World’s top 30 most photographed landmarks revealed in new research by Sony Mobile

New pan-global* research by Sony Mobile has revealed the top 30 most photographed and socially shared landmarks worldwide – a list topped by the Eiffel Tower and including Dubai’s Burj Khalifa and Burj Al Arab.
The #XperiaNewPerspectives Sony Mobile research, which was conducted in collaboration with OnePoll in May 2017, revealed that more than half of the Top 30 landmarks are shot from the same three angles. However, with 55% of travellers saying they would plan their itinerary based on photography opportunities, it looks like we need to up our holiday photography game to avoid boring our friends as 47% of people said they were bored of seeing the same three shots on Instagram.
Research also revealed that half of those surveyed pick their holiday based on others’ holiday snaps and a further 45% look to Instagram for inspiration of where to photograph and visit. The research, which surveyed Instagram images from the last four years, also concluded that 52% were more likely to ‘like’ an image of a landmark if it was interesting and something they’d not seen before.
Data shows that 43% of photographs of Burj Khalifa were taken from the same three angles, while 56% of the photographs taken of Burj Al Arab are from the same three spots.
Building on the #NewPerspectives research, Sony Mobile has partnered with three award-winning travel photographers from across the globe and equipped them with the Sony Xperia XZ to visit some of the leading landmarks and capture them from ten new perspectives. Mikael Buck shows off the capabilities of the Xperia XZ’s camera by creatively capturing Dubai’s Burj Khalifa in an array of new and interesting ways, from compelling shots taken in the midday sun to blur-free interior shots.
“If you want a compelling and unique picture you are going to need to treat it more like a landscape photo of a mountain,” said Buck of the imagery he created on Xperia XZ of Burj Khalifa. “That means getting further away and exploring different angles. Try heading to the Business Bay area from where you can look back to the Burj Khalifa and your view is not obstructed by any other buildings.”
The celebrated photographer also added: “Embrace the harsh midday sunlight, look for the shadow and don’t lose sight of the building’s story and unique design. Of course you want a shot that’s different and unique but the trick is to achieve that whilst making the image recognisably the Burj Khalifa.”
Gita Ghaemmaghami, Regional Marketing Communications Manager, Middle East & Africa at Sony Mobile Communications, added: “This research has given us real insight into how important photography has become to our holidays and how the two are inextricably linked. Photography has become a vital part of any trip – whether city break, adventure or simply lying on a beach. With the quality of the camera in our Xperia XZ, newly announced Xperia XZ Premium travellers can experience blur-free images with ‘true-to-life’ colour image capture, and superb low-light capability. We hope to inspire a new generation of photographers to capture a new perspective on their travels with advanced cameras in our Xperia Smartphones.”