Photo traps
I don’t like the idea that to find “one’s place” in the world of photography, it’s necessary to have a profile on some social platform.
Whether it’s a profile on Instagram or Flickr, a page, or even just your personal profile on Facebook, it gets on my nerves. And I’m sure it’s the world that’s wrong and I’m the one who’s right.
This isn’t about arrogance or presumption, but about a conviction: most people choose the easiest path. I myself think this way 99% of the time: what’s more convenient for me? Something difficult but good for me and others, or something easy that harms me, the environment, or simply doesn’t benefit anyone?
Social networks like Instagram are free (unless you incur promotion costs), easy to use, and seem to allow everyone to be reachable in a way that would otherwise seem impossible. A major limitation of Instagram is that it creates dependency through its gamification-based functioning, interest-based suggested content, short looping videos, and objective ease of use... but it doesn’t promote the quality of content, only its accessibility.
To an “unbiased” eye, it’s clear that a website allows you to reach many more people and organize your content as you wish. The indexing of your own website on search engines is therefore more important than a blue checkmark in this case, but I don’t consider it fundamental. What’s really important is to publish your content (in my case, photographs) on as many media as possible, both online and offline. The more diverse and moderate the “containers,” the easier it is to generate interest in my content—this is my theory, which obviously needs to be verified.
In my life, I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with social networks. Or, to put it better, a dependency/independence relationship.
There was a time when there were forums, then Netlog, and then Facebook, all accessible only from a desktop PC. The biggest risk I faced was spending the entire afternoon and even the evening on those sites instead of studying when I couldn’t go out with friends.
Since smartphones have allowed social media to always be “at hand,” I haven’t had a truly offline moment.
The ubiquity of internet connectivity has started to annoy me, but alas, I work in IT, and the internet is as essential to me as air and the ground beneath my feet.
So, in 2022, I decided to reject the concept of social media as the main online presence for a photographer.
I don’t intend to reject social media as a tool; in fact, to tell the truth, I don’t have any active social profiles except for my old Flickr profile, which I use a bit as a “first landing” for my photography and a bit as an “open sketchbook” for visitors.
My website, which you are currently browsing, is now completely revamped and, although still under construction, will only include a selection of photos chosen by me as the “official showcase” of my work.
I’ve realized that creating a constant flow of photos doesn’t allow viewers to understand where I want to go with my work. And while it’s better to “verticalize” content through tags, categories, and albums, selecting and editing content to make sense of the complexity of the work, it’s better to have a “horizontal approach” regarding the publication of content.