Instagram's fifth birthday party had a guest list stretching to
400 million. That's how many monthly active users the photo-sharing app now has
and almost half of them are under 25. In the triumvirate of social media (along
with Facebook and Twitter), it's definitely the cool one.
Much of the
platform's appeal lies in it simplicity, hence developers have changed very
little since its inception. But with the introduction of sponsored posts it
feel like Instagram is at something of a crossroads. Will it lose its
idiosyncratic creative spirit or simply push on to the next level with a whole
host of new features?
Only time will
tell, but let's get serious for a minute and forget the filtering fun and
unobtainable constructed reality, and examine how Instagram really is changing
the world.
Fashion
The best Instagram accounts are
aspirational, but they also tell a story. The fashion world is starting to
catch on to this.
Designers and
brands are responding to a desire for storytelling, inviting their Instagram followers
into a previously closed world. Show lighting and set design is planned with
Instagram in mind and it's now the place where trends become reality and
model's careers are made. Olivier Rousteing recently previewed Balmain's SS16 ready-to-wear collection
on his feed -- many of his 1.3 million followers may not be able to afford the
clothes or lifestyle (yet), but they can be part of the conversation.
"It's
democratising fashion," says Eva Chen, former editor-in-chief of Lucky
Magazine and now Instagram's Head of Fashion Partnerships. "There's a
greater connection to the customer now. Instagram enables brands to build a
voice and speak more specifically to their audiences. Designers are not just
thinking about the people at the shows. It humanises [designers] I think."
Art
Art and fashion are gloriously intertwined currently, and
Instagram is helping to open the former to a wider audience too.
Brett Gorvy,
International Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christie's is a fan and
thinks it's "changing how people perceive artists." Internet artist
Rafaël Rozendaal, who uses Instagram to preview artworks for his project
websites, agrees: "I use it as an open studio to show the process of my
work, and also my life, which is work too.
It opens up the
artistic process to a broader audience; it demystifies the life of artists. At
the same time it creates myths. Instagram is an extra organ, an extension of the
body. I would like it if the likes and comments weren't there though. Just
images, no hierarchy."
Travel
Instagram is
broadening our horizons as we seek ever more photogenic locations, while travel
brands are commissioning popular Instagram photographers as part of their
marketing approach.
Eelco Roos, who has shot for Travel Alberta, as well as brands
such as Samsung and Ducati, quit his job as an IT Consultant for IBM and is now
one of the most popular photographers on Instagram. "For travel brands,
Instagram is more measurable than traditional media in terms of finding out
what an audience thinks. I haven't experienced hostility from 'traditional'
photographers, but I do have to defend ways of photography other than the
traditional ones sometimes."
Instagram is
also opening Western eyes to more inaccessible places, Iran for example, where
Facebook and Twitter are banned, and accounts such as @everydayafricaare
challenging preconceptions. Taylor Pemberton, a designer and creative director,
left his home in New York earlier this year to pursue a nomadic lifestyle as a
photographer. He eventually found himself in North Korea:
"I had this
hope that even though the tourism experience is sanctioned, my camera could see
past the façade and bring forth the everyday nuances that exist in human life.
I think a platform like Instagram is giving people a glimpse into other worlds,
cultures, and topics. Like other forms of media, some Instagram accounts create
more education than controversy, more conviction than humour."
Food
It's also making us more adventurous
with what we eat.
Without Instagram, there would be no food porn.
As with fashion,
this is where trends become reality and food writers such as Hemsley and
Hemsley, whose super healthy dishes, with their rich and often bold colour
palettes, seem almost tailor-made for the format, enjoy huge followings.
However, eating
out (and in) has become such a documentable event that many people spend more
time trying to get the perfect shot than enjoying the food. "Sometimes I
wonder if guests are present at the table when they are obsessing about
photographing everything they eat," says Massimo Bottura, chef patron of Osteria
Francescana, voted second best restaurant in the world. "One
time a guest suggested I change the colour of the plates (from white to black)
because he said the photographs would look better."
Fame
Instagram has the
power to impart rapid fame and there are certainly personalities who seem to
exist solely in the Instagram world -- back to that unobtainable constructed
reality. But it's also possible for relative unknowns to gain sudden worldwide
recognition for the quality of their work. Sam Yeldham's stunning photograph of
a newly wed couple stood against a stormy Sydney Harbour recently went viral.
"The attention has been positive. I think regardless of the era, all forms
of impactful or engaging art will always find an audience," he says.
Online bullying and
trolling is rife across all social media of course, but high-profile users,
such as supermodel Gigi Hadid, are able to generate significant debate by
highlighting their own experiences. "I think it [Instagram] has given
celebrities more control over how their own lives are seen," says
photographer Greg Williams, who captures the famous in candid moments for his #artofbehindthescenes project.
Activism
Social media by nature is a perfect campaigning tool and
Instagram's youthful demographic are more active than most, whether on wider
issues in society (#ifttheygunnedmedown), or contradictory rules governing
social media itself (#freethenipple).
Brooklyn-based
photojournalist and activist Ruddy Roye feels Instagram has allowed him to
leapfrog media gatekeepers and get his voice heard: "Up until I started
using it I was at the mercy of editors. Before, we depended on magazines and
television and the Internet to a smaller degree to give us a window into
faraway worlds, not so anymore. I use it mostly to highlight the ills of my community,"
he says.
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