Hey, friends: Thanks again to the 150 or so of you who tuned in to our Curators Conversation on Tuesday — I had a blast, and it was great to see so many familiar faces in the crowd. Many of you asked if this video would be available following the event. The good folks at VII recorded our conversation and will publish it online in a few days. I’ll keep you posted and send a link when it’s live.
and I had an excellent discussion about the internet, social media, online communities, and the practical challenges to finding your people in today’s fragmented social media ecosystem. We talked for an hour and barely scratched the surface.We discussed many things, but our conversation kept coming back to community. I started
twenty years ago, because I was craving a photography community and didn’t know where to find it in Madison, Wisconsin, where I live. Early on, I saw the potential to connect with like-minded photo people on the internet, and I’ve been doing it daily ever since. Collaborating with art folks online changed my life and led me down a creative path that continues to inspire me.Today, we have more digital touchpoints than ever, and yet it seems more challenging to connect with fellow artists and creative people than it should be. I was complaining about this again the other day. I hate to be a broken record, but my “Damn these algorithms” post seemed to strike a chord. Clearly, many of you feel the same way.
Damn these algorithms
I don’t know about you, but I’m generally disillusioned with my social media habit. And yet, like millions of people worldwide, I complain about these apps but keep using them. It’s frustrating. Instagram has many issues, but I still find a lot of value in it week after week — discovering new artists, seeing excellent photography, and messaging c…
I was reflecting on these ideas following my conversation with David. While catching up on some of my favorite Photostacks, I stumbled upon this post by
, who always has something thoughtful to say. Michael made the impressive choice to leave Instagram, a decision many of us have considered, but few of us actually do. I can’t imagine deleting my account because it would cut off my connection to a creative community that nourishes and enlightens me. Michael writes:In my neck of the woods, not being on Instagram means living in a kind of cultural blackout. Choosing to reclaim my time and protect my mental health has come at the cost of basic awareness. I had no idea that several photographers I admire were giving a talk just down the street last Thursday. I only found out about the photo walk—the one that happened yesterday—minutes before it started, when someone texted to ask if I was going.
And it leaves me wondering: how would I have known? What’s the alternative? Do I need to stalk community bulletin boards like it’s 1997? Should I obsessively check the events tab on a dozen local websites each week? Should I deputize my friends to text me every time something interesting pops up? Is there a magical print calendar I haven’t discovered? Short of rejoining Instagram, no solution seems to stick.
He’s right: Instagram has got us by the short hairs. If we leave the app, we lose our community. You should really read Michael’s post. It’s worth a peek:
One of the questions that came in during our Curators Conversation was about Instagram alternatives. Is there really such a thing? I mentioned Michael Howard’s
app, which is slowly but surely picking up steam. There are others: Glass, VSCO, Bluesky, and Facebook all have fans. I wondered if Threads might be a viable alternative, but based on the response to my post, it doesn’t seem so.
The conclusion I drew from our Curators Conversation was that I doubt there will ever be a single photo community app as powerful as Instagram anytime soon. We all have issues with it, but the pros outweigh the cons. For now — and the foreseeable future — Instagram is still the place to be. I like it, because all of my friends are there. And I hate it for all of the obvious reasons.
What do y’all think: Is Instagram still your go-to for photo community? Or are you thinking about logging off? Please, share your thoughts in the comments. We’re not going to solve this problem today, but talking is fun, and it might feel good to blow off some steam. Let me know what you think when you have a moment.
One more thing…
I thought this was neat. Yesterday, I was notified that
was in the Top 20 Art & Illustration newsletters. Not bad for a one-man show in Madison ;)I don’t paywall anything, so this was a pleasant surprise. It’s great to see so many photographers migrating to
and getting back into blogging. Who knows, maybe a Photoblogging Renaissance is afoot?
I started a Substack yesterday because there's a lot of things I want to share that are beyond early Punk Rock history. I was very encouraged by your talk when people said 1920x1080 images display fine.
BUT I gotta say this: NO ONE has ever reached out to me about any photos that ppl post on social OTHER than Facebook!!
I get no traction from people posting my photos on IG, Bluesky, X, tumblr, etc, although they have tens of thousands of followers.
I get FAR more action when I send out rare email newsletters. FACEBOOK is my best platform cos that's where my punk photo fans hang out. So many are IN my photos. So when they share, my photos mean something to their fans.
And I can reach out to rock writers, some I know, others who love my work, and ask them to share info. THAT works out better than posting on all the social sites.
Word of mouth is the key for my photos. Hmm ...
I frankly dunno how people know my work. I once had a Black Friday sale. Sold ALL over Europe! Norway! Scotland! Italy! France!
BUT the downside now are HIGH postal rates. They can pay as much for a print as postage! OR if I don't offer signed prints, I can print in Europe and save lots of postage costs.
Another reason I'm also working on my membership club. Costs money to do what I'm doing! Even if just for all the many apps and hardware needed. Plus the time, decades of time.
I just found and installed "Send by Elementor," the easiest, coolest email newsletter service for WordPress users.
SO MANY crap email newsletter providers! THAT will be a Substack post. (I just posted that on FB.)
I haven't and dunno if/when I will make a Substack header image or any of the other varied sized images. THAT IS WHY I HATE IG AND FB!!! And Thinkific and Teachable and Ghost and so on.
They ALL expect US to merely crop our photos to fit certain sizes and proportions. OH yeah? NOT happening to my photos!!
I keep reminding myself to put my images in THE MIDDLE of the 1920x1080. This trained fine artist and graphic artist thinks of basic design principles. Balancing where the copy goes vs the image.
I add copy cos I AM BEYOND PISSED OFF AND FED UP that people misidentify WHO, what, where, when of my HISTORICAL photos!!! And of course, not bothering to mention my name or putting it in the text only.
I even created images with text on the sides(s) to be easily downloaded via Google Drive or my site. NO excuses to post CRAPPY versions of my published work all over the net. LAZY POS!
A week ago I sent DMCAs cos of Punk Rock History on bluesky, X and tumblr cos they REFUSE to use my approved photos. I talked to them for YEARS!!
So now they know not to post my pix. Ok, so their following is 80K!!! BUT NO ONE has ever reached out to me about any photos they posted!! They tended to be rathe snarky for the ske of being snarky.
So yeah, I have more work to create and think like arrogant programmers who don't care about artful compositions. They rather we jump around redesigning images JUST for their headers, their social media images, one for within a post and one as a post preview, and on and on.
I am doing minimal work on that!
I want to share my journey. Dealing with tech. Plus some things about photography. Esp facts like we DO color correct "black and white" photos because they really are not b/w. They are grayscale.
(People really do question me when I say I need to color correct images they claim are black/white. Hmm ... even those are colors. We get black/white paints, crayons, pencils, right??)
A lot of thoughts that arise from dealing with people and my photos that I'd love to share. From color correction to pricing when licensing photos. The importance of being very clear about our costs and fees. And holding firm when people want to license photos for books, docs, mags, etc but refuse to provide specs.
Mostly just about my journey. Plus misconceptions about what went on behind my photos. Like life in mid to late 70s. VERY different than now. Not so divisive politically and racially. LOW LOW cost of living. Affordable housing. Plentiful jobs. Cheap gas and airline tickets.
And many joyful memories. Plus some scary, sad times. But I wanna focus on the good stuff. Like my adventures with Iggy. Hanging with Dee Dee Ramone, while taking my first ever photos of real people and live rock bands! Flying to England to shoot THE CLASH!
AND share Before and After photos of crap slides and the magic of LIGHTROOM. No auto features. No overt AI. AI IN the tools, not prompts or expecting AI to do the work! NOT MY ART!
I like color correcting by using my skills and software doing what I've wanted it to do since 1980! Bringing life back into my images that I know I captured. Magical times!
Time to share the Magic!
The many things going on in my head will result in what people see and read.
I don't expect a lot of readers. But quality is always more vital to me than quantity.
Dunno if any of this resonates with anyone here. Just one LA woman's journey into the darkness of tech, social and early punk rock, when punk was fun!
Who knew needlepoint was so popular??
Looking forward to the video of your talk.