If you visit the colourful vortex of Instagram and fight your way through the infinite selfies (some of them probably your own *cough*) you would have most likely seen the #followmeto trend, photos where a woman is leading a hand into an idyllic setting with her back to the camera. Not sure if you classify this as a reverse selfie? The original couple behind the most opulent ‘Follow Me To’ theme, Russian photographer Murad Osmann and wife Nataly Zakharova have revealed how it’s done with an account that now has over 4 million followers without a single selfie.

Osmann’s Instagram account is truly a work of art beyond the backyard, ‘here’s an awkward selfie of me somewhere exotic’.  His photography genius is apparent in the vibrant, perfectly edited and elaborate images where he captures of his wife leading him around the globe in exotic locations from Dubai, to India and Hong Kong to London to name only a few. Nataly is a goddess in stunning outfits, with immaculate hair matching the theme or culture of each enviable location.

The idea all started in 2011 when Nataly grew tired and frustrated by Murad’s incessant photo clicking while travelling in Barcelona.

“Nataly was a bit annoyed that I was always taking pictures of everything, so she grabbed my hand and tried to pull me forward,” says Murad. “That said it didn’t stop me from doing photos while she was pulling me.”

However like all good things on social media, things are never quite as they seem! The #followmeto phenomenon that is now trending on Instagram and copied by thousands takes hours to shoot one photo including the location scouting, wardrobe planning and editing.

Murad has put up the below video to show behind the scenes on the opulent globe-trotting photo’s he takes and just a snapshot of the work that goes into them.  To be honest one can’t help being impressed with the patience of both Murad and Nataly to capture the perfect photo. We’re pretty sure we’d need a glass of wine in the other hand to pose for that long…perhaps that could be its own series #FollowMeToWine