Assignment 3 – Report

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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 – https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/support-and-facilities/student-support/equitable-learning-services

Making Media blog links

 

Week 9 – Instagram photo
Week 9 – Instagram video
Week 10 – Instagram photo
Week 10 – Instagram video
Week 11 – Instagram photo
Week 11 – Instagram video

How do the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network?

Instagram and Its Affect on the Way We Publish Content

James Bowman
s3603919

 

Introduction

Instagram’s influence on the network has become gigantic since its formation in 2010. Looking at how it affects how photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network is useful because it helps to understand how Instagram’s affordances have changed our way of engaging with photos and especially changed our expectations and the idea of what a network-suitable photo is. Moreover, looking at how Instagram affects the network can help us to predict where use the network is heading and therefore harness the affordances presented to us.

 

Background

This report aims to investigate and analyse how Instagram can shape and create content based on what it affords users of the app. When discussing the term affordances in this report I refer to it in the context of Donald Norman’s definition: “the perceived and actual properties of the thing” (1998, 9). The “thing” in this case being Instagram.

The investigation intends to not only look at how the affordances of Instagram shapes content on its own application but how it can in turn affect other parts of the network, whether it be other social media applications or otherwise.

The following report is broken down into three categories in order to get a better understanding of some specific examples of how Instagram impacts the network – authoring, publishing and distributing. Using these key terms, I will investigate the prompt and hopefully unpack some specific ideas that have come forward during this task. Because of a lack of time and word count allowance I won’t be able to cover all the ways Instagram affects the network, just some of what I think are the main observations I made from this investigation.

 

Evidence/What?

The best way to understand how a system works is to use it and to then analyse it using your own reflection and engaging in other ideas about it too, this is what I’ve done for this investigation. Around a month ago I made an Instagram account that would publish content only on doors. The purpose of the exercise was not on the content itself but how the application can and does shape the content. I published one photo and one video a week and then wrote a reflection on both. A big part of the investigation was that every photo and video had to be entirely authored and produced in Instagram, including taking the actual photo in the app. In all my casual use of Instagram I had never done this and had either adjusted it or cropped the photo when uploading to the app. Thus, it took me a little while to get used to taking a square photo – see here and here

To get some more context on Instagram I also engaged with various videos and readings such as Lev Manovich’s “Instagram and Contemporary Image” (2016), thus giving my investigation a little more weight and helping to create a more wholistic approach.

 

Evaluation

Authoring:

The obvious, aforementioned constraint of taking an image in Instagram is the dimension restriction. It is similar to turning on the “square mode” on your camera on your iPhone and taking a photo – something I was always told not to do in order take good photos. However, during this process I’ve found that almost always the best Instagram photos (and indeed videos) are framed well and fit within that perfect little square. In the case of my experiment Instagram account, easily my best and most “liked” shots were of more square double doors and were framed much better (see them here and here). I also realised that while it seems a little constraining at first, publishing square photos looks a lot better for your profile ‘grid’, as there is no cropping or distortion of the picture which can happen to differently shaped shots. Grid arrangement is important to creating that classic Instagram aesthetic that Manovich talks in his analysis of “Instagrammism” (2016). Manovich however particularly focuses on what’s in the photo and how it’s edited to create that aesthetic.

In regard to the editing aspect of “designed photos” on Instagram as Manovich (2016, 73) calls them, what I found interesting (it’s something that I’ve always known but only noticed in during this exercise) is the ease of use and prevalence of editing tools for your photo/video during the authoring process. Instagram gives its users so many opportunities to add filters, reduce filters, change the contrast, change the lighting, the list goes on. This I feel enforces the idea that filtering and changing a photo is a normal part of photo sharing, an idea so different to legacy photography. Curiously, those two photos I mentioned earlier (here and here) that performed better both had the “Clarendon” filter. Perhaps this could also be another reason that for their higher ‘like’ count – because their filter better represents that Instagram aesthetic.

Authoring videos I found a more difficult task than the photos. I think this was because of a myriad of reasons including me very rarely uploading videos to Instagram in my own casual use of it and because there is significantly fewer good videographers on Instagram than there are photographers – so I had less inspiration (also how can you make cool videos of doors?). I found this to be the case when we looked at Instagram videographers in week 8 (reflection here). Nonetheless I learnt that for Instagram videos to look really pleasing they require potentially more thought than authoring a pleasing looking photo. Firstly, something I didn’t do or properly realise in creating my videos (week 9, week 10, week 11) that the cover photo must be as pleasing as a photo on its own. This is especially the case if one wants to make their profile grid a nice palette of colour and different subject matter.

The fact that Instagram allows you to keep scrolling past videos that will play either when pressed or automatically means that they must capture your attention immediately. Unlike on Facebook or YouTube and the like, the ease of scrolling on Instagram demands that videos be immediately captivating, or they will not be noticed. I feel as though this in turn affects how videos are published on the network – applying more pressure for a video to retain a familiar aesthetic and for it to be immediately capturing.

 

Publishing:

During this experiment I almost always added a location, and when I didn’t I felt like the photo/video was naked. Instagram again makes it so easy to add a location, captions, hashtags and tags that again there almost becomes a pressure to use these tools in order to follow social protocol. In my own casual use, I sometimes become frustrated when I see a nice landscape or building but no location is added, because I want to be able to get some context around the photo. The same as when people are in photos but not tagged. I as such always used locations as adding some context to my random collection of doors – because a door without a location is just a door; if it’s not immediately striking it is plain boring (look at how plain this video looks without a location and hashtags). I think as such the publishing process of Instagram has influenced users of the network to add context to an image or video, people want to be able to click on things like locations, hashtags and tags and allowing them to do so will elongate the amount of time they spend engaging with the image or video.

 

Distribution:

Having only shared Instagram photos to Facebook before, distributing the videos and photos in this exercise to Tumblr and Twitter led to some interesting observations for me. Mainly, distributing Instagram media on these platforms serves best as a teaser or almost as a form of marketing – the real engagement is always on the Instagram app. With Twitter all you get is a link and your caption and thus giving no visual clue as to what the image/video will be. Tumblr will show your piece but only with the Instagram link and logo very visible. Moreover, you can’t engage with the locations and tags I mentioned before without then being taken into the Instagram app. Interestingly, while you can share Instagram photos on other platforms, you can’t share photos from other platforms onto Instagram. I think this presents the idea that Instagram is the home of images – it’s the place you should go for aesthetically pleasing photos and videos. While Tumblr is a very visual medium, it has a different kind of aesthetic and a lot more emphasis on recycling old media rather than creating new, aesthetically pleasing media and demonstrating that “Instagrammism” that Manovich (2016) speaks of.

 

Conclusion

As Norman states, “we need to analyse the ways in which it encourages particular ways of thinking and working through creative and cultural practices” (1998, 5) when looking at a specific application. This is what I have attempted to do in this investigation.

After this experiment it has led me to believe that Instagram affording so many editing options and publishing options creates the concept that editing, tagging and adding locations is an essential part of creating a picture. As such the software of Instagram leads to users placing as much (if not more) emphasis on the post production of the photo as to what is actually in it. Moreover, the ways in which Instagram collaborates with other platforms enforces the idea that it is the home of photos, especially media of that ‘Instagrammism’ aesthetic. As such this investigation demonstrates just a few of the ways in which Instagram affects the ways photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network.

 

References:

  • Norman, D 1998, “The Design of Everyday Things”, Basic Book, New York, US
  • Manovich, L 2016, “Instagram and Contemporary Image”, University of San Diego, US

Week 11 Reflection – Video

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Finally getting off the train after a big day. Sigh.

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

I used my iPhone 8 rear camera to film this video. For this video however I decided to try the Instagram “boomerang” option, having never used this before I realised I had to install a separate app to allow me to capture the video and then upload it to Instagram. I’ve recently this is the same with doing a collage through Instagram, as it forces you to download a separate app to then upload to Instagram. I found this interesting because it kind’ve goes away from keeping everything on the one Instagram app like is done with the editing functions. Anyway, once downloaded I found the boomerang easy enough to film and then upload to Instagram. Getting the timing of the actual boomerang was a little tricky because the length of the video is shorter than I thought it would be, and as I wanted to film me opening the door to get off the train I didn’t have any practice shots. I was reasonably happy with how it turned out though. I had enough lighting and thus didn’t need the flash on, and after taking the video I decided editing wasn’t necessary and uploaded it as it was.

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

I practiced a couple of boomerangs with myself on random things when sitting on the train to get an idea of how long the boomerang would be and to have an idea of timing, but I had no practice runs with actually capturing the door. At first I wished I got more of the door opening wider but now I’m happy with the look of my finger appearing and pressing the button. After uploading I added a caption; rather than just saying something random in the caption I thought I should probably provide a little context and say what I was doing. I added hashtags in the comment section, like I did with the photo this week. I wanted the video to play automatically because, like a gif, I find a boomerang only interesting because of the movement – so I thought it would be more effective if it started playing as soon as it was scrolled upon. I didn’t add a location to this image because I didn’t really think it was necessary, however on reflection maybe it would have been a good way to try and generate some more traffic.

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

I distributed this video on Instagram and onto Tumblr and Twitter through Instagram. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, sharing something from Instagram onto another app is not necessarily the most effective way to produce content. I feel like every platform has it’s own aesthetic and optimal method of use, and even if you wanted to publish the same video/photo on different mediums you would use different techniques for each one. Like I talked about in the photo reflection for this week, you could not do what I’ve done hear and comment hashtags if you wanted them to work on other platforms, because the comments do not translate to Tumblr and Twitter. Tumblr is also much more full of gifs than boomerangs, which are very much an ‘Instagram thing’ at the moment are a part of the Instagram aesthetic. I find this especially to be the case in Instagram stories (a boomerangs favourite and most natural habitat). I’ve also decided that I don’t love videos for the look of the overall grid, and if videos are to be effective they must have a cover photo that matches the rest of the accounts grid aesthetic. If I were to keep this exercise going, I would start to look for more square double doors like the ones in this weeks reflection (here) and last weeks (here). I feel like if I followed this kind of formula I could develop a nice aesthetic. As such if I were to do boomerangs, I would look for square sliding doors and do them opening and closing rather than a closeup of my hand pressing the door button like I did this week.
As far as publishing through Instagram on Twitter goes, it serves essentially as a teaser for your Instagram account rather than a direct sharing of the publication, and as such I don’t rate it that highly. I was recently introduced to an app called Buffer which allows you to link all your social media accounts and post the same thing to them simultaneously, or to post similar things but edited according to the apps without jumping between them all. I rate this highly as a better, more effective way of cross platform sharing rather than doing so through Instagram. I also find it interesting that if you share your Instagram’s like I have been doing through the app, the goal is still to bring the viewer to the Instagram app. You’re directly linked to the Instagram account on Tumblr and on Twitter you can’t even see the image/video without going into Instagram.

 

Week 11 Reflection – Photo

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The Cellar d00r

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

I took this photo using my new iPhone 8 using the rear camera. Despite it being dark outside I didn’t want to use the flash as I generally don’t like the way it can wash out or overexpose the subject, particularly because the see-through door gave enough light by itself. I found this subject suited the square dimension of Instagram better than my previous subjects. The door itself is square, and I quite liked the look of the timber walls as it kind of fit into that more simple, bare Instagram aesthetic talked about in last week’s reading (Manovich, 2016). After taking the shot I added the “Clarendon” filter, but reduced it to about “40” so that it wouldn’t have the over-edited look. While going through this process I was reminded about how quickly and easily you can go through the whole authoring process, while still producing a decent looking photo. I took the photo in the app, once I was happy with it clicked next and then added a filter, reduced it, added a caption, my location and published it to Twitter and Tumblr by just swiping right on both and it was ready to go – all in less than a minute. This is obviously done deliberately to keep you on the Instagram app rather than using other editing software apps like VSCO. While the other apps may help to create a better looking shot, the constraints are more prevalent as you have to first save the photo to your phone and then upload to Instagram, and it definitely makes the authoring process longer and a bit more complex (still easy, but not as easy as doing it all on Instagram).

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

The publication process for this photo was straightforward. I didn’t take many photos because I knew what I was trying to capture. My one concern was whether to try and capture the whole front part of the store (including the sign on the wall) etc and to not cut off any of the objects in the photo. However that could have thrown off the dimensions of the shot so I decided I wanted a shot that focused on the door and the light inside, and the cut off objects on the sides wouldn’t really matter as they were secondary to the focus of the shot. My caption was stupid pun, to be honest when I walked past the bar I wasn’t thinking about the name of it but after I took the shot and added the location I knew I had to use it. I added the location as well because I think that is one other significant way of creating traffic on your profile alongside hashtags. Particularly popular restaurants and bars will have Instagram accounts and will like photos they’re tagged in, and while it did not happen on this occasion I like this strategy. This week (for both the video and the photo) as an experiment I didn’t add any hashtags to the actual caption, but after publishing I added a comment with as many hashtags as I could think of. I really liked this result because if the comment is long enough, all you can see when scrolling is “view 1 comment” and not the ugly messiness of heaps of hashtags that can make the post look a bit tacky in my opinion. Also, I am able to add heaps of hashtags and hopefully create more traffic rather than just three hashtags like I did last week.

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

I published this photo on both Tumblr and Twitter which was again made super easy after I linked the accounts in the first week. What made this week different was how I added a hashtag comment to my Instagram account so to not clutter the actual caption and to be able to hopefully generate more traffic on the publication. However for obvious reasons this does not translate well when publishing onto Twitter and Tumblr as you can’t edit twitter posts to add hashtags and because Tumblr is just sharing a picture of the Instagram post I can’t add hashtags to that either. So While this is easily my favourite hashtag strategy for Instagram it doesn’t translate well with the other apps. My strategy of using hashtags and generating traffic over different platforms would then be determined by the importance of each platform to me. For example if my main target audience was on Instagram I would stick with this strategy, however if my main audience was on all of the platforms I may go back to my strategy from last week.

 

Week 10 Reflection – Photo

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New phone feels #doors #adoorable #reflection

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

I took this photo on my new iPhone 8 with the rear camera. I tried stay at a distance that I could frame the photo so it was squared nicely around the square doors. I did not need and therefore use a flash for the photo as there was already more than enough light. After taking the shot I added the “Clarendon” filter and dialled it down a bit so it wasn’t too blue, but I didn’t dial it down that much. Other than that I did no editing however. In comparison to other editing software websites the editing process is easy and only takes a few clicks, whereas using other editing apps requires a bit more back-and-forth-ing. I have also noticed over the years that Instagram has increased the editing options in their authoring process, so there isn’t heaps that one can’t do on Instagram that one can on other apps. Well not too many mainstream photo authoring options anyway.

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

I took a few shots before I decided on this photo, as I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be in the reflection or if I wanted the doors to be open or closed. Once I decided to be out of the photo (as much as possible anyway) I settled on this photo pretty quickly. I then added a caption, a location, and 3 hashtags to stay with my formula.

My photo interestingly got 5 likes in just half an hour (I suspect it was the #reflection hashtag that brought the traffic). It’s interesting because my video this week in comparison got very little attention. I think the photo, as opposed to the video, may have a little more of that “Instagrammism” (Manovich, 2016) aesthetic about it, with the photo having a certain filter and sparseness that I think represents that look a little bit more than the video does. I’m not sure whether this photo got more traffic through the quality of the photo or through the different hashtags. The location is the same and so are two of the hashtags, so perhaps it was the “reflections” hashtag. I suspect it was a bit of both, but I think a definite reason is the quality of the photo and the better Instagram aesthetic it has in comparison to the video.

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

I added this video to Tumblr and to Twitter with very easily. One thing I did notice on Tumblr was that the video doesn’t play automatically like it does on Instagram. You have to physically press play. I think this means that if you really wanting to make it work on Tumblr you would need an affective caption that sums up the video and the cover image of the video must draw people in. While scrolling I don’t think people will want to click play on a random video with a vague caption that doesn’t look interesting, even if it does contain something interesting within the video. I also dislike how Twitter does not show any kind of preview, and as such the descriptions must be interesting to gain any kind of traffic through that platform because you cannot speak to the audience through images like you can on both Instagram and Tumblr.

Week 10 Reflection – Video

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Slowing down #doors #adoorable #revolvingdoors

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How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
My iPhone SE died last week (RIP) so I bought a new phone (iPhone 8) and these were my first Instagram uploads using it. While the phone screen is bigger I found the dimension constraints annoying to frame the video in particular. I couldn’t figure out a nice way to frame it, and uploaded the video as a reminder to myself of how not to frame videos like that on Instagram. I used the front camera without a flash, and I also decided to mute the video to remove unnecessary, distracting background noise.  After I was happy (enough) with the video I chose a filter “Inkwell”, which makes the photo black and white. Unlike last week when I reduced the filter, I just went with the preset Inkwell filter as it was because I wanted it to look black and white the way it was shown; I thought this could not only make the video a bit more interesting but it could also mix up the colours and aesthetic of my profile feed/grid.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
It took a few goes to get a video I was happy with as I decided I wanted one without any people going in or coming out of the revolving doors. While the ability to record a video on Instagram with different parts (it allows you to press record then stop, then press record again so that you can keep the video going) I found this frustrating to re-shoot a video I wasn’t happy. It was only a couple of extra clicks to get out of the video I was filming but it felt fiddly and was a bit annoying to go through. If I were recording videos for my personal account I would still probably do this on the camera app rather than in Instagram unless I wanted to use that specific function. After getting what I wanted, I added a caption, a location and three hashtags like last week. I’m still deciding whether I like the look of this or whether it’s still too crowded.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?
Like last week I distributed this video on my Instagram and to the linked Tumblr and Twitter accounts. Toggling between the accounts is very easy as I just have to go to my profile screen and click on my name, and Instagram remembers the linked accounts so all I have to do is select “Tumblr” and “Twitter” and it was ready to go. I maintained the three hashtags for this video.

 

Manovich, L 2016, Instagram and the Contemporary Image, University of San Diego,  US, <http://manovich.net/index.php/projects/instagram-and-contemporary-image>

Week 9 Reflection – Video

Posted on by under Instagram, Reflections

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

I recorded this video on my iPhone SE with the rear camera. My phone camera has this weird spot on it at the moment so that affected how I was going to frame the shot, but also trying to frame a door from so close was really hard. However I was more going for the noise/action of the video rather than the aesthetic of it. I didn’t use any flash, but added the “reyes” filter to it and dialled it down a bit. I only did one shot and didn’t segment the video as I wanted it to be one continuous flow to show how annoying the sound of the door is, however on reflection it could have been cool if I just added together lots of little videos of the moments it was squeaking. I kept the audio on this video because it was the main point of the video, however after this I feel like similar videos like this aren’t especially suited to Instagram because it’s such an image based platform. Everything is competing for your eyes so basing your post on sound would not be an effective method unless it had nice imagery attached. It just won’t have the same reach. Also in terms of quality of the video – it must have been my dying phone making all those annoying noises in the wind and it really took away from the effectiveness and listenability of the video. I tried several times but couldn’t seem to solve this problem.

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

It took me a few goes before I actually could time the video to capture the annoying noise of the door, so there was definitely more than one take getting this right and the curation process was simple – get a video that has the sound right. I didn’t feel the need to add the location but because it was just my suburb (even though I added it for the photo, I’m just experimenting), but I did add a singular hashtag. This is more the kind of hashtag you would find on a personal account though, as it’s a joke rather than a hashtag that generates any amount of traffic. I configured the video to play immediately so the viewer would understand what the post was about rather than forcing them to click on the play button on a boring looking video.

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

I’d set up the linked Tumblr and Twitter accounts for the photo this week, so as well as on Instagram I easily published the video onto those platforms as well. To be honest I like the look of no location on Twitter better, as it doesn’t seem to make the Tweet so cluttered and unreadable. However it may be less effective in the way that locations can serve as a way of generating curiosity and making viewers want to see the Instagram photo/video. As such I’m undecided on what’s best here. Sharing the video on Tumblr is more effective but in comparison to other published tumblr videos and pictures I still don’t love the look of “see more on Instagram” and the doubling up of hashtags in the caption and down the bottom, as well as the URL being shared in the caption.

 

Week 9 Reflection – Photo

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My front door. #door #doors #adoorable #frontdoor

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How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
For this photo I used my iPhone SE. Typically iPhones don’t take great photos without a lot of light, and I found this to be the case here. While my phone is relatively outdated I can still often take some decent photos with it, particularly if I use the rear camera as I did here. However I feel like the the quality of it is impacted by the low level of light. This, combined with the square/size restriction of the Instagram app meant that I struggled to find a position to take a photo I was really happy with, and thus reduced the overall quality of the photo in my eyes. In terms of editing, all I used was the “Gingham” filter but I reduced it so the shot didn’t seem overly edited, pixelate more and further reduce the quality. There was no flash used in this shot. Generally I use my camera app to take the photos before I import them into Instagram. I do this mostly because I feel like it gives me more flexibility with the size and framing of the shot. I’ll take a few and decide which one is best for Instagram. With this shot however, I took the photo in the Instagram app with the sole purpose of uploading it to Instagram, and while the shot sizing suits the app more I didn’t like that restricted feeling as much.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
The publication process for this was a relatively simple one. I didn’t take many photos in the last week, nor did I take many when I decided on my subject. Generally, however, my curation process is based on primarily the quality, lighting and size of the pictures. I added a location of my suburb before upload to maybe get some local following, and I also added 4 hashtags. The number was determined by the number of door-related hashtags I could actually think of, however now I think I’ll stick to three hashtags as the optimal number. Maybe I’ll go with doors, adoorable and one other that something to do with the specific door I’m documenting. My text caption is merely to give the photo some context.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?
When I made the Instagram account I linked a Tumblr and Twitter account so that they would be ready to go as soon as I wanted to post. Once I did this it made it super easy to just select both apps when editing/publishing my photo onto Instagram so that then they automatically were published to Tumblr and Twitter as well. In relation to hashtags this transition seems to work well Twitter because, like Instagram, it uses hashtags as a way of categorising and archiving posts. However on Tumblr it’s not quite as neat. While Tumblr does use the hashtag function in a way, it doesn’t remove the useless hashtags in the caption. Instead it just doubles up the hashtags down the bottom, making it look a bit more cluttered in my opinion. I also don’t love the look of the  “(at Ringwood North, Victoria, Australia)” for Tumblr and the “@ Ringwood North, Victoria, Australia” on Twitter when I’ve added a location to my Instagram post. I think this again makes the post a little cluttered and I’d rather that the viewer finds out the location after clicking onto the Instagram post. While I didn’t distribute this photo to Facebook, I have found in the past that this is probably the most seamless cross-platform publication method.

Assignment 2 – Review

Posted on by under Assignments, Legacy Photography, Legacy Video, Online Photography, Online Videography

James Bowman
s3603919

I Declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understand and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration – https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/support-and-facilities/student-support/equitable-learning-services=

Blog Reflections
Week 5: Legacy Photography (practice analysis)
Week 6: Legacy Video (practice analysis)
Week 7: Online Photography (practice analysis)
Week 8: Online Video (practice analysis)

Review

1. Provide your own definition (in your own words) on ‘photography’ in relation to legacy and online media, by referring to the readings, additional research and the practice analyses completed in your blog.

Photography, at it’s most basic level, is using a camera to capture an image of something using a light sensor to then make it permanent. Traditionally this image was stored onto something physical, such as film, and thus speaks to what we now consider legacy photography. Now online media and digital technology means that the vast majority of images are stored digitally, either on their phone or published on apps like Instagram. Legacy photography refers to when the average person did not have access to a camera. Rather, photography was something that only professionals could afford to do. Henri Cartier-Bresson is an example of this. His wealth afforded him the ability to devote the time into producing quality images, and more importantly his wealth allowed him to use and access the then very expensive equipment required to produce photographs. I discussed another example of a legacy photograph by Kevin Carter here. It’s an example of how legacy media was when “photojournalists [were] dispatched to the world’s remote corners that few of us could regularly access”, and “advertisers trying to sell us chunks of that world” (Zylinska 2016, p. 7).

This changed with the invention and utilisation of camera phones and wireless communication. These afforded anyone with a smart phone the ability to be a photographer, and even become “distributors, archivists and curators of the light traces immobilised on photo-sensitive surfaces” (Zylinska 2016, p. 7). This speaks to the idea that modern photography is not just a result of the camera phone, but perhaps more significantly the ability for camera phones to then publish and distribute to apps like Instagram for anyone else around the world to engage with.

2. Provide your own definition (in your own words) on ‘video practice’ in relation to legacy and online media, by referring to the readings, additional research and the practice analyses completed in your blog.

Like in photography, legacy video only allowed those who could afford the equipment needed to produce video, as well as the means (or knowing someone who did) to edit and publish the video, to actually do so. However the invention of portable video equipment (1965)”exploded in many directions simultaneously” (Horsfield 2006, p. 3), and allowed non-professionals to create video for the first time. Some of these legacy practices included video being used as political tools to decentralise communications systems and media outlets, as well as being used by media activists to “document a new type of direct-from-the-scene reportage that was not manipulated” (Horsfield 2006, p. 3), and was therefore seen as an unbiased medium. Another significant legacy video practice that emerged was video art, of which Nam June Paik was the pioneer (I talk about one of his installations here). Previous to the release of camcorders, video was very centralised. However Paik began the trend of using video for personal expression, particularly after new video equipment was released in the early 70s that “allowed more complex visualising effects” (Horsfield 2006, p. 5). However even during this time there was still relatively limited access to the everyday person due to the expensive costs associated the recording, storing and editing of video. This is where online media changed things again. Similarly to what happened with photography, online media allows anyone with a phone camera to record, edit, publish and distribute their video data, without the physical restrictions that were once associated with legacy video. As a result, video is even more decentralised, allowing for even more personal expression and becoming more intertwined with everyday life through apps like Instagram.

3. What differences and similarities did you discover between the way legacy and online photos are authored, published and distributed?

The authoring of legacy photography was very centralised. The equipment costs as well as time that needed to learn about the equipment meant that relatively few people could engage with authoring photos in the legacy era. This limitation meant that the authoring of photos emphasised professional quality, and the scarceness of the medium meant that more significance was attributed to the taking of each photo. Conversely, convenience plays a huge role in the way that online photos are authored.  Palmer states that “sensor size and megapixel count have become secondary to the basic convenience of  the networked mobile device” (2014, p. 246). Therefore quality and professionalism matters less and there is much less significance placed on a single photo. The increased prevalence of photo taking also means that there are more mundane photos taken, but also more intimate (Palmer, 2014). The authoring of online photos may even be influenced apps like Instagram, which may influence the tone or style of photos that people author if they want to publish them on that specific app (think size, filtering, colouring, captioning etc.).

This leads to how the publishing and distribution of legacy and online photos is again, extremely different. Legacy photo predominately paid for  marketed, published and distributed by professional organisations. Again this relates to the coupling of terms like ‘professional’ and ‘quality’ with legacy photography. In comparison, the huge volume of online photos is now just an endless data flow rather than an individual image (Zylinska, 2016).  Online media apps like Instagram can also affect the way photos are authored and published, as they have the affordances of publishing to your followers but constraints on things such as the dimensions of photos being published.

4. What differences and similarities did you discover between the way legacy and online videos are authored, published and distributed?

Like legacy photography, legacy video wasn’t easy to access for the everyday person. Perhaps it was even more so than photography it could be argued, particular in relation to the time, knowledge and equipment required to edit video. While Nam June Paik was able to create video art, he still needed the income of the Rockefeller Foundation to actually fund his projects, something not available to anyone. As such the authoring or legacy video, other than video art, is typically pretty linear and straightforward as editing was not as easy as it is with online videos. Authoring and editing online videos is much easier, whether it be on the phone camera itself or in apps like Instagram. Instagram in particular allows for both artistic expression in video, like Rachel Ryle, who operates within the time constraints (she creates 30 second clips) of video publishing on the app, but it also allows for the publishing of again more intimate and mundane videos due to the ease of use and ability of virtually anyone to author them. Online video “can be networked, shared, downloaded and re-used with ease” (Berry 2018, p.8), which can not be said about legacy video.

Like photos, legacy video was still tied to the idea of professional. Contrastingly, an example of more personal and decentralised online video, is how vloggers author and publish their content. Particular in the formative years of the form, many videobloggers self-identified as amateur (Berry, 2018), directly going against the traditional notion of professionals only producing video as was the case in the legacy era.

References:
– Kuc K, Zylinska J, 2016 Photomediations: A Reader, Open Humanities Press, London, UK.
– Horsfield K, 2006, Busting the Tube: A Brief History of Video Art, Video Data Bank, School of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, US.
– Palmer D, 2014, Mobile Media Photography, The Routledge Companion to Mobile Media, London, UK.
– Berry T, 2018, Video Blogging Before YouTube, Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

 

Online Videography – Rachel Ryle

Posted on by under Online Videography, Reflections

This week we’ve taken a look at online videography, particularly in relation to Instagram. The subject I have chosen is Rachel Ryle. While she isn’t a traditional videographer in the sense that her videos are primarily animations and illustrations, it is an example of how artists and influencers are using the Instagram video function to gain audience leverage and sell their brand. Today she has 1.1 million Instagram followers, and while she uses other platforms Ryle says that Instagram is still her “main focus”.

The video I’m discussing is below.

View this post on Instagram

I love when I gain inspiration from talented people that I've met on @Instagram. Even better, I love when I find ways to collaborate with them & get the opportunity to point my spotlight their way! I've been a fan of @chrisburkard's account for years, and I created this piece out of my adoration & respect for his work. His adventurous spirit and ability to capture the places he goes is inspiring & captivating. Last year he released a stunning documentary about an Icelandic surf trip that recently got picked up by Netflix! The moment I watched it I was inspired to make this animation. Within this piece I did my best to retell his story through the world of my art. It took me nearly a month to conceptualize & complete, with a lot of attention to detail & tricky parts to figure out along the way. The whole time I thought about his dedication to his craft, and how it's always worth pushing yourself to new limits in the effort to make something new for others to enjoy. My hope with creating this piece is that it will encourage you to follow his awesome account and that you'll go watch his film, "Under An Arctic Sky" (available on Netflix & iTunes)! I promise you'll be inspired…& if you are, give it a good rating! A huge thank you to the team at @ChrisBurkardStudio for providing me with the footage & to @juliancisneros for the film's original music! Here's to supporting other creators & their creativity! #stopmotion #animation #illustration #art #instavideo #instavid #surfing #travel #iceland #UnderAnArcticSky #chrisburkard

A post shared by Rachel Ryle (@rachelryle) on

Who is the practitioner (what is their name and their Instagram handlebar?) and when were they practicing?
Rachel Ryle (@rachelryle) is an award-winning animator and illustrator. While she has illustrated for a long time, it was only in 2013 that she started animating. Her first attempt (which she posted to YouTube) that was made in 2013 is miles away from the quality she produces now.

With the photo you are examining when was it produced ?
The video was published in May of 2018, however she says the video took nearly a month to conceptualise and produce. She says that on average a 30 second clip will take 4 to 5 days of conceptualising, illustrating, filming and editing before completion.

How was the video authored and published?

While I’m not completely sure of the process or the camera she uses, Rachel illustrates and cuts all the objects in her videos and then animates them together in a sequence, kind of like stop-motion. I love the way she makes her videos a loop, so that the last frame of the video is the same as the starting frame, making it really aesthetically pleasing.

The video was published on her Instagram @rachelryle page.

How was the video distributed?
The video was distributed on both YouTube and Facebook, as well as the Instagram page. Interestingly, despite Ryle’s already large following, she still sees the need to add 11 hashtags to this particular video to create further circulation and wider distribution of the video.

Online Photography – Konsta Punkka

Posted on by under Online Photography, Reflections

The photo being examined can be found here.

Who is the practitioner (what is their Instagram handle?) and when were they practicing?
Konsta Punkka (@kpunkka), a 23 year old Finnish wildlife and landscape photographer. Konsta bought his first DLSR at 17 years old and began photographing his friends skateboarding and local bands. It was only after awhile that he began to really take an interest in wildlife photography, particularly focused on the local wildlife in Finland.

He talks a little about himself and his passion for wildlife photography here.

With the photo you are examining when was it produced?
It was produced on July 28, 2018 during “the aftermath of the blood moon”. He was in Northern Norway at the time almost missed it, but managed to take this shot before the moon went down for the day.

How was the photo authored and published?
This photo would have been taken on a DLSR of some sort (he often uses Nikon and sometimes Olympus cameras), however there isn’t a way of being sure of what the exact camera was or what editing software was used. Interestingly, I found a YouTube video that gives a Lightroom tutorial on how to make your photos look like Punkka’s here. Whether Punkka actually uses Lightroom I’m not sure, but I found it an interesting point that someone felt that he had a distinct enough editing tone to make a tutorial on how to replicate it.
This photo was published only on his Instagram page @kpunkka.

How was the photo distributed?
This photo was only distributed through the Instagram page, however this isn’t the case for a lot of his photos. As outlined on his website, Punkka often collaborates with or does work for various companies such as National Geographic, Greenpeace, ICOS, Sony, Huawei Smartphones, OnePlus, Nikon, SanDisk, Volvo, Adobe, Olympus, Icelandair, 66North, Yleisradio, Visit Switzerland, and Visit Canary Islands. Certain photos will also be published by media publications that contact him and thus will be distributed that way as well, so his Instagram is a mixture of commissioned photos that will be published and distributed elsewhere and photos just for his Instagram.
An example of him doing commissioned work can be found here, as he went to Namibia with a group of other photographers sponsored by Olympus.
This may change however when, as he mentions in the interview linked above, he publishes a book of his work and will therefore diversify the distribution of some of his photos.

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