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| "Photographer's Studio," Perkins Harnly and Nicholas Zupa, 1935/1942 Courtesy of the National Gallery of Art Open Access Program |
Hello friends,
Remember back in the day when people went on family trips and insisted on taking thousands of shots of little tiny people in front of big washed out landscapes using their big clunky point-and-shoot cameras? And then waiting to get them developed, only to find your finger blocking the shot in half of the pics? Remember when "travel photo" was a distinctly different thing entirely from "art photography" ? I find it fascinating how travel photos have transformed in the past decade or so, not because of a move to digital SLR technology or otherwise improved cameras themselves, but because of the pervasiveness of smartphones.
While I love my DSLR camera for the light quality, customization and functionality it provides, I think I might love my smart phone camera even more. It affords me the ability to take a shot of anything, anytime, anywhere because my camera is always with me, always sleek and accessible, with no assembly required. And then there's Instagram, which lets me make the photos beautiful, and immediately connects me with a vast audience who will appreciate my work. Some may look at Instagram, and other social media, as a drug for narcissists, but as an artist and maker I think there is nobility in creating and disseminating images that can bring a little bit more beauty into the lives of others.
This means that, while in the past it was skill and equipment that determined whether one was a decent photographer, today the only thing standing between the average phone user and a portfolio full of beautiful shots is effort. I'm not saying that the average Instagram account can compete with Ansel Adams, simply that the ability to create beauty and to legitimately consider oneself an artistic contributor is infinitely more possible thanks to today's smartphone technology.
And, on a personal note, I have noticed that since obtaining a smart phone and becoming an avid Instagrammer, the way I take photos on trips has changed dramatically without my even realizing it. Yes, there have been times where I knew I was going to be somewhere beautiful with friends willing to model and dragged along my DSLR. But there have been other times - quick romantic weekends in the country, a wedding at which I was a busy bridesmaid, or numerous business trips - when it didn't occur to me to bring my fancy camera kit, or when it simply wasn't practical. During small breaks between sessions at a large business conference it's hard to find time to set up a tripod, but it's easy to pull out my phone and snap a few instas in the hotel lobby.
Similarly, it's often those strange, surprising moments we're completely unprepared for that make the best photos, but who other than a professional photographer has their DSLR on them at those times? In addition to my travel photos, some of my favorite Instagram shots came about when I was walking around on my lunch break during work or just outside a business meeting. Having Instagram on my phone affords me the ability to be opportunistic.
And it was precisely those times, when I was armed only with the camera on my cell phone, during which I had to fall back on effort, resourcefulness, and creativity, that I grabbed some of my most favorite photos - not my most favorite Instagram photos, my most favorite photos period.
These come from my personal Instagram account:
Random furniture set up in Dupont Circle, D.C.:
Views from a business meeting in a DC skyscraper:
The federal building in San Francisco:
Scenes from a business trip to Charleston, SC:
Berry picking in the rain at Butler's Orchard in Maryland:
Outside the Supreme Court:
The Kimmel Center in Philadelphia:
Hotel room view, New Orleans:
Door, New Orleans:
Ritz Carlton, New Orleans:
Unknown girl, Plymouth Massachusetts:
A vintage car in Florida:
Chairs at a vineyard in Purceville, Virginia:
So how about you readers? Care to link to any of your own Instagram shots that you feel embody this concept? Or if not, is there a particular reason that you prefer not to use Instagram? Discuss in the comments.
Emily
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