Electromagnetic dipole absorption cross sections of transitional nuclei with large-amplitude shape fluctuations are calculated in a microscopic way by introducing the concept of instantaneous-shape sampling, which is based on slow shape dynamics as compared with fast dipole vibrations. The dipole strength is calculated by means of the quasiparticle random-phase approximation (QRPA) for the instantaneous shapes, the probability of which is obtained by means of the interacting boson approximation. The calculations agree well with the experimental photoabsorption cross sections near the nucleon emission threshold, but they underestimate it at low energies. The cumulative cross sections for the region below the threshold are a factor of 2 too low.