I have always looked at Instagram as an outlet for creativity as opposed to others who see it as a photo journal. I signed up for an account years ago because I've been one who gets constant surges of creativity and inspiration. That, plus I love square photos (it gives you that bit of a challenge in framing, don't you think?).
In three years, I watched my photos evolve. At times I cringed at old posts and have deleted a number them, but more or less what you see in my feed now documents some of the highlights of life's journey in the past 150 weeks. I have gained followers and I am thankful for each one who has been showing my photos some love, may it be a "like" or a comment; it means a lot to know that somehow people are able to appreciate and recognize these square representations of my world.
About three weeks ago, I woke up to a message from Instagram telling me I've been listed as a suggested user. The Suggested User list normally shows up when you sign up for a new account.
My initial reaction was,
"Wait, what? Is this some sort of a spam thing going on?" And if my memory serves right, I remember even blinking twice just to make sure I wasn't imagining it. It seemed like a big deal, up until a few days after.
To be honest, I never really thought of myself being remotely close to being a suggested user (what i did wish was to be featured in
Vsco's featured photographer list). I do not know Instagram's criteria for choosing suggested users but hey, somehow they noticed me minding my own business so that is still very flattering. Thank you, Instagram!
One may feel a bit overwhelmed when you get a huge wave of followers, from a measly 400+ to reaching 6,900 within two weeks. I would be truly happy if even half of these users even care what I have to post. I mean, they are strangers, after all but it would be at least good to know that you can connect with most of them in the creative aspect of photography.
Anyway, I think my feature has already expired because the "wave" has subsided. But now, I feel though that I've become more limited in what I can share. Before this, I still felt okay sharing some personal photos and the occasional self-portraits. Since the week of the feature, I don't think I can even post something that relates to my personal life, and sometimes I miss that.
The photo sharing will continue, yes, but maybe just nature or landscape images for now. The only good thing I am taking in from all this is how the people at Instagram are able to recognize my photos as worthy of more audience. I don't want to sound ungrateful to any of the new ones, but I think quality still prevails over quantity.
On a side note, I've had five photos that had been curated and featured in
Vsco Grid. I admit this makes me way more proud than the Instagram one. The Grid is not as widely popular as IG platform but that doesn't matter to me. Vsco has always brought about so much inspiration and influence in my vision. If you take a look at
the Grid, the photography you see there are more inspiring, artistic and unique. I've always aimed for the rare and special so to see some of my photos amongst the work of creative others from different parts of the world and for the people at Vsco to recognize that, feels good and motivating. It proves I could rise at least a bit up from the multitude of others in this field who settle for mediocrity. Thank you Vsco. Truly an honor.
