Turns out your amazing Instagram shot isn’t as unique as you think

Instagram might be a great source of travel inspiration, but it can also be a place where we see the same old pictures again and again. That’s why one filmmaker pulled out some of the most repetitive #Instatravel cliches to show just how often users are posting similar images, and perhaps to inspire us all to get a bit more creative.

Morphing from the well-worn passport image, to the classic window seat shot and holding up the tower of Pisa, the images are ones we’ve all probably seen after spending hours checking out Instagram. Oliver Kmia explains that he thought of the idea for the video, which is called “Instravel – a Photogenic Mass Tourism Experience” when he was in Rome. He wanted to take a picture of Trevi Fountain, but couldn’t get close to it as the tourists lined up to get a spot to take a photo. “I was shocked by the mass of people walking all around the city, yet I was one of them, not better or worse. Like all these tourists, I burned hundreds of gallons of fuel to get there, rushed to visit the city in a few days and stayed in a hotel downtown,” he wrote in the video description.

He also explains that he felt many people weren’t taking the time to enjoy their travels, and instead were looking at their phones. After seeing a similar video taking on the clichés seen on Instagram, he decided to make one specifically about what he saw while travelling.

But, there are exceptions to every rule, and he explained that as he was scrolling through Instagram looking for images, he saw plenty from talented people who are taking interesting photos. “Eventually, I couldn’t secure a picture of the Trevi Fountain for my Instagram account but I still had a very nice time in Italy”.