Comical proof that all travel bloggers' Instagram photos are essentially clones

Hold on to your hats, and get ready for an onslaught of near-identical Instagram shots. An account fast-growing in popularity on the social media platform is collating photos from travel bloggers, ‘influencers’ and adventurers which bear an uncanny resemblance to one another, and the results are somewhat amusing.  

Insta_repeat, counting 112,000 followers thus far, bears the slogan “Déjà Vu Vibes - Wander. Roam. Replicate”, and puts together collages of samey compositions we’ve all come to know so well: feet dangling over mountains; solo shots of women with exceptionally good hair gazing across sweeping landscapes; photos of pine trees taken from inside tents, and so it goes on.

The compilations include satirically banal captions such as “Long exposure of one person centered, alone, at night with a light pointed up” in relation to a star-gazing selection; and, of 12 similarly-themed vehicular portraits, “Standing on top of a white car”.

The anonymous creator of the account, a 27-year-old Alaska-based artist, told Photoshelter: “It’s this genre of adventurous and creative living, tagged with phrases like ‘liveauthentic' and ‘exploretocreate' that seems so ironic and thus an interesting target to me.”

Of course, these photos are all arguably aesthetically-pleasing and compositionally satisfying, which is why they are so often replicated - clichés generally being clichés for good reason - so the account owner does concede that all the photographers “deserve credit”.

Perhaps less-so for the obviously Photoshopped images that crop up fairly commonly across Instagram when it comes to the travel genre, a topic showcased by a different account with a similar deadpan tone - “youdidnotsleepthere” - previously covered by Telegraph Travel.

We spoke to professional landscape and wildlife photographer Donal Boyd, based in Iceland - a deeply photogenic country which unsurprisingly features often in Insta_repeat’s montages - about his approach and how he dodges the Instagram clone trap.

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“My thoughts on the matter is that even when you’ve found something that works, for instance a color scheme or a certain mood that gets a great response, it’s crucial to not remain stagnant trying to reach for that same positive feedback.

“My mentality is to not create images that people expect to see (and that I’d expect would get a great response), but to create images that will surprise people. I think a lot of people on social media fall into the trap of recognizing the success of specific shots that do well and they miss the opportunities to craft something new by pushing the boundaries of their own creativity.”

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Speaking previously to The Telegraph, photography tutor John Dooley weighed in on the topic: “Avoid clichéd travel images by straying from the well-trodden tourist path. Take your time and observe the location and local culture before pressing the shutter button. Look for intriguing elements and visual connections like colour, shape, form and texture.

“Rather than replicating the scene in front of you, carefully consider composition. Experiment with different angles and alternative viewpoints and remember to avoid distracting backgrounds.

“Finally, pay attention to light – this will make the single biggest difference to your photography, no matter what camera you are using.”

Or, as Telegraph Travel’s Nick Trend recently argued, perhaps put down the camera altogether and simply enjoy the view.

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