Danae Mercer is an influencer and journalist exposing the tricks many people use to contort their bodies for photos on Instagram.

Mercer, 33, who's based in the United Arab Emirates, learned the secrets from a career in magazines, and now she's on a mission to educate others.

Mercer told Insider that she didn't have a problem with influencers posing in certain ways but that her aim is "to educate and pull back the curtain, and remind people that what we see online is incredibly filtered, posed, and perfected."

Her posts show how tricks such as changing the lighting, pushing your hips back, and standing with your legs at particular angles can make your body look completely different.

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The concept of "Instagram versus reality" isn't new, but there aren't that many people exposing the specific tricks that some influencers use to make their bodies look a certain way for photos.

One such person is Danae Mercer, a journalist in the United Arab Emirates who regularly posts photos and videos explaining how people can contort their bodies into unnatural poses to create an illusion that doesn't reflect how they look at all.

Mercer, 33, shows her 90,000 Instagram followers how tricks such as changing the lighting, pushing your hips back, and standing with your legs at particular angles can make your body look completely different.

And the influencer explained to Insider just why she feels so strongly about her message.

'What looks like a "casual" photo' is 'usually very posed'

"The danger with social media is we feel like it's more 'real life' than what we now see in magazines and on TV," Mercer said. "But it isn't, not really. It's incredibly filtered.

"People don't realize that what looks like a 'casual' photo or just chilled gym session is usually very posed, very styled, and very deliberate. And that's OK — the posing is OK, the styling is OK, all that's OK. But I think we need to be educated.

"In the same way people now know that magazines are Photoshopped, we should be talking about all that goes into stylized Insta shots — just so we're more informed and have the tools to manage it all."

Mercer said she wants to normalize cellulite. Gabrielle Bell

Another reason Mercer has taken on her mission, she said, is that she used to have an eating disorder and found that when she was at her thinnest she received the most praise (in person, as she wasn't really online then).

"So part of this whole conversation for me, one where I talk about the reality behind pictures, is to pull us back to a bigger topic: mental health," Mercer said.

"We need to broaden our understanding of health beyond just the aesthetic and really look at what's happening inside of us. Even on social media. Especially on social media."

Mercer learned posing tricks from working in magazines

If you follow Mercer, you might think she's already exposed all the tricks models and influencers use to change how their bodies look — but she said she hasn't even scraped the surface.

"I've been in the magazine and influencer world now for years," she said.

"I worked with athletes for photo shoots (I was an editor), so I learned a lot about how to get 'regular' folks to pose in ways that would make them just look incredible. But I've also been content-creating for ages, so I've had time to see what people do on shoots and how they do it."

Mercer said she wants to "remind people that what we see online is incredibly filtered, posed, and perfected." Gabrielle Bell

If you're keen to learn the tricks of the trade, Mercer recommended looking at details like camera angles, what people are wearing, the lighting, and their poses.

"For instance, bum-workout videos are almost always shot from a lower angle, with the camera tilted up, and it's off to the side, and the back leg will be stretched out so that you can still see both bumcheeks," she said.

"It's funny, little things like that, but it makes for a much more flattering photo and video than otherwise."

She doesn't actually have anything against people posing

As well as enlightening people who think influencers' bodies are unachievably perfect-looking, Mercer's posts are teaching them how to contort their own bodies. But she said she wasn't worried about this.

"Honestly, if a gal wants to do that, I say go for it," Mercer said.

"My main goal with my 'how influencers get X'-type videos is to educate and pull back the curtain, and remind people that what we see online is incredibly filtered, posed, and perfected.

"I just think we need to be educated so that we know, OK, this is posed, this gal doesn't look like this all the time — that normally she's not squeezing her abs and arching her hips and standing on tiptoe by the window.

"But I'm absolutely fine if a lady wants to go away and take a booty photo of herself where she feels all those things."

Mercer said she loves helping her friends take photos of themselves that they look at and feel awesome.

"Why not? Isn't that a wonderful thing?" she said. "There's no shame in it."

Mercer said she still loves helping her friends take great photos of themselves. Gabrielle Bell

However, she draws the line at naming the apps that some people use to edit their bodies.

"I feel like that's a whole different thing, one that goes into really dangerous territory, mentally — because we can never really look like those apps tell us we should," Mercer said. "So those are a hard no for me."

Mercer was nervous to post 'imperfect' photos of herself at first

Until about a year ago, Mercer was like many influencers, posting luxury travel and fitness shots. But she said it "really wasn't reflecting what I felt inside myself."

So last April, after being inspired by other body-positive Instagrammers, Mercer decided to try posting something more real.

"Not just the 'perfect' fitness-influencer shot, but something that showed part of myself I was always ashamed of: my cellulite and stretch-mark bum," she said. "It scared me to bits, really. But I've had no regrets, and I have never looked back."

Mercer said she still gets nervous the first time she addresses a new issue, from cellulite and bloating to eating disorders.

"It's scary because you feel vulnerable. You're putting yourself out there and just saying, hey, this is me, this is the real me and not a mask, and it's fragile, and here I am,'" she said.

"But I really believe that by being vulnerable, we form true connections. We become stronger. We figure ourselves out. So I'm trying to embrace that side of myself — even if it's tough."

'Who tells us our cellulite is bad? Who makes us ashamed of stretch marks?'

In December, Mercer posted a photo she'd taken a year earlier but hadn't been confident enough to post at the time because it showed her cellulite.

Mercer told Insider that in the photo she's standing alongside her best friend, Kayleigh Dawson, an athlete and personal trainer whose body Mercer envied for years.

"I did indeed hide that photo for a good year or so because I felt so embarrassed by all the dimples on my bum, especially in comparison to her perfect peach," she said.

But Mercer said that as she changed her attitude and developed more self-acceptance, she realized it was "ridiculous."

"Especially when we start to think about how 80% to 90% of women have cellulite," she said, "how thin people have it, curvy people have it. Athletes. Moms. All sorts of folks in all different health journeys have it, because it's so darn common. But somehow, along the way, someone told us it was shameful. Isn't that insane?"

Mercer learned the Instagram tricks from a career in magazines. Gabrielle Bell

Questioning supposed societal norms like this has been a big part of Mercer's journey from embarrassment to pride and acceptance of her body.

"Who tells us our cellulite is bad? Who makes us ashamed of stretch marks? Who has created these ideas of beauty?" she said.

"And then spending a lot of time unpacking it, trying to understand what I believe versus what I've been told to believe, while also reminding myself to be grateful for all the cool things my body can do, rather than just the way it looks."

Mercer's story has resonated with people around the world

Mercer's openness and genuine candidness on Instagram have struck a chord with people across the globe.

"So many women around the world are struggling with body image, mental health, self-confidence in photos, their relationships with social media, the food they eat, consent, all these things," she said.

"So quite often I get really powerful messages from women just wanting to share their stories. And that's just incredible — it makes me feel really, really grateful."

But this being the internet, Mercer, of course, deals with trolling and bullying from time to time. She said she tries to rise above it.

"It does hurt sometimes, especially when it feels more 'intimate,' like someone who actually follows me or something like that," she said.

"But I'm always reminding myself that other people are going through their own battles and to be, above all else, kind."