Instagram, the Devil, and You.

I use my phone camera rarely. Mostly for note taking purposes like just know I installed a new thermostat and took a photo of the wiring to remember how it was placed. I do have an an instagram account but most of the time it's not worth it to load it up to post a photo. I'd rather use the actual camera app on the phone so I have a normal photo I can possibly edit later.
 
My bet is that some time in the not so distant future, some major museum with photograph collections will also host instagram prints. Or may be slideshows of somesuch on screens, who knows. The phone brings great fluidity in photographing. More importantly (or perhaps more interestingly) it is used by people that have a spontaneous use of it. And it won't be the first time that materials of humble origins will have been repurposed with artistic intent.

Pioneer said:
The only thing that will likely remain constant is that someone will be complaining that it is not real photography because that died when people quit taking still images with their cell phones. :D
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Too true.

.
 
FrankS said:
True, but you miss 100% of the shots you don't take, can't win if you don't play, etc. why predestine your work to trash?
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It's not that. You should be doing it because you love to do it foremost. If it ends up being earthshakingly important, that's a bonus (to some).
 
I understand where the original comment is coming from. I do. But I really don't think it matters. Most of my dad's photos of his college days, through to my early years are low quality 110 film instamatic shots. Despite the very low quality they're still fascinating vignettes into a certain period of time. I feel the same way about instagram.

I follow one woman on Instagram, I've only met her once but her feed is a beautiful, idillic depiction of being a mom in Los Angeles in the 2010s. It has aesthetic value now, and will have nostalgic value later on.

There's plenty of room for "disposable" shots, and more "professional" shots.
 
I happily use instagram and follow a few people who have amazing photos on their feed. I disagree with the assumption that using instagram is "[predestining] your work to trash". There have been many great photos taken with camera phones, and one of them was posted here.

Just because there are a lot of people who take photos of food and their outfits of the day doesn't mean there aren't people who use instagram to create beautiful photographs worthy of publication.

And the people who only take photos of food and their outfits and their friends... well, what if that's what they want to document? Isn't it better that they're taking what some might think are talentless and mundane photos, than not taking photos at all?

Are the photographs of cats and dogs on RFF any better than the photos of cats and dogs on instagram just because they lack a colour filter and were shot on film?
 
RedLion said:
Great blog post:

http://kennethjarecke.typepad.com/mostly_true/2012/10/instagram-the-devil-and-you.html

A short excerpt:
Years from now, you’ll awake in the middle of the night and suddenly realize putting a fake border on a picture makes the whole picture fake. You’ll understand that the technical choices you made destroyed the longterm credibility of both you and your images.
Instead of having a body of work to look back on, you’ll have a sad little collection of noisy digital files that were disposable when you made them, instantly forgotten by your followers (after they gave you a thumbs up), and now totally worthless.
You’ll wish you’d have made those images on a Pentax K1000 and Tri-X (at the very least or most depending on your age and perspective), but the times you failed to record properly will be long gone.
​
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Yeh yeh yeh . . . a fun topic to chew on, but who really cares, huh?
Silly too . . . he's telling people to leave their i-phones at home and shoot Tri-X ? ? . . . he was probably joking, right?
 
Roger Hicks said:
I loved the idea of a semi-apocalyptic revelation in the middle of the night.
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You've never had one of those, Roger? :confused:

I often have them - though they tend to be along the lines of "Oooooooooh, those last few Old Peculiers were a bad idea!"

Adrian
 
So we're back here again, "I've found something you like and I make myself feel superior by denigrating what you like".

I can see a huge marketing opportunity in massive codpieces coming on...
 
Occasionally, very occasionally, a box of photos and/or negatives is unearthed that proves to be of huge interest and/or historical value (Vivian Maier as one example). For all that I enjoy using my iPhone and other digital cameras for spontaneous snaps, there is a physical presence, permanence and longevity that film and photos has that digital does not.

I doubt if anyone, save myself and my wife, could give a fig about my photographs. However, whilst my phone will be replaced every couple of years and I can seldom be bothered to download shots from it onto the likes of Flickr, my negatives might be of some curiosity value to someone, somewhere down the line. Maybe not. Who knows?
 
I've never understood the "hate" that comes with instagram.
Sure, a lot of the photos on it are not "good".
But that can be said about any medium with photography.
I'd say a lot of people who use instagram like it for the same reason they like facebook.
It's an interesting photo sharing platform, where they have easy access to record interesting things and events in their life.
Regardless of their "longterm credibility".
 
benmacphoto said:
I've never understood the "hate" that comes with instagram.
Sure, a lot of the photos on it are not "good".
But that can be said about any medium with photography.
I'd say a lot of people who use instagram like it for the same reason they like facebook.
It's an interesting photo sharing platform, where they have easy access to record interesting things and events in their life.
Regardless of their "longterm credibility".
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And I've never understood the way 'hate' is tossed casually around on the Internet as a synonym for what most people would call 'mild dislike' or 'amused tolerance'.

Cheers,

R.
 
boomguy57 said:
There are also people, believe it or not, who use Instagram/Hipstamatic AND shoot film. Like me!
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And me. I enjoy the "social" part of it, and have a regular banter with some like minded folks. It is a pleasant diversion for some of us, the perfect medium for some, and the spawn of the devil to some. Just like wine, or politics or sex or religion. Now some digital photography is "real" and other digital photography is not! How about if I scan film and import that to IG? Would that be better than straight digital photography? Oi. :rolleyes:

Sejanus.Aelianus said:
So we're back here again, "I've found something you like and I make myself feel superior by denigrating what you like".
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Well said, but when did we ever leave?

I say if you enjoy it, do it. If you don't enjoy it, don't do it. Unless of course 'it' is breathing, well that's fine too.

I also say "to each his own".
 
Hah! just substitute "Instagram" with "a blog"...

A Blog, the Devil, and You
When a photojournalist uses a blog, the devil smiles. He keeps it handy, in the top drawer of his toolbox, sitting right next to true love.

Like most of his tricks, it promises the user fame, fortune and the admiration of one's betters. Despite knowing this to be a lie, photographers, even the good ones, often succumb to the temptation.

After all, he's the devil and knows exactly how to play us.

To be fair, a blog does deliver a hollow sort of fame. Not the kind of Gene Smith, ready to take a beating in the name of truth, type of fame. More like the 7,200 people saw what I had for lunch and that'll keep me feeling special until dinner, type of fame...
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He also says:
Not to say these shots weren't well seen (which is the hardest part), just that they were poorly executed. Which is to say they fail as photographs.
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So it IS the equipment not the image!!
 
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