From poses in the middle of the fields of flowers to picnics in the deserted coves of the south of France, passing through the too cute seals that browned in the sun in the bay of Somme … These photographs are everywhere on social networks, especially in summer. Holiday shots that can have a high cost for certain natural areas, more and more exposed to surcourism.
According to an OPODO study carried out in April 2024 with 9,000 consumers worldwide, including 1,000 French people, 58 % of 25-34 year olds and 52 % of 18-24 year olds use social networks to find their future vacation place. “Each photo can have an impact on the choice of destination but also on the way of visiting it,” said Marie Le Scour, Communication Mission Manager for the Network of Grands Sites de France, which brings together emblematic French landscapes such as the Dune du Pilat, Rocamadour or the cliffs of Etretat.
To do with these new habits, the institution has published a guide for influencers. The objective: guide creators of content, with concrete examples of photos or videos, towards a more sustainable approach. And as we are all a little influencer, here are some tips for immortalizing your holidays and posting them on Instagram without encouraging the worst behavior.
Stay natural
“You have to enhance the landscape as it is, with its natural colors and not retouched shades, very saturated,” poses Marie Le Scour.
Too transformed colors give a misleading image compared to reality. With a risk of disappointment for the traveler. “It must be consistent with reality, that the inhabitant can recognize himself, this is in particular what allows the acceptability of tourism for the inhabitants,” she says.
Is there life? Perfect
The photos framed “postcard”, as if the tourist was alone in the world while the place is crowded, are to be avoided. On the contrary, “wide angle” photos allow you to appreciate a landscape, but also to understand how it is formed … and even to see life inhabit it. “The challenge is to re -ancient photography in its territory: promoting the meeting with those who live and work on the spot,” supports Marie Le Scour.
In lavender fields for example, it is easy to forget that they are farms and not a green background used for marriage requests or photo shoots. “Some photographs disconnect the territory from its primary use. We no longer even know where we are, ”points out the communications manager. And to add, laughing: “It’s ok to show a tractor”.
Take immersion photographs
Small combo for this shot of the Verdon gorges, between the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and the Var: a photo seen from high, where the river is empty of boaters and where the water is very blue. “It is better to promote immersion photos, taken up to man: aboard a canoe for example,” explains Marie Le Scour. Even if it means highlighting other seasons than summer and sun.
“The views of drones, it will make the visit deceptive because it does not reflect what the visitor really sees,” she abounds. Sometimes, on some sites, aerial view can even promote “a disconnection of reality”, as if the landscape was a picture rather than a place of life.
“We better feel the foot on the ground,” sums up the communication manager. Macros photos highlighting a building, the flora or even the pebbles of a beach also make it possible to capture memories in a more sensitive way.
Geolocating, it is not obliged
A photo, a location, and here is a little corner of paradise, known to a few regulars, becomes a global attraction. False “secret places” that circulate on social networks until saturation.
“A geolocation can have a very strong effect in a place that is not prepared to receive a lot of people at once, insists Marie Le Scour. Instead of a specific point, we can locate wider, on the scale of a territory, for example ”.
The WWF protection NGO offers, for example, a way to counter this trend with the “I Protect Nature” location, which allows you to create a fictitious place on Instagram, while highlighting natural and preserved landscapes.
Respect the rules to take your photo
Does the game are worth the candle? In 2022, three tourists died after falling cliffs from Etretat taking a selfie or a photograph. “The photo that everyone makes can have heavy consequences”, alerts Marie Le Scour, who calls for “staying in the trails and marked tracks”.
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Ditto for the parking of the Vans or the wild bivouacs: you must check, before settling down and post your holiday photographs, if the rules of the place are respected.
Highlighting a bicycle ride rather than a quad, a market of local producers rather than a fast food, or even using the legend of its photographs to contextualize the landscape are also good reflexes advised by the guide.
“Today, despite an effect of mimicry, we are feeling more and more travelers concerned about the environment and who seek transparency on the content offered on social networks,” rejoices the communication manager of the network of major sites in France.