Saturday 3 November 2012

Is Instagram Worthwhile?


 
I have been having a lot of fun posting on Instagram lately. More than I ever anticipated, to be honest. It is quick, easy and enjoyable.

That said, a lot of photographers throw much criticism at Instagram, stating that it ruins photography - making it cheap, shallow and nasty.

It has also been stated that the use of the cheap filters on Instagram is debasing 'real' photography, whatever that is. 

The logic in this criticism arises from the assumption that 'real' photography requires some effort and technical expertise in its creation. As such, it is believed to have some form of quality and inherent credibility, where photographs on Instagram supposedly do not.

Further, there are admittedly millions of photos on Instagram. And a lot of them could be considered average in both quality and content. Not everyone enjoys seeing endless photos of cats, or what 3 million people had for their lunch. 

But I figure that if services like Instagram make creativity more accessible, then it can't be a bad thing. 

Whilst it can be difficult to wade through a sea of photos to find the gems at the bottom of the ocean, I think it is worth it.

Look at DeviantArt for example. It has been a massive platform for any artist to exhibit and discuss works since 2000 - 2001. It is a massive network, rating as the 13th largest social networking site that attracts around 140,000 submissions per day. 

I have been a member on there since 2006 and can state with certainty that not every submission is gold (mine included). I have however, had a lot of joy in finding a lot of great artists via DeviantArt that I would not have been likely to find anywhere else. 

So I expect the same should happen on Instagram as time goes on. And I look forward to it. Hopefully others will feel the same way I do, and consider my images worthwhile.

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