What is the ghost photoshoot trend?

Where did the ghost photoshoot trend start?

• Know Your Meme describes the Ghost Photoshoot as a TikTok trend of draping a sheet over yourself like a ghost and taking photos in different settings, with some people wearing sunglasses over the sheet. (Know Your Meme, Oct 21, 2026)
• Sep 10, 2020: TikToker @jackjanson88 starts it with still photos of himself as a ghost on empty paths: over 977,000 views and 272,000 likes in six days. He named the cover of Phoebe Bridgers’ album “Stranger in the Alps” as his inspiration. The original post is no longer available on TikTok. (Know Your Meme, Oct 21, 2026)
• Sep 13, 2020: @katyya adds sunglasses (over 1.3 million views in three days); on Sep 14, @jadenellison08’s version passes 1.8 million views in two days. By Sep 16, #GhostPhotoshoot has over 523 million views. (Know Your Meme, Oct 21, 2026)
• Sep 24, 2023: @nolatheiggy posts a ghost photoshoot with their dog, 29.5 million views and 4.5 million likes in three weeks, as the trend comes back that fall. (Know Your Meme, Oct 21, 2026)
• Oct 21, 2026: the same dog post shows 30.9 million plays and 4.7 million likes on TikTok. (TikTok @nolatheiggy, Oct 21, 2026)
• Sep 4, 2026: @masonholmes71ff posts a besties version with pastel sheets, big bows and heart-shaped sunglasses; 434,600 plays on Oct 21, 2026. (TikTok @masonholmes71ff, Oct 21, 2026)

Watch the dog version and a 2026 besties version on our Ghost Photoshoot AI Generator page, embedded from TikTok.

What does a ghost photoshoot look like?

One person under a plain white bedsheet, the kind from a linen cupboard, with natural folds and two small cut-out eye holes. The sheet covers the head and upper body and falls to the knees or lower. Below it you see the person’s own jeans or skirt and shoes, often white sneakers, and a hand comes out to hold something ordinary: a coffee, a book, a small pumpkin. The setting is just as ordinary: an empty road, a path in the woods, a park swing, a bookshop. The joke is a ghost doing everyday things. The photos look like they were taken on a phone, not in a studio.

Where do the sunglasses come from?

Three days after the first post, @katyya posted a version with sunglasses, which according to Know Your Meme had over 1.3 million views in three days. Round black sunglasses sitting on the sheet over the eye holes have been the classic look since. They are not required, and plenty of posts skip them.

The 2023 revival and the dog version

Know Your Meme records the trend coming back in September and October 2023. The biggest post of that season was a dog: @nolatheiggy put a sheet over their Italian greyhound on the first day of fall and posted the photos with the usual song. Know Your Meme counted 29.5 million views in three weeks. On TikTok it showed 30.9 million plays when we checked on Oct 21, 2026. Pets are still a big part of it in 2026. Our Dog ghost photoshoot page makes that version from one photo of your own dog or cat.

What changed in 2026?

The 2026 posts are mostly besties and friend groups, pets and cozy indoor spots like bookshops. The most recognizable new look is pastel: pink and lavender sheets, big bows on top and heart-shaped sunglasses. @masonholmes71ff posted that version with friends on September 4, 2026; it had 434,600 plays when we checked on October 21. That count describes one post, not the size of the whole trend. To make a two-person version, see Ghost photoshoot with friends.

Which song do people use?

Know Your Meme says the trend is set to “Oh Klahoma”, a 2017 song by Jack Stauber, and the 2023 dog post uses it too. Newer posts sometimes pick other sounds: the 2026 besties post above uses “Land of a Million Drums” by OutKast. The songs are copyrighted, so our photos and slideshow do not include any music. People add their own sound in the app when they post.

How do people remake it?

• Solo: standing in the middle of an empty road, walking a leaf-covered path with a coffee, reading between bookshelves, sitting on a swing.
• With friends: running down the road side by side, sitting on swings together, reading against a white wall.
• With a pet: a dog or cat under its own small sheet in a field, on a forest path or in a bookshop.
• The 2026 besties look: pastel pink and lavender sheets, big bows on top and heart-shaped sunglasses.

Want to do it with a real sheet? Our guide on How to do a ghost photoshoot covers the sheet, sunglasses, outfits, spots, poses and the edit.

Is the ghost photoshoot trend AI?

The original posts are real photos of real people, and real pets, under real bedsheets. AI versions skip the sheet: you upload one photo and an image model redraws you as a sheet ghost in trend-style scenes. Ours keeps the jeans or skirt and shoes from your photo below the sheet, makes a set of four photos and is labeled as AI.

How can you tell a real one from an AI one?

Real posts often open with a few seconds of video: someone pulling the sheet over their head or over a dog, then the photos cut in. With AI images, look closely at the hands, the hem of the sheet and where it meets the legs, and any text in the background. Check whether the shoes match from one photo to the next. A sheet that looks perfectly smooth or floats off the body is another sign. The simplest check is a label: our examples say they are AI, and we ask buyers not to pass their photos off as real.

Trends it gets confused with

A few trends share the word ghost but are something else. Ghostface trends use the mask from the Scream films. The ghost filter prank adds a figure behind someone in a video. Ghost mannequin is a way of photographing clothes for online shops. This trend is only the bedsheet one.

Make your own ghost photoshoot with AI

Upload one photo of yourself to our Ghost Photoshoot AI Generator and get a set of 4 ghost photos in your own jeans and shoes, in the trend’s usual spots. Our examples are labeled as AI.