Digital media has changed the ‘photograph’. Technological development creates a new practice on how a photo is taken, how it is saved, and how it is edited. This is all due to the rise of image-based social networking sites, all made for the smartphone. The most popular phones being the newly released Samsung Galaxy S8 and iPhone X, both phones having built-in 12-megapixel cameras. Gone is the need for dark rooms as now everything is digitalised and all editing processes are in the palm of your hand. An image can be taken, edited and published simultaneously in a matter of minutes on one single app. Instagram created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger was launched in 2010 for the iPhone 4 and now has become the most popular photo-sharing app. …show more content…
Instagram brings a focus on the presentation and circulation of images for both professional and amateur photographers. One might say it is the era of the ‘iPhoneographer’. However, this new digital age creates debate on whether images can be considered to show the truth. Is it possible that even though the Media today is bombarded with Photoshopped images and staged narratives that a photo still holds a level of realness or has Instagram completely distorted the notions of truth?
In the age of Instagram, the craft and the act of sharing is more important that the actual content of the photo. Craft can include of three things, craft of doing, appreciation of craft and lastly the craft of the actual photo itself. One of the most important focal points of Instagram is that it enables its user to satisfy their need for validation and giving of evidence. Tourist photos, selfies with celebrities and photos of luxurious meals fill up most of Instagram’s feed. This generation believes in recognition, the ‘I did this, I did that, I’ve been here’. For this reason, our Instagram accounts acts as a visual diary of events, an evidential representation of one’s life. While this may be true, more often or not the pictures have been carefully selected