maclaine
Well-known
I know that dreaded app is anathema for a lot of folks on here. My own opinion of it is that it's fine. I use it myself for the occasional picture, and I've seen some folks who do great work with it. I've also seen plenty of pictures of cats and people's brunch on it as well, but to be perfectly honest, I've seen pictures of the same things taken with a Leica MP and a 50mm f/1.4 Summilux ASPH. I don't think there's any harm in finding new ways to spark people's interest in photography, and the technology that Instagram has developed to enable the sharing of those photos is superb, far better than any other photo sharing software I've seen in the last 5+ years.
Having said all that, my intention with this post is a little different. I'd like to talk about how Instagram changed the way I view that extremely polarising picture format: the square. I was never a big fan of the square. I always seemed to see things wide. I'm not that keen on portrait orientation, either, to be honest. My affinity for composition seemed to suit the wider formats very well, whether it be 24x36, 6x4.5, 6x7, or 4x5. I had a Mamiya C330 for a little while, which was my first dance with the square, and I got a few pictures out of it that I was happy with, but I sold it when I picked up a Pentax 6x7, and didn't really miss it.
Now, however, I've got a solid year or so of using Instagram under my belt, and it has completely changed the way I approach the square format. I've developed a much bigger appreciation for it, and find that it presents new and interesting composition challenges that I no longer feel when working with more rectangular formats. As a result, I did something the other day I didn't think I ever would. I bought a Hasselblad 500c/m and a full compliment of lenses. Perusing around on Flickr, I find myself more inspired by the work I see others doing with the Hasselblad than anything I've seen from the Leica crowd lately. I know it's just personal taste, and maybe I'm drinking the Hasselblad Kool Aid, but I'm looking forward to shooting with it.
So there you go. Instagram can't be all that bad if it can foster interest in more creative growth with real "serious photography", can it? I used to work at a video game studio where we made games called Guitar Hero and Rock Band, which, for those who don't have kids or don't know anyone who does, are games designed to simulate the experience of playing music in a band with real instruments. Imagine if the idea of karaoke was extended beyond singing into playing the guitar, bass, and drums, and then turned into something you do for a high score. We used to have to defend it all the time to "real musicians" who would get all huffy that we were making light of the hard work it takes to learn an instrument. "Why don't you just get a real guitar?" was the line we'd hear the most. However, in the time I worked there, I met countless kids who would enthusiastically tell us about how they had gotten their first guitar/bass/drum set for their birthday or for Christmas or whatever, and it was playing our games that inspired them to start making music in earnest. That's kind of how I see the relationship between Instagram and "real photography". Think of it as a gateway drug. Maybe only 5-10% of people will pursue photography more seriously after having a lot of fun with Instagram, and I think that's a good thing.
Having said all that, my intention with this post is a little different. I'd like to talk about how Instagram changed the way I view that extremely polarising picture format: the square. I was never a big fan of the square. I always seemed to see things wide. I'm not that keen on portrait orientation, either, to be honest. My affinity for composition seemed to suit the wider formats very well, whether it be 24x36, 6x4.5, 6x7, or 4x5. I had a Mamiya C330 for a little while, which was my first dance with the square, and I got a few pictures out of it that I was happy with, but I sold it when I picked up a Pentax 6x7, and didn't really miss it.
Now, however, I've got a solid year or so of using Instagram under my belt, and it has completely changed the way I approach the square format. I've developed a much bigger appreciation for it, and find that it presents new and interesting composition challenges that I no longer feel when working with more rectangular formats. As a result, I did something the other day I didn't think I ever would. I bought a Hasselblad 500c/m and a full compliment of lenses. Perusing around on Flickr, I find myself more inspired by the work I see others doing with the Hasselblad than anything I've seen from the Leica crowd lately. I know it's just personal taste, and maybe I'm drinking the Hasselblad Kool Aid, but I'm looking forward to shooting with it.
So there you go. Instagram can't be all that bad if it can foster interest in more creative growth with real "serious photography", can it? I used to work at a video game studio where we made games called Guitar Hero and Rock Band, which, for those who don't have kids or don't know anyone who does, are games designed to simulate the experience of playing music in a band with real instruments. Imagine if the idea of karaoke was extended beyond singing into playing the guitar, bass, and drums, and then turned into something you do for a high score. We used to have to defend it all the time to "real musicians" who would get all huffy that we were making light of the hard work it takes to learn an instrument. "Why don't you just get a real guitar?" was the line we'd hear the most. However, in the time I worked there, I met countless kids who would enthusiastically tell us about how they had gotten their first guitar/bass/drum set for their birthday or for Christmas or whatever, and it was playing our games that inspired them to start making music in earnest. That's kind of how I see the relationship between Instagram and "real photography". Think of it as a gateway drug. Maybe only 5-10% of people will pursue photography more seriously after having a lot of fun with Instagram, and I think that's a good thing.
furcafe
Veteran
I agree. Technology works both ways & I can see how cameraphones & apps like Instagram can not only lead people away from traditional, i.e., camera-based, photography, but also towards it.
isoterica
Established
TLR shooting got me into the square and I love it. However you get there, to the square, is okay with me.
rkm
Well-known
I agree entirely with the OP. Instagram was my gateway drug, and now I'm shooting black and white film almost exclusively. However, I had the opposite compositional problem... learning to compose outside the square.
I'd also like to point out that your experience of instagram is entirely dependent on who you follow. If you follow a photographer's work, as well as the work that they like, the system is actually quite upwardly mobile in terms of quality of work. If you only follow your friends, you will get what you will get.
As a side note, I teach a lot of guitar for a living, and I can't tell you the number of kids who either started guitar, or have an awareness of classic rock tunes because of guitar hero. There's also a number who quit when they realized it's harder than they thought, but that was the same before guitar hero.
Another side note, I've just bought a book of Jack Robinson's work and it features a lot of great portrait work with a Hasselblad. It got me thinking about the square again. Can anyone recommend a place I might get educated about Hasselblad cameras?
I'd also like to point out that your experience of instagram is entirely dependent on who you follow. If you follow a photographer's work, as well as the work that they like, the system is actually quite upwardly mobile in terms of quality of work. If you only follow your friends, you will get what you will get.
As a side note, I teach a lot of guitar for a living, and I can't tell you the number of kids who either started guitar, or have an awareness of classic rock tunes because of guitar hero. There's also a number who quit when they realized it's harder than they thought, but that was the same before guitar hero.
Another side note, I've just bought a book of Jack Robinson's work and it features a lot of great portrait work with a Hasselblad. It got me thinking about the square again. Can anyone recommend a place I might get educated about Hasselblad cameras?
Roger Hicks
Veteran
Anything can be made to work. If you're good enough.
Cheers,
R.
Cheers,
R.
Nescio
Well-known
Somehow, I always thought hipsters to be square.
Sorry, couldn't resist. But the problem isn't Instagram as such and all it's epigons (now it has become exclusively related to facebook), and not even its use, but the importance that's given to using it. It's a classical example of the medium as a message, but I personally think that the famous McLuhan phrase is on its way back now any "meaning" that the message/medium equation possibly may have had during the past 50 years is now completely dissolved into a massive pool wherin the medium as such has been blown up to cubical proportions while any message becomes reduced to a mere pollution without a trace of meaning or significance.
Arguably, that has always been the case with Brownies first and Instamatic after, but never on this scale. Nobody will argue that it's impossible to produce art or even a meaningful message with Instagram. That's not the point. The problem is that the vast majority of "messages" are extremely time related and do not have any content beyond a time space of let's say 48 hours.
My feeling is that mass media are becoming more and more important as a socially accepted measure of contemporary culture. I don't know if that's a bad thing or not, but it sure is a change that's worth being noted.
Nescio
Sorry, couldn't resist. But the problem isn't Instagram as such and all it's epigons (now it has become exclusively related to facebook), and not even its use, but the importance that's given to using it. It's a classical example of the medium as a message, but I personally think that the famous McLuhan phrase is on its way back now any "meaning" that the message/medium equation possibly may have had during the past 50 years is now completely dissolved into a massive pool wherin the medium as such has been blown up to cubical proportions while any message becomes reduced to a mere pollution without a trace of meaning or significance.
Arguably, that has always been the case with Brownies first and Instamatic after, but never on this scale. Nobody will argue that it's impossible to produce art or even a meaningful message with Instagram. That's not the point. The problem is that the vast majority of "messages" are extremely time related and do not have any content beyond a time space of let's say 48 hours.
My feeling is that mass media are becoming more and more important as a socially accepted measure of contemporary culture. I don't know if that's a bad thing or not, but it sure is a change that's worth being noted.
Nescio