What is a Photo Dump? Everything You Need to Know

What is a photo dump?

A photo dump is a casual collection of photos in a single post. Photo dumps are a super popular way of sharing less curated and more authentic content on Instagram and TikTok. These posts contain a wide variety of photos and videos, including polished selfies, blurry candids, and silly memes, giving them a more personable and low-effort vibe than regular posts. Photo dumps use the carousel or slideshow format, allowing you to slide through multiple photos and videos in a single post. The pictures and videos in photo dumps are usually less edited, filtered, and polished than the content in other Instagram and TikTok posts. While photo dumps are less curated, they still have a unifying theme. For instance, you might make a photo dump about your vacation or birthday. Most photo dumps include at least 4 photos or videos. On Instagram, you can include up to 10 photos in a post. Using TikTok’s Photo Mode, you can add up to 35 photos.

How to Create a Great Photo Dump

Select a theme for the photo dump. Decide on what event you want the photos, videos, screenshots, and memes to revolve around. For instance, your photo dump might include content from a concert, a brunch with friends, or a date with your partner. Or, it can simply be a selection of photos from a day, month, season, or year in your life. Set a theme if you’re creating a photo dump for your business or brand, too. It might be about a new product or focus on user-generated content to show your products in action.

Choose an eye-catching or intriguing photo for the first slide. The first picture or video in your photo dump is what gets your followers to scroll through the rest of your post. You might start with a high-quality selfie, a silly meme, or a funny video of you and your friends. There are no rules on what photo or video you select as your first slide as long as it’s engaging.

Add a variety of polished and casual photos, videos, and screenshots. Photo dumps are all about creating an authentic, unpolished vibe. For the rest of your pictures and videos, select a range of high-quality shots, candid photos, and screenshots of texts or memes. The classic photo dump typically includes: A super cute selfie or portrait A scenic picture (like a landscape or food and drink pic) A group shot with friends A snap of your outfit A short video A silly photo (like a candid, meme, or text) Add illustrations and graphics in your photo dump, too.

Write a short, engaging caption. Finish your photo dump strong by adding a brief caption that gives context to your post. For instance, you might write where you went, add a song lyric that captures your mood, or sprinkle in emojis that match the post’s energy. Don’t worry—we compiled a list of photo dump caption ideas for you to use below! A short but sweet caption maintains the photo dump’s casual, low-key vibe. In general, the captions aren’t meant to be long, detailed, or super heartfelt. Again, there are no rules for writing your caption. Feel free to make your captions as long or as emotional as you like!

Photo Dump Caption Ideas

“2024 so far ✨” Write a caption that mentions when or where your photo dump takes place, like: “Summer vibes ☀️” “Monthly recap ????” “Weekly roundup ????” “Missing these views ????????” “Proof I go on vacation ????” “About last night…????” For even more photo dump captions, check out our complete list!

“You’ve been dumped ????” Caption your post with a clever reference to your photo dump, such as: “????????” “A lil photo dumpling ????” “It’s officially dump day ????” “From my camera roll to yours ????” “Camera roll cleanout ????” “Just some random pics ????”

“Deleted scenes ????” Write a funny caption that lets everyone know what you’ve been up to since the last time you posted, like: “Previously on…????” “ICYMI ????” “Never before seen footage ????” “From the archives ????️” “Been busy having the time of my life ????” “The director’s cut ????????”

“Making core memories ❤️” Caption your photo dump with a sweet message, like: “Loving life lately ????” “This is the sweet life ????” “Feeling grateful ????” “Romanticizing my life ????” “Some beautiful moments from my life ????” “My highlight reel ????”

Photo Dump Ideas

A vacation or event post After you get back from a trip or a fun event like a concert, birthday party, or date night, create a photo dump with pictures and videos that capture your experience. Content ideas: Photos of your outfit, the people you were with, the scenery, iconic landmarks, and food you ate.

A weekly, monthly, or yearly highlight post Sort through your camera roll and select several photos that capture what your week, month, or year looked like. Content ideas: Cute selfies, group shots with your friends or partner, silly moments from your day, and unposted vacay or event pics.

A themed post, like selfies or memes Create a photo dump with pictures and videos that have the same subject. For instance, you might make a photo dump of your favorite memes, recent outfit or makeup looks, pictures of you and a friend, or quotes you love. Or, make a post with a specific aesthetic, like a nostalgic photo dump of grainy film photos or a beachy collection of sun, surf, and sand.

A sneak peek or behind-the-scenes post If you’re running a brand or business, make a photo dump teasing a new product you're launching. Or, post behind-the-scenes photos and videos of a recent product launch. Content ideas: Product close-ups, detailed shots of the item and its packaging, product sketches, and snaps of setting up the photoshoot. Another great photo dump idea is showing your product in use. For instance, add photos and videos of different colors and variations of the product. Or, include real pictures of customers with your product.

Why are photo dumps popular?

Photo dumps are casual, authentic, and low-pressure to post. Photo dumps started gaining popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic, with people embracing the ordinary aspects of life. People felt less pressure to make a “perfect” post and posted more carefree compilations of their days. This helped strengthen the cultural shift away from polished, over-edited Instagram posts. Around 2020, people were growing tired of the “traditional” Instagram posts that often came off as unattainable and heavily curated and filtered.

Celebrities and influencers participate in the photo dump trend. Actors, singers, models, and influencers regularly post photo dumps on their Instagram and TikTok accounts, helping drive the photo dump’s popularity on social media. People like Timothée Chalamet, Megan Thee Stallion, Bella Hadid, and Emma Chamberlain are known for posting iconic photo dumps.

Photo dumps can boost your social media engagement. Because photo dumps are so popular on Instagram and people want more authenticity, Instagram’s algorithm tends to favor these posts. This means photo dumps are often more seen, liked, commented on, and shared than other posts. If you’re an influencer, posting photo dumps can help you get more brand deals. Plus, your followers are likely to love a personable look into your life. As a brand, posting photo dumps can make you look more relatable and trustworthy, encouraging people to buy your products and be loyal customers.