Instagram


On August 24, 2015, I discovered Instagram. At the time, it felt like I was three years behind everyone else, but with an iPhone 4s it was fun to catch up. Then Facebook acquired Instagram and, like a curmudgeon, I lost the vibe.

Despite the loss of heart, ones’s IG profile does provide an excellent opportunity for an online portfolio presentation. It’s not to be fully eschewed.

Here’s what I said in August 2015:

“It takes me back to what I enjoyed about medium format film. I loved that square image on the ground glass providing the opportunity to meditate and see the world in unexpected ways. Twenty years ago it was a lot of work to shoot a few rolls of film then go into the darkroom. I’d spend hours, sometimes whole weekends, working for a keeper or two. Mostly I made 8×8 or 10×10 prints. Whoa! That’s small.

I’ve been immersed in the big print for so long I’ve nearly forgotten how nice the small photograph can be. The iPhone and Instagram format offers freedom to explore and record without the need for boatloads of time or cumbersome gear.

In keeping with the spirit of Instagram’s mobile milieu all photos are from an iPhone, sometimes an accessorized iPhone but only from iPhone.”

March 22, 2021 Update: I’ve lost interest in Instagram. The old format I spoke of above is long gone and too many ads lead to scrolling past everything. That’s what people seem to do on the subway too. Scroll, click-like, move on in fractions of seconds.

I’ve drifted from the original intent of my IG photos being only from a camera phone. There are too many other ways to photograph. instagram.com/meridian_photo