The modern day photographer

“Everyone is a photographer now, remember. That’s the great thing about photography.”

Spoken by the award-winning and renowned photographer Martin Parr, these words have never been more poignant in a world seemingly obsessed by social media and our need to portray our lives online. And we have Instagram and smartphones to thank for that. 

A few short years after the iPhone began its reign, Kevin Syston and Mike Krieger launched their brand new photo-sharing app, Instagram, a social media site allowing users to share their lives via little square photos, often heavily edited by one the app’s selection of intense filters.

Just over two years after its launch, Instagram hit 100 million active monthly users. By 2018, that figure had risen to one billion users, or one out of every seven people in the world opening the app at least once a month. 

And along with Instagram’s flourishing came a surge in the popularity of photography. As more and more people began to use the app, the competition for who could post the best images became increasingly intense.

Aided by the acceleration of smartphone camera technology, Instagram became more than just a few people posting cute pictures of their dog that they took on their questionable iPhone 4 cameras, it became a showcase of astonishing imagery and selfies that looked fresh out of the studio. 

People started photographing their meals out as if they were professional food photographers, standing over their tables and letting their food go cold all in aid of the perfectly angled shot they could share with their friends, even as far as frequenting certain restaurants or cafés just for the aesthetics of it.

Others used their travels to trek all over the world in search of the perfect picture of a vibrant sunset that they could use to spark jealousy amongst their followers. And along with all of this, came the ‘Instagram Influencer’. 

In a nutshell, it refers to a new breed of ‘celebrity’ social media stars, shamelessly posting daily photographic updates of their ever-so extravagant lives and beautiful faces (and often plugging some kind of ‘skinny tea’ or fashion label) in exchange for huge sums of cash from the companies they promote.

Instagram became the number one platform for these online stars and allowed the posting of images to the site to become full-time jobs for the lucky few. A recent study even found that ‘Influencer’ was voted the second-most sought-after profession for the current generation of teenagers, with 17% of kids aspiring for a life of online stardom.

But these influencers would be nothing without the technological advancements of the smartphone and its pro-worthy camera. And one could argue that these influencers are the new generation of modern day professional photographers because essentially, they’re making money from their own photography, however controversially. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7WX6g1A3ep/

The ever-increasing desire to follow in the footsteps of their favourite online celebrities, and the need of maintaining an aesthetic Instagram profile, is encouraging people all over the world to pick up their phones and learn how to click these ‘Insta-worthy’ pictures that they’re proud to show off to their friends and in turn help them on their way to stardom.

Although the term influencer generally applies to the influence in the purchase of sponsored products, its also influenced the entire photography industry and the people involved. Young people are opening Instagram every day and seeing these fabulous and well executed photographs and being inspired to get involved in photography.

Instagram has made personal photography commercially cool, and the smartphone has made it publicly viable. Together they have made taking quality pictures part of our everyday lives. 

Even just 20 short years ago, decent photography was limited to those with colossal and very expensive professional cameras that had to be lugged around in special bags. Now all it takes is a quick dip into your pocket to whip out your thinner-than-a-finger sized phone and snap a photo of the same quality of those heftily-priced monster cameras of a few years back.

And you don’t even need to wait until you get home to edit or enhance them; just do it on the spot using one of the millions of face tuning and filter apps available right on your phone.

Apple has even had several iPhone advertising campaigns solely based on the photography of their new device, stating that these incredible works of art they plaster on billboards and on tube station walls were “Shot on the iPhone”.

Chinese smartphone company Huawei practically sold a whole range of smartphones just for the immense professional quality of the camera. And in both cases, with each new generation released, the new and improved cameras is one thing that always manages to keep impressing and capturing new fans. The camera of one’s phone is now undoubtedly the most important element of the device once meant just for communication. 

So with a smartphone in hand, the ability to become the next great photographer is simply handed to us on a metaphorical online plate. And with Instagram installed, we can show the world our new found skill, maybe even make some money and as a generation become the world’s true modern day photographers.