The New Imperialism

Over the last few years, I've seen a huge trend in quitting ones job and traveling around the world. This was first fueled by the economic crisis. We all heard not so woful tales about bankers being laid off only to use their presumably hefty severance checks to travel the world and find themselves. Next came the photographer, writer or website designer, inspired by Chris Guillebeau to hack their credit card airline miles and consider a laptop with wifi connection their office. Those of us stuck in our windowless offices could momentarily live vicariously through travel blogs with the occasional pang of envy hitting us, as new photos appeared on our Facebook feed. We clicked through photos of our friends or even an engaging stranger as they bussed their way through Asia - brave enough to navigate a language barrier and foreign country for the promise of deliciously inexpensive food and the experience of local culture. In between our slight jealousy - we learned something. They opened our eyes to how other people lived. We silently thanked them for being ambassadors, making the world just a little bit smaller.But after the major landmarks were visited, and famous, Asian street food consumed, there was a new frontier to be had. Enter our current day. In favor of reflective blog posts, used as an alternative to a travel journal - we have the more immediate - Instagram. In place of self-reflection, we have the outward attention grabbing hashtag. And with it, a move to newer journeys - venturing into Africa. A stunning, envy-inducing vacation within a vacation at a Travel & Leisure-worthy resort smack in the middle of a war-torn, third world country. Gone are the photos of local culture and attempting to experience the world that 99% of a country's population experiences. Instead, we have Americans from a first world country, wealthy even for American standards - taking advantage of their power and status in a country where few have any. What is fueling this new behavior? Is it narcissism? The impulse to self-promote? The last decade has shown an increase in the desire for experiences over the accumulation of stuff. Is this the Berkin bag of experiences?

Whatever it is - with great power comes great responsibility.

Keep Calm And Instagram On: #NoFilter

This week's Instagram fiasco told an interesting story beyond that over user's rights. I woke up on Tuesday to a slew of privacy right screen shots and declarations that Flickr was the new, old, new old.. you get the idea. I downloaded the new Flickr app just to see what all the hype was about and while it was definitely an improvement over the old app, I still wasn't terribly impressed as it forced me to switch between the mobile website and app. But that's not the point.

Everyone had their own, very strong opinion. Some Facebook friends declared how happy they were because they thought Instagram was dumb. Personally, I think they're dumb and were missing the entire point of Instagram in focusing on its filter functionality. HINT... intimate life sharing and relationship building! Many declared they'd be deleting their account in mid January before the new user rights came into effect. I just absorbed the conversation.

As a former art buyer, purchasing stock imagery and hiring photographers, I knew right off the bat that there was no way a photo of me via Instagram would find its way into a banner ad on Facebook. First off, unless Facebook has some sort of secret image recognizing technology or thousands of visually trained photo editors, there is no way an art buyer or photo editor is going to shift through millions of untagged photos to find the right image. For every breathtaking sunset, there are probably at least one hundred boring, blurry, under exposed, or plain visually unappealing photos. And beyond separating the good from the bad, most stock photos are tediously key worded from the more obvious descriptions to the more esoteric. Who would they hire to do that?

Now let's say that they've somehow shifted through the photos and pulled out a handful that they deem sellable. Do you think any photo buyer would risk getting fired or sued just to use an Instagram photo when they have plenty of model released, legally acquired photos from Getty, Shutterstock and iStockPhoto? When I worked for an agency owned by a major holding company, we weren't even allowed to experiment with some of the lesser known stock agencies unless vetted by legal. In fact, every photo used was carefully tracked and assurances were made that the photos had model releases and the stock agency legally owned the photo. While imagery is more important than ever, the stock industry isn't necessarily growing. Rumor has it that 20 year old Corbis, Bill Gates' pet project, is just starting to turn a profit. And while startups like Foap seemed like an exciting idea, I don't know anyone who has actually made a sale of their photo.

So now let's get back to the users. What I found truly interesting about the situation was that as social network users we're becoming increasingly freaked out over the usage of our data. Yes, by all means, it seems oddly more terrifying to have a company profit over our "art" than the cumulative use of our data. But people come on! We've come to expect so much from startups without giving them anything in return. Instagram has introduced me to new friends. I've gotten job interviews through building relationships on the site. I've learned new recipes. I've discovered new restaurants / foods. I've been inspired. I've been moved. And I've been encourage. All through a service that I got for free.

So what can Instagram do to make a profit? Remember when the startup moto used to be, give people something for free and then once they have users, make them pay? Instagram could get away with changing a yearly fee, or creating a pro vs regular account like Flickr. They could work with advertisers like Tumblr to create branded content. Or they can even crowdsource from their loyal users to find out a better way to sustain the service. Now excuse me while I check my feed.

Stepping Away From The Internet

One of my favorite things to do is wander around the city, photograph people or draw them. Yes, I know, all slightly stalker-ish activities. But I've always found endless fascination with people-watching. Yesterday, I did just that and thought I'd give you a visual recap of my day.

I spent a significant amount of time at Ground Support in Soho. My initial intention was to read and catch up on news but with my iPad, new Bamboo stylus, and Paper 53 app, I couldn't resist one of my all time favorite past times - sketching people. I later overheard the French girl I drew talk about how high rents, mentioning she took a Skillshare class about how to live rent free. Which I mentally noted was the same class I took. Small world.

My sketching was briefly interrupted by a celebrity sighting. I think that years or should I say, 10,000 hours of memorizing figures and faces in order to draw them, has given me excellent facial recognition. Can you spot him in the above, right picture?

One of the benefits of everyone being glued to their devices is that they sit relatively still for a few minutes, giving me enough time to draw them. Thank you internet. While I was admittedly tempted to sit across from MG and practice my sketching using him as a subject, I smartly chose to sit outside instead.

I've always felt like the relationship between subject and photographer / artist is an odd one. As the artist, I feel like I'm taking a little piece of that person without asking. I'm invading their privacy. I'm looking closely at the contours of their face, their expression, their mood. I can see how their clothing fits. What does it convey? Are they trying to fit in or stand out? Are they comfortable with themselves or uncomfortable being alone? As the subject, they may or may not know what I am doing. Do they let on? Are they flattered, self-conscious or annoyed? What do they think of me? Interestingly, none of these people seemed to care, if they even noticed at all.

My Wednesday journey didn't end there. I passed some very timely graffiti. And a woman with a beautiful dress.

I witnessed a lost pigeon flying into a café that had trouble getting out. So like MacGyver, I instructed the panicked staff to create a trail of crumbs out the door. Success!

And finally, to the delight of my social networks, I nearly ran into Professor Snape (Alan Rickman) while embarrassingly singing along to "Call Me Maybe" a little too loudly on my iPod. I'm pretty he rolled his eyes at me.

While my visual journey ends there, the city continued to shower me with surprises. I ran into an old colleague while having dinner with my friend, both who happened to be one of my photography subjects at some point. And just as I was walking with my friend telling her some insights into my dating history, I ran into a guy I went on a few dates with. The day was a good reminder that there's a world beyond the internet. Although the irony is not lost on me that I shared my journey in "real time" through my phone on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. But non-the-less, you never know what adventures are in store for you but they won't happen if you spend all your time in front of your computer.

The Outing of Instagram: Online Communities and Changing Habits

On this hot Saturday morning, I did what I do nearly every Saturday morning. I woke up, made breakfast, then sat down to read the NYTimes. I flipped through the travel section, slightly disappointed in the lack of photos illuminating the stories and then realized - I haven't checked my Instagram today. Immediately upon realizing this, I pulled out my phone, opened the app and hit refresh. Refresh. Refresh. Nothing. So I checked for updates in the App store. Nothing. I connected my phone to my computer, wondering if the app had crashed in some weird fashion and considered deleting and reinstalling.

"Deleting "Instagram" will also delete all of its data"

All of its data!? You mean - it might erase my comments? The autofill when I type in #catsagram?! I decided the risk of doing this was too great and chose instead to seek answers. I opened Twitter and typed in #instagram. Five seconds later I had my answer - lightening from a storm had brought down Instagram's servers. Surrounding that pertinent information were sarcastic Tweets reminding everyone that, yes, they could eat their breakfast without documenting and sharing the process. Others smartly pointed out that it's ironic that nature was the cause of such a disruption in our newly formed digital habits. It was a timely reminder of just how powerful nature is - that despite our technological leaps, nature can still destroy us with its forrest fires, hurricanes, heat and draughts.

After reading through a few more Tweets, I leaned back from my computer and suddenly a brief moment of sadness washed over me. I wondered, what's my "Instagram friend" in London doing right now? Did he explore any new interesting places in the English countryside with his family? Where are my daily, mind-blowingly gorgeous photos of the South African coast? How is my friend in Brooklyn right now? Has she stumbled upon any interesting graffiti? What will my day be like if I am forced to actually live in the moment - sharing my world with just those who are physically in my presence?

While I agree that we need to be more present and respect nature, I think they're missing the bigger point. Nature is a powerful force that will always push back regardless of our technological advances. It may be punishing us for our pollution and destruction but certainly not for our advanced communication tools. But the bigger question is - do we really share just for the sake of sharing?

No - we share to become part of a community, using our photos and comments as a tool to build relationships. Like the closing of ones neighborhood bar - we're not sad because we miss the drinks. We're sad because we miss the people. And thus the world of Instagram is not a magical place for its ability to turn mundane imagery into something beautiful - it's magical because like a crystal ball - it allows me to see what they see - helping me connect with these specific people in a way that no other platform can.