Influencer showed how she simulates perfect beach photos for her social networks without leaving her rural town

Kendall Kiper, a social media influencer, has gone viral for revealing in a Tiktok video how she manages photos of “perfect” vacations without leaving the small country town where she actually lives.

Kiper, a 20-year-old “full-time content creator”, has over 100,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok combined, and receives regular commissions to promote brands on her accounts, for which she receives significant cash payments.

This forces her to maintain a constant volume of content and to “get creative” to generate it. That's why for a recent publication she designed a session on the beach in which she appears in a sensual bikini, with the detail that the photos shared were not taken on any beach but in the backyard of her home in Atlanta, Georgia. Not the best tropical environment.

The influencer told in a video that almost 10 million people have seen on Tiktok and titled “Slavy Home Depot”, that the sand used to similar the beach was purchased from the household goods store, and that since she discovered that these bags cost only $4, she has used them as a recurring practice for her content.

“You don't understand my struggle, I live in the country, I'm talking about the smallest and southernmost town you can imagine, so a girl has to do what a girl has to do,” she says in the video.

In addition, Kiper reveals how he bought $45 worth of $4 sandbags, a small cost for the perfect beach “more than worthy for me”.

“I had a check that had to be written,” he concludes proudly.

The TikTokers in the comments were puzzled by their cunning Instagram stunt, sharing their surprise and praise for Kiper's ultimate commitment to their content.

“This is the biggest trick of the year,” one user wrote.

“The dedication to content,” another said.

“And they say that content creators are not creative,” another intervened.

Kiper was surprised by the viral applause for its transparency and shared with Jam Press that he always wanted to inspire others.

“It feels like a dream come true for this to happen, especially after I've been so eager to quit over the past year,” said Kiper, who is also an artist.

“I've also received a fair amount of hate comments, mainly people who tell me it's' sad 'or that I'm 'creating a false reality'; I don't agree with either of them,” he added.

But this isn't Kiper's first impromptu scene. For another paid publication, he bought a children's pool for $70, just for a photo. In another, he used photo editing software to import a field of flowers into an image.

“It sounds complicated, but it's actually quite easy,” he admitted.

Kiper often uses his tripod to achieve his optimal photos, but sometimes he employs the help of his mother, who even came up with the idea of the “beach” photo.

Despite the rain of praise on TikTok, he admits that he has received mixed reviews.

“Some people stare, others honk, some shout bad things, and some don't even look. It really just depends on the day, I guess,” he said. “When people are rude about it, I just remember how lucky I am to do this. I won't allow people I don't even know to stop me from doing what I love, for fun or for business.”

The influencer is determined to continue sharing her moments of “Instagram vs. reality”, remembering how her impressionable younger “me” didn't realize that social media wasn't as luxurious as it seemed.

“I remember being 13 years old and being on social media. I would have saved myself so much self-hatred if someone had shown me that not everything is as glamorous as it seems,” he said. “Now that I'm in a position where young women look up to me, I want them to know.”

KEEP READING