Monday, 12 November 2012

No, Your Meal Is Not Old-Timey, So Stop Taking Pictures Of It


Alright, I am going to step on my soapbox for a few minutes here.  And I realize that most people will not agree with what I have to say and I will likely come off sounding like a pretentious hack whose own self-serving elitism rubs people the wrong way.  But when it comes to this particular topic, I just have to vent.

Instagram, the supposed one billion dollar business, adds nothing to the art of photography.  In fact, I think it actually detracts from the entire idea of capturing an image.  Everyone seems to have fallen in love with Instagram because it serves its purpose well: it takes completely unoriginal photos with seemingly no creativity behind them and turns them mildly interesting.

Here’s the problem: the photos are basically fake.  What you see in an Instagram photo is not reality. 

While this does raise the larger argument of whether or not a photo in and of itself is a snapshot of reality, I would prefer to table that for another day. 

Instagram takes photos and makes them appear vintage, weathered, old-school, or [fill in the adjective here hipsters overuse].  At first glance, the pictures do look kinda cool.  Then I stop and think, “Wait, what makes this look cool is the fact that it DOES look old and weathered.  But it isn’t.  It is a picture of a beer you took ten minutes ago and uploaded with your iPhone.”

I love looking through old photographs.  The golden-brown hue that captures the eye and holds it certainly gives feel to the times when it was taken.  You know what doesn’t do that?  Taking a picture of your dinner, a flower, or the pigeon picking at the trash, adding a filter from Instagram, and then calling it art.  What makes those old photographs impressive and beautiful is exactly that they are old.

Instagram takes the ordinary and makes it look a little more extraordinary.  But, whether we realize this or not, we aren’t impressed with the photo.  We are impressed with the filter that is splashed across the usually otherwise generic photo.

Next time time you take a picture and use Instagram, take a close look at it.  Look at the photo and see if it is worthy of printing off or (I can’t believe I actually have to add this) mobile upload it.  Would anyone even notice it if the walk-on-water photo enhancer didn’t basically alter the entire landscape of the image captured?

Use creativity and capture the best photo you can.  Don’t just settle for something generic and see if Instagram can enhance it.  If a photo is a snapshot of reality, keep it as close to reality as possible.  Your eyes are the lenses to the world and I can certainly guarantee that people do not see the world as an Instagram filter.

**In the effort for full disclosure: Yes, I did download Instagram to my phone.  Yes, I did take one photo with it. Yes, I deleted the photo and the app immediately after when I realized that my photo was shitty without it.  No, I will not use it again.

1 comment:

  1. This is fantastic! Beautifully written, caustic, slightly obvious and ranting, but overall, an argument that had me not only amused, but thinking twice before I insta-snap my next spicy sashimi &PBR into old-fashionedness.

    I must admit, I won't stop instagraming occasionally merely because I enjoy the immediate gratification (universal unfortunate symptom of my generation) of feeling a glimmer of a connection to the past glory days of truly unique photography (an art still practiced, but unfortunately not my forte). I think all honest instagrammers would offer a big high five to the generous creativity of some RISD student in thick-rimmed glasses popping out new filters left and right.

    As someone who compu-filtered photographs of my reality via iPhoto long before the iPhone app emerged, I wish to offer only a slight, perhaps naive argument.

    Isn't there something wonderful to pausing for one moment, noticing, and even mildly appreciating those small, random, and trivial things that transform one's often mundane existence into a second of pure aesthetic visual joy...even if only for the amount of time it takes to test out 'Earlybird' to '1977'? Without consideration of this app, would some even look twice at the neat design on the label of his frosty micro-brew as he slurps it down? Or stop to think that the glaze on that meat gorgeously reflects light at certain angles? Most, sadly, may miss those moments without the social pressure of iPhone media.

    What a wondrous miracle to share a captured moment of my now black &white banality with an attentive community at any given moment. If a photo is viewed or liked, this allows for a subtle and often meaningless affirmation of my existence and experience as an observant human. At least one other set of eyes may witness my seeing some trivial part of life as art, acknowledging this unique flicker of attentiveness via my portable device, and sharing that understanding of relating to each other as we move on with our newsfeed and day. A small connection which can be seen by some as quite beautiful and rare in itself in this day and age, is it not?

    Don't take this series of run-ons as a rebuttal, as I think your article makes a lovely narrative, as well as a pertinent and frankly poignant point in regards to how times have changed. Bravo for that. Seriously. As for the photo vs. reality argument, I think you said it best... to be saved for another day on the soapbox :)

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