Photography trends

Wilh93 · May 30, 2015

As of late I've been looking for inspiration for my next shoot. Something to build my portfolio on. There are these three users who I follow on instagram. What I've noticed from these guys is they post the exact same thing. Their subjects, edits, and methods consists of the same thing. Dark contrasty edits, feet, feet over rooftops, and crystal balls.

I never this was the new thing and people have so much interest in it. Is there something I'm missing here?

BillM · May 30, 2015

Well as you are following all three of them at least one person has interest in it

Wilh93 · May 30, 2015

Yea unfortunately. Lol I thought they were the same person at one point.

BillM · May 30, 2015

They still could be, the interwebz is a strange place :alien:

Derrel · May 31, 2015

Wilh93 said:
As of late I've been looking for inspiration for my next shoot. Something to build my portfolio on. There are these three users who I follow on instagram. What I've noticed from these guys is they post the exact same thing. Their subjects, edits, and methods consists of the same thing. Dark contrasty edits, feet, feet over rooftops, and crystal balls.

I never this was the new thing and people have so much interest in it. Is there something I'm missing here?

Hey....who knows...maybe they have foot fetishes and are into seeing the future? Any Hussar jackets and feathered fans? (recent TPF iconic items). I dunno...feet over rooftops seems kind of like an urban motif; the crystakl ball has long, long been iconic to some people. The thing is...Instagram and its hashtagging system, AND the way Instagram itself suggests other users you may be interested in based on who you follow and what you post, it's possible that these three foot and crystal ball fetishists were put in touch with one another by simple hashtag matching by IG's snoopy computers. Of maybe they found one another by hashtag searches. I mean...anything is possible. Hell they COULD be the same individual person running three accounts.

One thing is for sure: if ANYTHING on social media garners a lot of likes, shares, or up-votes: it SHALL SOON BE IMITATED. You can bet on that.

The_Traveler · May 31, 2015

Finding new ideas is a constant chore - people will find something that gets approbation and the thinking and looking stops.

rexbobcat · May 31, 2015

I assume they're mostly young people posting those photos? Millennials have this weird relationship with nostalgia. Since the Internet allows you to catalog years - decades - there is this fascination with the past and emotive photography, wherein the subject/situation isn't as important that the sensation evoked by viewing the photo.

That's probably why you get a lot of faux-film cliche photos of feet, and people staring off into the distance, because, while the subjects are mundane and rather trite at this point, it still gives people a sense of wanderlust, introspection, reflection, etc...

Personally, I like some of these photos, but they get old quickly, because they are pretty homogeneous. The photographers know what gets the likes, and that's all they aspire to.

Forkie · Jun 1, 2015

Don't underestimate the power of the "Like" in the modern, social network-based world.

To some of us, i.e., the pre-internet babies, "likes" are a strange phenomenon that are seemingly worthless attempts at grabbing attention, but actually if you want to be a successful photographer/blogger/vlogger or any other visual-based creative, getting followers and likes is the most important way to get noticed these days.

If you want clients (commercial clients in particular - and let's face it, who wouldn't? $$$$$! ), they are interested in how many people will pay attention to their stuff. If you have 100 followers and 20 likes on your photos, they won't care. But if you have 400k followers and a couple of thousand likes per photo, those big companies are going to want a piece of that action and will hire you because they know you already have a big following and a guaranteed audience.

rexbobcat · Jun 4, 2015

I think it's a chicken and egg question.

Do companies hire you because you have a lot of followers? Or do you have a lot of followers because you're that good, and as such, these companies want to hire you?