remain focused on what was happening rather than reaching for their mobile.

All the men could be seen imagining how they might do … could they be the one?

Could they stay present despite the cheering?

The crowd were willing them on.

But it’s difficult … painful, even. Although they all failed, they succeeded in giving us all a moment away from the phone.