Murad Osmann #followmeto
Who is the practitioner and when were they practicing?
Murad Osmann is a Russian photographer and videographer working with his wife Nataly Osmann, who features as the model in the work. The couple has over 4 million follows across Instagram and YouTube (Mediakix, n.d., para. 1). Known for their travel photography and videos using based on their #followme series, they have also featured in Harper’s Bazaar and National Geographic Traveller magazines (Krieger, 2019, para. 8). Their first travel-themed post from a trip to Barcelona using the #followme tag posted on October 2011, began their Instagram following (Yung, 2015, para.2)
https://www.instagram.com/p/QiGd6/
What is the title of the video you have chosen to analyse?
#followmeto Japan
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B0oN1WFB0WS/
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B0oN1WFB0WS/
When was the video produced?
The video was published on IGTV on 2 August 2019, however much of Osmann’s content is well researched and edited in post-production so it is likely the video was shot on an earlier date. ‘There is a lot of research behind a photo (or video). We always talk with local people and ask for places to visit. We go to a location, shoot, and if it doesn’t work out, we might come back. But most of the time we just shoot what we have’. (Yung, 2015, para. 4). During an interview in 2015, Osmann mentioned that he would like to travel to Japan and in April 2017 a photo was published from a location in Japan that are featured in the 2019 video.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BS36wpzBSB0/
How was the video authored?
Osmann uses a variety of DSLR cameras, commenting that with any good quality camera he is able to create content. He doesn’t specify which camera he uses for each piece of work but has mentioned Sony Alpha 7 cameras due to the ability to use it with different lenses (Yung, 2015, para. 9). The video features Nataly leading Murad (and the viewer) through different landscapes in Japan, while she poses in various cultural outfits and costumes. The video is overlayed with 2D graphics, 3D elements, voice-over narration and music. It is a highly produced piece and would require a lot of planning and shooting along with the postproduction effects. To achieve this level of production, Osmann collaborated with a team that is acknowledged in the video’s caption, including production, director, travel partner, graphics and music.
The video falls under the genre of travel photography and videography, but the aesthetic Osmann has created with his #followmeto series also references culture, fashion and history in a narrative style. Krieger identifies this artistic approach ‘No mere romantic world-traveling venture, #followmeto visually embodies many characteristics of colonialist art-historical movements and styles, such as 19th-century Orientalist painting and contemporary fashion photography’ (2019, para.3).
How was the video published?
The video was published on Instagram via IGTV on 2 August 2019, with a caption linking to Nataly Osmann’s account and using their hashtag #followmeto indicating that is part of the series. The title includes an instruction for the viewer to watch in full-screen mode and to rotate their device if they are using a mobile phone. Traditionally Instagram is viewed in portrait view, even with the introduction of video in 2015 this format was maintained. The landscape format for video was introduced in 2019, ‘we’re announcing support for landscape videos in addition to vertical. Ultimately, our vision is to make IGTV a destination for great content no matter how it’s shot so creators can express themselves how they want. (Instagram business, 2019. Para. 4). Therefore, Osmann has taken advantage of this change to the platform with this video.
How was the video distributed?
The video is distributed through IGTV on Osmann’s Instagram page tagging Nataly and the production team and using only their #followmeto hashtag. Still images from the video are posted on Murad and Nataly’s pages to promote the video. The couple has a joint Instagram account named after their hashtag, followmeto with 473,000 followers, which documents the behind the scenes of their travel photos and videos also linking back to the final videos and providing followers with teasers of locations to come.
Osmann uses a variety of online platforms to distribute his work, for example, a YouTube channel with 62,000 subscribers, Vimeo and a followmeto account on Facebook with 196,000 followers, all of which links back to his Instagram with 4 million followers, as this is Osmann’s main method of distribution and most successful (Krieger, 2019, para.31). Instagram’s ability to widely distribute has helped establish Osmann’s following, ‘Instagram is more than one thing: it is an app; it is a series of programs and algorithms; it is a gigantic database of images, videos, captions, comments, geolocative tags, location tags, likes, emoji and more and more items over time’ (Leaver, 2020, p.17).
Jon Youshaei, Product Marketing Manager of IGTV from Instagram explains how to create a successful IGTV strategy:
References:
Instagram Business, n.d., Introducing IGTV, Instagram Business, viewed 26 April 2020, <https://business.instagram.com/a/igtv?locale=en_GB>
Krieger, D 2019, ‘Unpacking Murad Osmann’s #followmeto Instagram travel series’, I on the arts, 21 January, viewed 26 April 2020, <http://www.i-on-the-arts.com/2019/01/essay-unpacking-murad-osmanns.html>
Leaver, T., Highfield, T., Abidin, C., 2020. Instagram: Visual Social Media Cultures. Digital Media and Society, United Kingdom.
Loren, T 2020, An Insider Look at IGTV for Creators, with Instagram’s Jon Youshaei, YouTube, 7 Apr, Later, viewed 26 April 2020, <https://youtu.be/oKnEvwz9Bpg>
Mediakix, n.d., Influencer spotlight: interview with Instagram star Murad Osmann, Mediakix, viewed 26 April 2020, <https://mediakix.com/blog/murad-osmann-interview-with-followmeto-instagram-star>
Osmann, M 2019, #followmeto Japan, Instagram, 2 August, viewed 26 April 2020, <https://www.instagram.com/tv/B0oN1WFB0WS>
Yung, V 2015, ‘Interview: Murad Osmann, the Instagram ‘Follow Me’ photographer’, South China Morning Post, 24 June, viewed 26 April 2020, <https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48-hours/article/1823765/inquisition-murad-osmann-photographer>
