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  1. Hey, listen up, I do not care if you are white, black, or purple, what is all this fuss over instagrams? I really do not know what they are, and would appreciate someone explaining the whold instagram process to me…..
    I have been involved with photography and education since 1972…..guess you could say that makes me a dinaosaur, but does anyone out there have any idea about the history of photography, and how difficult it was to even think about making a photograph? It boggles my mind that the pioneers of photography could ever imagine what is happening today to “photography” or the lack thereof,
    as most of what I see being produced is simply like vomit, regurgitation of the same ideas over and over again. Does anyone out there have any original thoughts?

    • democratization of photography outlets, and means to create a photograph, does not demand that all be original, nor critically evaluated. even back in 1972, and earlier, perhaps since the time of the Brownie, people have been taking snapshots. for obvious reasons, these snapshots were not in wide distribution outside of a shoebox, though many professional photographers (steeped in the knowledge of photography) knew of their existence.

      like all things internets, things are much more easily found. not only that, making books, acquiring rare items, are now much more easily done. Instagram, like flickr before, did not advertise that they are all photographers at their site.

      however, human nature is that some of them will declare themselves as photographer, and others in the many blogs-cum-news sites will want to elevate the Instagram to give it a circularly-reasoned gravitas. perhaps this is not any difference than artists statements to prop an artist by a gallery, for example.

      I hope the pioneers of photographers would see that this is photography in the masses, with better distribution than shoeboxes, and family albums that are no longer sticky/gluey messes.

  2. While John Edwin Mason’s list does a lot to rectify prizing the white male gaze above all others, he doesn’t truly address the concept of privilege. Many of the photographers he mentions share educations and socioeconomic advantages far beyond those of many of their subjects or most instagrammers. Many have already found just as much critical acclaim as their white male counterparts. And, most jarring, at times there is also an element of photographing “the other” that isn’t diminished when the camera is an iphone. I am dying to see a list of artfully made instagram feeds created by artists who do not have the luxury of travel or MFAs, art borne from the reality of a road that can feel more like a dead end.

  3. I hit the National Geographic “Women of Vision” link after checking out a lot of those Instagram accounts, and this much is certain: real photos look soooo much better than crappy Instagram ones. I guess I’ve always known that, but have never gone from one to the other like that. Try it. You’ll be amazed, and afterward might not even care who’s doing what in Instagram.


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