Five photographers
Love it or hate it, IG is still the place to be
Years ago, I picked up an Instagram habit, and for better or worse, I’ve been using it every day since. I wrote about my love/hate relationship with IG last year:
Every artist I know hates what Instagram has become. Yet, we all still use it. One of my IG friends called it “an unhappy marriage of convenience.” I’ve begun to wonder if my relationship with Instagram is closer to Stockholm Syndrome than genuine affection. It’s not a healthy dynamic, yet most of us are staying put.
Instagram is fraught with issues, but it’s still a fantastic place to discover artists and meet creative people. And despite competitors like Vero, Tumblr, Glass, and VSCO vying for our attention, most photographers I know still do their thing on IG. I fire up the app with my morning coffee, and though it’s a little noisy in the early hours, I like to start my day by looking at pictures.
I have shown photographers on the FlakPhoto feed for years. I even wrote a column about it for a while. What can I say? I love showing photography and putting eyes on photographers I admire, so I’ll do this here occasionally — recommend some folks for you to follow over there. Photography looks much better on Substack than on Instagram, so this is an excellent way to give these works a proper online showcase. Make sure to look at this post on your desktop and expand the images. It’s worth it.
If you like what you see, give these folks a follow. They’ll appreciate the audience, and you’ll have some new inspiration in your feed the next time you log on. Enjoy!
Let me know what you think about this feature. Are you over Instagram, or is this useful? I have so many mixed feelings about IG, but it’s still a vital platform for photographers. I hope I can do some good by driving attention to some of the lesser-known artists showing their work there.
You can find me on IG here if we’re not yet connected. And please drop me a line if you’d like to show something of yours here in FlakPhoto Digest. I’m always looking and love seeing new work. Have a great weekend!
Cian Oba-Smith’s photo is so compelling! I love you sharing highlights here. Wish searching was a little easier on Substack.
I used to use IG for photo challenges and it reminded me of Flickr groups or the short-lived Google+ for a bit.
A wonderfully diverse inaugural selection. These photographers were all new to me, so thanks for the introduction!