I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration 

Blog Posts 

Week 9 Photo 

Week 9 Video 

Week 10 Photo

Week 10 Video

Week 11 Photo

Week 11 Video

Week 12 Photo

Week 12 Video

 

Word count: 1016

 

A social experiment with Instagram

 

Introduction 

In this report I discuss my experience with using Instagram within the last 4 weeks. I highlight my experiences by referencing both my blog posts, and the readings that we have covered throughout this semester.

Background

Analog media creators such as Horst Faas I have the deepest respect for. You might be asking why and these are my thoughts. See, before we had social networking sites such as Instagram or Facebook Analog media creators would’ve had such a hard time publishing and distributing their work for the masses. With the introduction of social networking platforms it has allowed a new wave of authoring, publishing and distributing that was previously never seen before or even available. As well as this the concept of affordances has played dividends with the progression and advancements being made in social media, but more specifically Instagram. The affordances of Instagram has allowed for new wave of photographers to publish and distribute their content in a way that was previously unthinkable.

Evidence/What?

Instagram is an interesting platform for a few reasons. First one being that Instagram was really just a platform for people to share what they had for brunch. But it evolved into something that people needed. It created a whole lot of new features that made people feel as if their Instagram needed to be special and stand out. In some respects this is similar to what Apple is doing with their ecosystem integration of software and hardware. An example of this would be my week 10 video. That video I don’t think technically is very good, It really isn’t anything special. But Instagram’s software allows it to feel special for me, and this is also due to the fact that Instagram can make content feel more special due to the integration of things such as filters. By introducing things such as filters where users can improve the look and feel of their content, Instagram creates this ‘cult’ where users see how aesthetically pleasing peoples profiles are, and in return it makes users want to make sure that their posts are of the highest quality.  This was further emphasised in the week 7 reading ‘Mobile Media Photography’. “The initial development of these nostalgic photo apps was arguably a means to obscure the relatively poor quality of camera phone images, but the undeniable and enduring appeal of the vintage look is clearly related to its ability to give flattering portraits and romanticise otherwise ordinary scenes”(Palmer,D 2014). I myself related to this abstract from Palmer as I experimented with filters throughout the last few weeks with my Instagram posts, with every weeks posts in my opinion looking rather bland until a filter was added. Due to the software affordances of Instagram, we also can see the differences between an professional photo and a regular photo. This is what Lev Monovich breaks down in his book ‘Instagram and the Contemporary Image’. Monovich comments “Professional” refers to the systematic use of rules  of “good photography” by Instagram authors, and not aesthetic quality of the photos or person’s photo training”. With this in mind I understand that my Instagram account for networked media lies in the casual category of blogging. This was because for me I was just snapping a few photos or videos on my phone to post, I don’t think the fundamentals of those photo’s are compatible to my personal Instagram where I use professional equipment to take photos.

Evaluation 

Back in week 3 we covered Don Norman’s ‘The Design of Everyday Things’. In this book Norman examines the concept of ‘affordances’. “The term affordance refers to the perceived and actual properties of how the thing, primarily those fundamental properties that determine just how the thing could possible be used” (Norman,D 1998). Linking this to my experiment with Instagram I would say that there are many affordances when it comes to using Instagram as a social media platform. In this experiment I learnt that the biggest affordance when it comes to Instagram is just how easy publishing and distributing content is on this platform. Features such as adding hashtags to posts creates a wide and immense distribution of work for consumption, which is something that I think most people take for granted. However, these affordances are more prevalent with the photography side of Instagram. I ran into a few constraints with posting videos on Instagram. The biggest constraint of posting videos is the fact that the dimensions for video tends to squeeze whats in frame due to the size constraints. Another issue at hand was the duration of videos being posted. The video needs to be longer than 3 seconds but shorter than 60 seconds. This meant there was a few times where I couldn’t post a video because it wasn’t longer than 3 seconds. This was something that I previously did not know about. In regards to publishing content, I think this is something that I could’ve improved. Often my mindset was I just want to get my photo or video and post. This sort of mentality often meant my content wasn’t being authored to the best of my abilities. I tried to redeem some of the messiness of my posts by adding some filters and I think that helped to make my content a bit more pleasing to the eye but at the end of the day I still feel this is something I could have improved upon. Distribution was the biggest problem I had during this experiment. Sharing content between platforms for me was a tiresome process because I was too stubborn to download specific apps. I think that in turn I probably should’ve downloaded them to speed up the distribution process because It did take some time to post on different platforms.

Conclusion

I started this experiment not too sure what it was truly about. I think that over the past few weeks I have gotten a good grasp on concepts and terminology which has helped me find some direction. I definitely would do some things different next time, more specifically I would work on my distribution process to make it easier for me.

References:

Palmer, D 2014 ‘Mobile Media Photography’, in The Routledge Companion to Mobile Media, (eds) Goggin G., Hjorth L., Routledge, New York pp. 249–55.

Manovich, Lev. 2016, Instagram and the Contemporary Image, University of San Diego, USA

Norman, D 1998, The design of everyday things , Basic Book, New York (Sections: Preface vii-xv; Chapter one pp 1-13; Chapter 4 (constraints) pp 81-87; (computers) pp 177-186).

 

 

 

How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?  

To author this video I used the rear facing camera on my iPhone XR. I used the built in camera app in IOS to take this video rather than using the Instagram app due to the fact that Instagram isn’t as flexible when it comes to recording video in the app. As well as with previous week’s posts I also did not use the flash because the lighting was already pretty good. I also didn’t want to draw attention to myself and my phone. In Instagram I decided to use the ‘Hefe’ filter at 63 percent. I did this because I thought it made the lights look less harsh as well as more neutral. At 63 percent it still keeps some originality whilst changing a few things to make it look more pleasing to the eye

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram? 

The curation process this week was pretty lacklustre due to the fact that I didn’t want to have multiple takes as well as I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. I really don’t like it when someone see’s me recording a video of a door, so I guess in some ways I’m thankful that this is over! I added a caption to the photo that is relevant to the door itself, which keeps with the theme of simple captions during this experiment. I also added 3 relatively simple captions, with the last one being a small little pun for those who understand.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services? 

I published this video to Instagram and Tumblr, just like I have with the previous weeks. I think at this point you’d know my distribution process, but for the blogs sake I’ll explain it again. I emailed this video to myself so I could then upload the video straight to my Tumblr. This is because I don’t have the Tumblr app on my iPhone. This is a longer process than just clicking share on Instagram but I’ve gotten so used to it that it honestly isn’t that bad anymore!

How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?  

This photo was taken using the camera app and rear facing camera on my iPhone XR. The photo itself was taken on Victoria street near the metro tunnel construction. The authoring process was very simple. There wasn’t many people around which meant I could take some time when taking the photo. With last weeks post I zoomed by using my feet, but with this weeks photo I decided to digitally zoom because I was feeling lazy. I also found out this week that you can make adjustments to your photo, so I tilted the photo by 1.15 degrees to make it more level. I also add the ‘Perpetua’ filter by 73 points because it made the photo look a tad more natural which I think looks nice

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram? 

The publishing process for this weeks photo has remained the same compared to previous weeks. I only had 3 photos to choose from and they all looked very similar. I picked this photo because it was the one that had the least flaws in my eyes in regards to framing. This meant that my selection process was pretty narrow when it came to posting this photo.  The caption theme has stuck with me with the previous four weeks and I personally quite like a simple caption. The photo also has simple hashtags which are relevant to the photo, as well as a location.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services 

I distributed the photo by posting it to Instagram and Tumblr. The photo was emailed to myself so I could therefore upload it to my Tumblr. This is a cumbersome process but its a process that I have gotten used to. In the future if I was needed to upload to multiple platforms I think I would try it using the Instagram sharing functions to save some time. But at this point I don’t have a problem doing it this way.

 

 

How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?  

I authored this weeks video using the rear facing camera on my iPhone XR. Unlike other weeks I actually had around 4 videos to choose from before I decided to publish this one. I had more videos this week because I wanted to capture the door closing or opening by itself with no one in the frame. This meant hanging around for 5-10 minutes to try and get what I wanted. In the Instagram app I used the ‘x pro ii’ filter and was surprised to find out that you can actually adjust how much filter is added to a photo. Prior to this I had no clue you can manually adjust this.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?  

The curation process was a bit longer than what it had been in previous weeks. I spent 5-10 minutes hanging around this door to wait and try to get the shot that I had sort of envisioned in my head. I added a simple caption as always, but it also correlated to affordances and ‘The Design of Everyday Objects ‘. I also added a location and some hashtags to try and spread out more to get some more views.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services? 

I distributed the video through Instagram first and then Tumblr. The process of putting my work onto Tumlr is long since I decided I didn’t want to download the app but I have gotten used to it. I also decided that I should use the same captions and hashtags as what I post to Instagram to keep some consistency between different platforms.

 

How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?  

This image was authored using the rear facing camera on my iPhone XR. This image was also taken using the camera app, not using the in built camera in Instagram. This photo was taken in the courtyard at RMIT next to the old Melbourne gaol, whilst I was on my way to class near building 13. Because there was no one in the courtyard I felt no pressure when taking the photo. I was able to take my time and frame my shot nicely. I also decided this week to use my feet to zoom instead of doing it digitally because I feel as if using digital zoom can cheat when taking a photo. I did use a filter for this weeks image because I liked how ‘Mayfair’ crushed the blacks and made the image look more intense.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram? 

I took only one image before posting this one to Instagram. Like the weeks before the reason for this is pretty much the same. I feel comfortable taking one shot if no one is around because I’m always worried about holding people up or getting in the way. So I don’t really feel the need to take a lot of photos, because that is just going to be more work deleting them later. I kept the idea of putting a simple caption with previous weeks post, as well as location and relevant hashtags.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?  

This weeks post is the same as previous weeks posts in terms of distributing my work. That is, I posted this photo to Instagram and Tumblr only. My distribution process has been the same for the previous 2 weeks and this weeks photo was the same. I admit it is a tedious process but in all honestly I’ve gotten used to it and its nice to see the photo on my computer screen before uploading to Tumblr.

 

How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?  

In order to author this video I used the rear facing camera on my iPhone XR. The video was taken using the in built camera app. Similar to last weeks video I only took one video. The reason as to why I did this again this week was due to the fact that I had people waiting behind me to come into the lift. I think when people are around I’d rather try and take one discrete video than a whole lot of videos where people can clearly see what I am doing. Same as this weeks photo post, I decided not to add a filter. This was because I honestly didn’t like how the filters look with this video, it made the content look a bit tinny.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram? 

The creative process for this weeks video is devalued a bit due to the fact that I believe my mindset was in more of a ‘just get the shot’ sort of attitude rather than a creative mindset. I think that this might be the trend for the next few weeks but I guess we’ll see what happens. I actually forgot to add the location of where the video was taken in Instagram, but I did add an RMIT hashtag so that it is clear that it was taken at RMIT.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services? 

Like last week I posted this video both to my Instagram and Tumblr accounts. The distribution process was the same as last week. I took my video and emailed it to myself so I could then upload the file to my Tumblr account. This process is somewhat cumbersome but I’m too stubborn to download the Tumblr app on my phone to only use for a couple more weeks, so it looks like I’ll be getting used to this process

 

 

How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram? 

I took this photo using the rear facing camera on my iPhone XR with the camera app itself. This photo was taken as I was walking to class and I wanted to use that footpath that happened to be closed. There was really no constraints in this photo due to there being not much pedestrian traffic around. This allowed me to take my time and frame the photo nicely with an emphasis on straight lines. In Instagram I actually decided not to use a filter this week. I did this because I primarily thought the photo had nice colour and saturation and looked very natural to the eye.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram? 

Like last weeks post I did not take a lot of photos before deciding to publish this one. The reason for this is because I was able to take my time with framing and placement of the textures in the image it led me to being more careful to make sure that my one shot ticks all the box I needed when publishing a photo. I also think I prefer just taking one photo but making sure that everything is somewhat perfect before posting because then I’m not left with 20 photos of the same subject with slight variances in each image.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services? 

Once again I distributed this photo both through Instagram and Tumblr. I went through the same process as last week to publish this photo on Tumblr. This process is actually a bit cumbersome so I’ve been thinking about downloading the Tumblr app to speed up the process, but with only a couple weeks of class left I’m unsure if the marginal benefit is worth it or not. I guess the answer will be more clear in a couple of weeks!

 

How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram? 

I used the rear facing camera on my iPhone XR to film this little sequence of events. Like the photo that I captured this week I only took 1 video of this door. The reason for this was because it was quite busy and I didn’t want to be in front of people recording them for too long. I did not use a flash as well because I wanted to be discrete and the weather was also nice. In the Instagram app I used the ‘Clarendon’ filter due to the fact that it made the colours pop more in the video due to their higher saturation and brightness.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram? 

There wasn’t much of a curation process this week because I only took 1 video. I decided to add the location of where the video was taken to give some context to the video. I thought I should add a small caption to describe the location of where the video was taken. I’m pretty sure that Instagram automatically keeps the video on loop, because I couldn’t see an option to disable that feature.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services? 

I shared this work only on Instagram and Tumblr. I decided that I would keep the same captions and hashtags as the one posted on my Instagram. I decided to do this to keep consistency between these 2 platforms for the next few weeks. Once again i had to manually upload this video via my computer as I don’t have the Tumblr app on my phone.

How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

I authored this image using my iPhone XR rear facing camera and the camera app that is built into the phone itself. This photo was taken in Williamstown when I was down there filming for another project. I didn’t have many constraints as it wasn’t a busy area which meant that i could take some time to frame my shot nicely. The only real concern that I has was with the shadows in this shot but that was it. In Instagram I decided to use the ‘Lo Fi’ filter because I thought it added some nice contrasts to the colours which made the image pop a bit more. I never use Instagram filters on my personal account because I find them a bit useless for the sort of content I usually post, but in this instance it was actually quite nice.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

I only took 2 photos of this door before deciding to post it. The reason that I only took 2 was because it was a very simple shot and I knew that I had somewhat decent framing when I clicked the shutter button. Therefore my selection process was really easy because I pretty much had 2 of the same images to choose from. I think this helped with any doubt that would’ve been in my mind about the quality of the image because I only had 2 to choose from. I also decided to put a simple caption for the photo due to the simplistic nature of the image at hand, and I also put the location of the image so that people know where I was when I took that photo

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services? 

I distributed this image to both Instagram and Tumblr the day that I took the image. I emailed myself the image so I could post the image onto my Tumblr, although Instagram has the ability to share images on various apps, I myself do not have the Tumblr app on my phone so it was easier for me to do it this way

I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration 

Blog Posts: 

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Word Count: 1060

1. Provide a definition for ‘analogue photography’.

Let’s start with the term analogue. What does it mean? I think that the term analogue means to go about a process without digital aid, as digital refers to things being stored via numbers rather than a physical form. In regards to photography this would mean taking a photo on a film camera, and then the process of getting that film developed would be considered analogue. That moment when the photo is taken becomes an analogue experience as that image is taken into a dark room where the image is processed so that all the adjustments are made correctly to the image. As Joana Zylinksa commented in her book Photomediations: A Reader  “photography can be described as a practice of making cuts in the flow of imagistic data, of stabilising data as images and objects”

2. Provide a definition for ‘analogue video’.

‘Analogue’ refers to processes in which one set of physical properties can be stored in another ‘analogous’ physical form. The latter is then subjected to technological and cultural coding that allows the original properties to be, as it were, reconstituted for the audience.”(Lister,2009). What I believe this definition by Lister means is analogue video uses physical connectors between the user and the screen itself. For example Foxtel is a device which holds the physical copy of shows which is then streamed through your TV, then your TV and Foxtel are working together to project an image to the audience. The knowledge behind analogue video can often lead to the assumption that it is therefore an art form.

3. Provide a definition for ‘networked photography’.

I believe that networked photography is referring to technology developing to where photography becomes accessible to everyone through the development of software and hardware products. “Since the camera phone is always available, it supports a particularly mobile and informal way of taking and consuming images, including visual jokes and functional visual notes (of a potential purchase in a shop, or a snapshot of a restaurant meal in lieu of a verbal description)”(Palmer,2014). Instagram focuses a lot on images which help to highlight how “there is a strong sense that the world is readily available for visual consumption” (Palmer,2014). It is through Networked Photography a new way of consuming images has arrived by making it easily accessible for the masses.

 

4. Provide a definition for ‘networked video’.

My interpretation from networked video is that it is somewhat similar to networked photography. From my understanding that videos in the forms of blogs started to arise on various platforms due to the fact that the barriers to entry became lower as digital technologies developed to where it was accessible for people to create content as ‘amateur’.  “Videoblogging was the result of the rapid growth in digital technologies and the relative cheapness of new digital equipment for recording, storing and sharing data” (Berry,2018). It was through technological developments that constructed a new wave in video with platforms such as YouTube being a host to ‘amateur’ videos. In regards to Instagram they adapted to the new increase in the amount of video consumed by society through the introduction of things such as IGTV, where users can watch content from the people they follow.

 

5. Provide definitions for the terms ‘authoring’, ‘publishing’ and ‘distributing’.

My understanding of authoring is that it is the method of physically or digitally capturing data, whether that be through an analogue or digital process in order to create art which can be consumed through various ways. Publishing on the other hand is talking about how the work is going to be viewed by people. An example of this in regards to network photos would be to publish the photos on Instagram, rather than an art gallery which would be necessary if it were analogue. Distribution from my understanding is how widespread the work can be through circulation on other platforms. This means sending out more copies of the work either through social media sites for networked works, or featuring in multiple art galleries or other physical mediums.

 

6. What differences and similarities did you discover between the way analogue and networked photos are authored, published and distributed?

One similarity between analogue and network photos is that they both give a sense of familiarity. The process of authoring, publishing and distributing networked and analogue photos is a very different process, but at the end we are still left with images that can be consumed in different ways. A big difference between networked and analogue photos in regards to how they are authored is that analogue photos are authored through film, where as network photos are digital. These technological advancements mean that people can now carry a photo album in their pocket due to the fact that “we take for granted the seemingly unlimited storage aspects for photo and video’(Berry,2018). As well as the authoring being different, the way network photos are distributed and published is also different. We tend to see analogue photos being distributed and published through art galleries with physical copies being displayed for visual consumption. Whereas with networked photos we don’t see physical images as often as with analogue, because these images are being posted on various platforms through social media to create a wider spread of exposure.

7. What differences and similarities did you discover between the way analogue and networked videos are authored, published and distributed?

Analogue and network videos are very different to one another. It terms of authoring analogue video requires a lot of knowledge about the technology at hand which creates a higher barrier to entry. With the introduction of smartphones, everyone now has access to a camera. As a result networked videos create a lower barrier to entry than that of analogue videos. As mentioned before to use analogue video required a lot of knowledge about equipment and gear which also meant that editing was a cumbersome task. One affordance with the introduction of smartphones was that camera specific editing apps starting to flux the industry. This meant that anyone can film a video on their phone and edit it, creating a more user friendly environment. In regards to publishing analogue videos is similar to that of analogue photos. That is, it was considered art and therefore displayed in art galleries. This meant that analogue artists such as Nam June Paik. On the other hand since analogue videos are published online since smartphones are able to do so through various apps, it means that publishing work online is a faster way to gain exposure to work compared to analogue video. Also network videos can be distributed on more than one platform, which means it can be easily accessible to the consumer. Where as with analogue videos it often requires people to physically go into a gallery to consume content.

 

References:

Kamila K & Zylinska J, editors. Photomediations: A Reader. Open Humanities Press, 2016, http://www.openhumanitiespress.org/books/ titles/photomediations/

Lister, M et al 2009, New Media: A Critical Introduction. Routledge, New York.

Palmer, D 2014 ‘Mobile Media Photography’, in The Routledge Companion to Mobile Media, (eds) Goggin G., Hjorth L., Routledge, New York

Berry, T. B 2018, ‘Situating Videoblogging’, Institute of Network Cultures, http://networkcultures.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Videoblogging-Before-YouTube-web.pdf