{"id":23511,"date":"2015-04-23T01:37:58","date_gmt":"2015-04-23T08:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=23511"},"modified":"2015-04-23T11:27:57","modified_gmt":"2015-04-23T18:27:57","slug":"instagram-as-a-vessel-for-sharing-street-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/23\/instagram-as-a-vessel-for-sharing-street-photography\/","title":{"rendered":"Instagram as a Vessel For Sharing Street Photography"},"content":{"rendered":"

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(Editor’s Note:<\/strong> Words and Photographs by Ryan Tacay<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

In a world of instant-gratification and disposable media, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to take something like instagram as\u00c2\u00a0a serious way to share something artistic and long-lasting. Going past the jokes about it being all about the bathroom\u00c2\u00a0selfies, things I ate today, or this\u00c2\u00a0afternoon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sunset, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually one of the best ways to get one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work out there and seen.<\/p>\n

For starters,\u00c2\u00a0with instagram claiming they have about 300 million active users\u00c2\u00a0compared to the 92\u00c2\u00a0million that Flickr has, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s safe to say that although the images\u00c2\u00a0are displayed no larger than a 640×640 pixel square format, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a larger audience.\u00c2\u00a0Having come from Flickr since 2005, I get more traffic and activity on instagram these days. It has become my preferred method of sharing my street photos.<\/p>\n

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If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re like me and despise\u00c2\u00a0using your phone or tablet to type and would rather to be at a computer, you can manage your account\u00c2\u00a0on a browser\u00c2\u00a0using 3rd party viewers like iconosquare.com<\/a>. This\u00c2\u00a0also helps in enlarging photos a bit for you\u00c2\u00a0to appreciate the finer details that sometimes get lost when viewing from a mobile device.<\/p>\n

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Can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Commit To The Square<\/strong><\/p>\n

I know most of us who shoot with our proprietary cameras will be saying \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Gah? Square? I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t shoot square, who am I, Vivian Maier?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (I wish! ..kinda.?) and yeah, it can be restrictive.\u00c2\u00a0Unless you primarily shoot in a square format like a Hasselblad or TLR (twin lens reflex) camera, then it may\u00c2\u00a0be tough to wrap your head around how you can crop your images without losing too much of your original frame. Good thing there are apps out there like Square InstaPic (For Android)\u00c2\u00a0<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0and Sqauready (For iOS)<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0that allow you to\u00c2\u00a0import\u00c2\u00a0your images into the confines of the square no matter if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re shooting in a 3:2 ratio, 4:3 or whatever.<\/p>\n

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If you prefer not to use your phone to capture images and you want to share shots you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve taken with your DSLR, mirrorless, or film scans, you can do so\u00c2\u00a0easily by uploading your images to Dropbox and importing into other applications like VSCO or Snapseed to edit your photos before uploading to instagram. Recently I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been using a program called SendAnywhere to act as a\u00c2\u00a0wireless way to simply transfer files from computer to mobile device and vice versa.<\/p>\n

Holy Hashtags Batman!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, everyone loathes hashtags \u00e2\u20ac\u02dccause they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re annoying, and are usually seen as a desperate attempt to get noticed, but in all honesty, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s merit to using them (properly). As a disclaimer, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a huge hashtag whore. ;) Despite the negativity around them, they’re actually a valuable tool in the instagram world. By using\u00c2\u00a0street\u00c2\u00a0photography related hashtags like\u00c2\u00a0#streetphotographers\u00c2\u00a0or even #streettogs you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be putting your images into the pool with others who mostly<\/em>, stick to the traditional street aesthetic. Of course you\u00c2\u00a0may\u00c2\u00a0find the odd picture of someone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hotdog but for the most part, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be able to both contribute and search for inspiration\u00c2\u00a0in this genre\u00c2\u00a0by using these types of tags.<\/p>\n

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Hashtags are also used by hubs, which are accounts created for the sole purpose of featuring various artists on instagram. Think\u00c2\u00a0of it like adding your image to a group on Flickr if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re more familiar with that. These hubs\u00c2\u00a0usually create a unique tag for the group that you can attach to your images when you upload so that it can be placed into consideration for their moderators to possibly feature you\u00c2\u00a0or your images.<\/p>\n

Hubs like @street_photo_club (tag: #street_photo_club) or @mafia_streetlove (tag:\u00c2\u00a0#mafia_streetlove) are just\u00c2\u00a0a couple\u00c2\u00a0examples. Although the aesthetics of these hubs are left to the moderator\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s individual taste, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still good to\u00c2\u00a0engage in this kind of community because you never know what kind of gems you may find while scrolling through\u00c2\u00a0the feed.<\/p>\n

You won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really find a hub that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the equivalency of HCSP (HardCore Street Photography) on Flickr (even soft-core street photography\u00c2\u00a0for that matter), but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s some real\u00c2\u00a0good stuff out there.<\/p>\n

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The benefits of tagging to hubs? If featured,\u00c2\u00a0it gives you more \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcexposure\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 so people can find your work, and\u00c2\u00a0possibly follow you thus giving you more of an audience to share your images,\u00c2\u00a0and of course that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why we\u00c2\u00a0upload to social media in the first place right?<\/p>\n

As a tip, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t include hashtags as part of the main caption, throw them into the comments section as they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll automatically get \u00e2\u20ac\u02dccondensed\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00c2\u00a0after\u00c2\u00a0about 10\u00c2\u00a0comments appear on that image, after which, they won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be as distracting. Also I should mention\u00c2\u00a0that\u00c2\u00a0instagram has recently\u00c2\u00a0changed the way tags work (won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get into the specifics) but for them to be most effective, you should tag sooner than later if you want your images to get noticed.<\/p>\n

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Source\u00c2\u00a0Of Inspiration<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although everyone has a certain definition of what street is, I think we all can agree that we know it when we see it.\u00c2\u00a0I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be lying if I said you could fulfill all your inspirational street photography needs through instagram alone.<\/p>\n

I personally find that\u00c2\u00a0the majority of things you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll come across that are grouped as \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcstreet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 is more \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcurban\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 in my definition. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll encounter more \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc#puddlegrams\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (puddle reflections), \u00e2\u20ac\u02dclittle people big world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (little shadowed silhouettes in big environments), and \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc#strideby\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 shots (people walking\u00c2\u00a0perfectly flush\u00c2\u00a0against a 2D wall -\u00c2\u00a0think terminal stance as part of the gait cycle for the\u00c2\u00a0healthcare students out there).<\/p>\n

These will be amongst the usual vanishing points and literal pictures of the street when you search\u00c2\u00a0for\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153streetphotography”. While these are visually pleasing, it may not be exactly what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking for.<\/p>\n

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Luckily, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve come across one account called @streetphotographers that is\u00c2\u00a0continually adding street photographers to its catalogue. I find the shooters featured here keep truer to the genre we have come to recognize\u00c2\u00a0as being streetphotography\u00c2\u00a0(yours truly, @phraction_street is #22 on that list btw ;).<\/p>\n

If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking for some great instagram feeds to\u00c2\u00a0follow, this may be your best source, IMO.<\/p>\n

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Reciprocation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Social media relies heavily on\u00c2\u00a0reciprocation\u00c2\u00a0and instagram is no different. If you want people to follow, like, comment, you have to do the same.\u00c2\u00a0This is a good practice in building an online community\u00c2\u00a0because after a while you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcregulars\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 browsing through your feed, offering praise and words of encouragement, and through \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcinstameets\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 you may\u00c2\u00a0have the chance to\u00c2\u00a0meet the\u00c2\u00a0people behind the avatar.<\/p>\n

I personally\u00c2\u00a0hardly attend those things because when out shooting street; I can never socialize and properly\u00c2\u00a0focus on my shooting at the same time. Also the thought of a large group of people hitting the streets with cameras in hand does nothing good for the stealth aspect of street\u00c2\u00a0(if that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s your technique).\u00c2\u00a0But hey,\u00c2\u00a0if you like being a part of a photog posse, then props\u00c2\u00a0to ya.<\/p>\n

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This practice of being social\u00c2\u00a0on a social media application\u00c2\u00a0is both good and bad. Good in the sense that you get that warm and fuzzy feeling of appreciation when all these notifications come in regarding the latest photo you have posted, but bad in the sense that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll rarely have anything but positive things in your feed.<\/p>\n

You might wonder why that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a bad thing, but\u00c2\u00a0if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking for honest creative\u00c2\u00a0criticism on your work to help you grow as a photographer, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll rarely find it on instagram. Positive vibes is the name of the game and it all goes back to reciprocity. You get what you dish out and most people just want that pat on the back and to hear they took a good photo and that people appreciate it.<\/p>\n

This is perfectly fine!\u00c2\u00a0With many users being the average snapshooter, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not always in everyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interests\u00c2\u00a0to hear anything but\u00c2\u00a0nice things because after all, instagram is meant to be a simple social application to share instantaneous snaps\u00c2\u00a0between friends and sometimes friends just won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tell you how it really is\u00c2\u00a0because, feelings.<\/p>\n

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Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u00c2\u00a0could go on about the little facets of the instagram world,\u00c2\u00a0but with how things are constantly changing in that application,\u00c2\u00a0it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best to try to\u00c2\u00a0adapt as we go along.<\/p>\n

Same goes with the vessels we use to share our work. Instagram might not be the be-all and end-all in street photo sharing but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one way to get some quick inspiration\u00c2\u00a0since people seem to post more frequently on there.<\/p>\n

If you can look past the feet on the beach, rainbow of HDR while looking out a window plane, scroll\u00c2\u00a0through screencaps of text conversations and\u00c2\u00a0overhead\u00c2\u00a0latte art\u00c2\u00a0or baristas spelling your name wrong, then you might just be able to find some really good street photography out there. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d say it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth checking out even for an instant.. (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get my coat.)<\/p>\n

But first, let me take a…<\/p>\n

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For more of Ryan Tacay’s work<\/h2>\n