The Selfie.

Since the introduction of 'The Selfie' is has evolved immensely. Having made it into the oxford dictionary in 2013, and also songs based on the topic is has became an everday occurence quickly. It even has a smart phone application based around it, Snapchat. As well as all of the above we also have other product such as the Selfie Stick. This product is relitively new but has took off well and has became a normal thing world wide. The item is to replace you arms which can never seem to reach as far back as you would like, the Selfie Stick has had an impact in a way that you probably wouldn't think becoming a way to take a family portrait. As you can reach further and now fit more into your shot the selfie stick is becoming a new way in which to help shoot family portraits as you dont have to set a timer and run back into position. It is crazy how something has evolved from a self portrait on your iphone to a shot that could possibly replace your usual family photographs.

Below is an example.

Martin Parr

Martin Parr is an example of someone who takes the Kodak Moment, specifically the holiday aspect of it and shows it how it really is; packed beaches, seagulls, fish and chips, litter and crying babies. With the vibrant colours and harsh flash he makes the work and message very prominent making the subject very ugly and not showing it in a good light.
This work is well known world wide and is probably the go to for research all over, it is very inspiring and I would love to be able to produce work like this.

When Instagram changed their rights in 2013.

In 2013, the mobile app changed it's rights which infringed on peoples rights, it meant that they could use peoples photographs without asking, I remember this and at the time it didn't bother me as I didn't believe in using the platform to post DSLR work and such fourth as I thought it should be an phone-photo only app.
But I did sit and think being a photographer myself, you fight to keep the rights to your own work and you use the platform just to promote yourself then they change the rights to use your work without giving you a cent. It's like they have forgot about rights almost. The article below just gives a brief insight into the photography community gathering to fight and change the rights back.

http://www.bjp-online.com/2013/08/photography-organisations-rally-against-instagrams-terms-of-use/

Instagram's many tangents

This article is an insight from one of Instagram's co-founders. He expresses the way in which the smart phone app has evolved from what it was originally set out to be and how although people capitalise from Instagram (not from the app itself but the way they use it) they aren't trying to launder off them, they just get excited as they never imagined it would get this big, he specifically says he enjoys professional photographers using the app in whatever way they do, whether is be just general stuff, insights on their work or even actual pieces.

http://www.bjp-online.com/2013/10/instagram-has-changed-the-way-people-see-the-world-claims-co-founder-kevin-systrom/

The fight between using work on Instagram

This article wrote in 2013 is quite interesting as it shows Instagram from a photographers side, something which is rare considering it is a photo-based app. It provides the argument between whether we as photographers should embrace the app or we should kind of dismiss the app. It makes valid points in building a following for your art but also losing the rights to an extent, it also mentions that moving into the digital age people can take your work easily not just through Instagram but others like Facebook and such.
I found the whole article quite interesting and I can see both sides of it being a photographer myself but the work i tend to put on the app is from my hobby Skateboarding. I don't necessarily want to go into skateboard photography but if I did want to get recognised, I would definitely use Instagram as I reach professional skateboarders and photographers along with magazines who could like my work which would be a big help.


http://www.bjp-online.com/2013/01/beyond-instagram-should-photographers-accept-the-risks-inherent-in-social-networks/

The new Economics or Instagram

This article was wrote in 2012 but its goes to show how good and useful the app is that between 2010-2012 it had risen to 80millions users who had posted 4billion photographs and that was in 2012, imagine what it will be like now almost 3 years later! In the article it goes onto say people like Justin Bieber has 2.8million followers and they think that is huge, little did they know as I have pointed out previously that people would exceed that such as Kim Kardashian with 27million followers and counting just 3 years later. The app has such as a reach and has not only been adapted by the public and celebrities but also brands such as Nike, Adidas, The North Face, National Geographic amongst many other and why wouldn't they? The reach they will get to the product, etc. is amazing and a lot more than what shops, adverts, TV and billboards will get in probably week in views and recognition they will in just a couple of hours of people all over the world catching up on their Instagram feed.
As well as celebrities, photographers have taken to the app, they like the freeness and the instant quality to it in which they can post their work our out of the field and thousands of people see their progress within projects etc.

http://www.bjp-online.com/2012/09/the-new-economics-of-photojournalism-the-rise-of-instagram/

Larry Sultan - Pictures from home (1980's)

Larry Sultans work for me is a great example of a Kodak Moment but on another level. He takes the photographs we all probably would documenting life around the house but he makes them an art form, theres a talent to that. He takes the everyday happy home which you can tell but gives them an uncomfortable feeling like there is struggle in the home, he documents the real life such as having a drink before bed. I like Larrys work because of the way it is shot, the colours, the crispness, it's all perfect. I also find it relatable from my own grandparents' house and can see the similarities between the two couples.
Below is some of his work.

http://larrysultan.com/gallery/pictures-from-home/

Own take on a 'Kodak Moment'

I've always enjoyed film over digital, to me it feels more photographical, it's better, it's real. I like the fact that you cant look back at the shots, the fact that you could or couldn't have got that shot the way you wanted or even at all. It holds a lot more emotion because it can either be happiness when you receive your negatives back and they came out as you remembered the moment or sadness that it was missed out and a moment you enjoyed and had hoped to have captured, has been lost in the realm of blank negatives. You find yourself being much more appreciative of everything, the moments captured, the shot itself because unlike digital you aren't just sat there clicking away until you've got a picture you're happy with. There is also the fact that it gives you a look and feel in which you can only edit with digital or which many app's on your smart phones try to achieve.
Below are some photographs shot on 35mm from my own personal hard drive.

Other photograph platforms

As they own Instagram (If you didn't know now you do) it only feels right to talk about Facebook as a photographing platform as well. Facebook even before owning Instagram had a great photograoh section to start with, it had your automatic folders; profile pictures, cover photos, timeline photo's in which you can upload a photograph from your computer whether it be one of your own or a downloaded one and mobile uploads, in which you go onto the Facebook app on your smart phone and upload a photograph either from your gallery or take the photograph there and then and upload it. It also already had Instagram interlinked so when you post something via the app, with the click of a button it would also share it to your Facebook profile (buying Instagram just gave them more control and wealth). As well as all of this you can make your own folders so you can categorise your photographs when uploading them like your own personal album or pictures folder like on your very own desktop computer or laptop. There is even more, like on Instagram, you can tag people within the photographs that are your friends who are associated with the photograph they may be in it or they may understand the subject, as well as tagging them, it appears on their timelines in their 'tagged photos' section. This all just makes your profile more colourful and helps people get to know you, your friends and your interests and with the involvement of Instagram it helps even more. With all of these folders you can give privacy settings apart from cover photo's so you choose who see's them, whether it be everyone, friends of friends, just friends, select friends or just you and no one else.

Below is an example from my own profile with the folder I have.

Jo Spence - Beyond the family album (1979)

Beyond the Family Album by Jo Spence looks at the typical family album and in a sense flips it. She captures the Kodak Moments you don't normally see or include within a family album such as family in hospital, a photo of someone beaten up. Spence sees the family album and photographs the stuff that happens behind the scenes. This is the type of stuff that would probably be frowned upon, especially in a family album, she questions the family album and who decided what should be included.
I like this work a lot and it questions the Kodak moment and what should and shouldnt be considered one, it gives the whole thing a different outlook and I think even to an outsider on photography maybe just the famil album type would it would make them question and wonder and also probably agree.

Photo 1 - http://www.jospence.org/assets/beyond_family_album/9.jpg
Photo 2 - http://www.jospence.org/assets/beyond_family_album/2.jpg
Website - http://www.jospence.org/index.html

27 Million Followers.

A few days ago (26/02/15) Kim Kardashian West, on Instagram reached 27 million followers, since then (28/02/15) she now has 27.1 million followers. Now although some of them may not be fully open accounts (forgotten passwords, robot accounts, etc) there might be 2 million of them maximum, if you think about that, that is 25 million people she reaches when she posts something on the application, every time! Now to my knowledge she isn't payed to post on the platform (I may be wrong) like she has been on the other social network Twitter but for her to reach at least 25million people worldwide at the snap of a picture, that could work out to be some good publicity a companies behalf as well as her own. Thats how powerful social media and more importantly photographs within social media can be these days.
Photographs are becoming a new and easier way of communication, as they say 'a picture is worth a thousand words' and it is becoming more apparant and time as social media is evolving.

Here is Kardashian West's Instagram profile - https://instagram.com/kimkardashian/

Using Kodak moments for work (Nikki S Lee - Projects)

Nikki S Lee, bornin South Korea, based in New York City at the time created a body of work over 4 years called Projects from 1997- 2001. In this body of work she would take on a persona, from multiple ethinicties, work her way into a certain group by dressing like them, acting the same, etc. Once she was comfortable with the group (this could take various amounts of time) she would get he film camera out, and take a few snapshots with her newly found 'friends' as you normally do. Once Lee had the work she needed she would cut ties with the group and stop talking to them, vanishing from their lives. She would even leave the timestamp ino the picture to get that sense of time and when she was in which group.
These are perfect example of Kodak Moments and using it to her advantage to create a body of work is ingenius in my opinion and I admire the work a lot.

 

Black group - https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/93/f4/ce/93f4ce59e2e06fe74e89cc865af948ae.jpg

Work group - http://www.phillips.com/Xigen/lotimg/Nikki-S--Lee/NY040311/265

Tourist group - https://oscarenfotos.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/nikki_s_lee_23.jpg

Kodak Moments coming back around.

Old media formats are making their way back around into our culture today, VHS, tapes, vinyl and even film.
Last year vinyl reached an all time high for the first in 18 years. Along with vinyl, The Impossible Project the new producers of instant film taking over the former Polaroid Warehouse in Enschede, Netherlands, Achieved their first 1 million sales in a year last year. That news is great for both parties, for them because since 2008 when they started to 2010, they have had to start from scratch and re-engineer a new formula as Polaroid didnt leave it (Surprisingly). Always tweaking the ingredients, making the film better, re-introducing formats such as 8x10 and 1200/spectra so to make their first 1 million sales is a big milestone. It is also great for us because it means the more they produce, the better the products get and eventually the cheaper they will become. Film is on the rise with some shops developing more traditional formats than digital! Poundland, The cheap item chain store has probably had a hand in the re-rise of film selling a mixture of Kodak and Agfa 35mm film for £1 a roll! good quality or bad quality it will be getting people interested in film experimenting and later on moving on to better film and funding the market again.
Your beloved Kodak Moments could become common again sooner than you think.


https://blog.the-impossible-project.com/1000000-instant-films-an-historic-impossible-milestone
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/nov/27/vinyl-sales-1m-2014-pink-floyd-artic-monkeys-jack-white
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/8525839/Traditional-camera-film-makes-a-come-back.html

Nokia Moments (Lifeblog).

Lifeblog was made by Nokia the mobile phone industries giants at the time of 2004 as an application around phone application introduction. Nokia was aiming to be the digital version of the precious 'Kodak Moment' with their always upgrading phones and Lifeblog was there to help support that cause. The application that cost around $30 was a digital way of scrapbooking your daily photographs, videos and even text messages, this meant that you didn't have to spend time transferring them to a computer to then print them out and stick them in. You could digitally file them on your phone and it also meant you could show it to your friends without having to carry your scrapbook!

http://www.fastcompany.com/50517/mobile-nokia-moments Here is some more information.

Kodak Moment Adverts.

All of the Below are previous adverts for the 'Kodak Moment'. The Kodak Moment was an advert to encourage people to buy their product and take photography into their own hands and make their own memories rather than hiring out a camera or paying people to take photographs for you.

 

Kodak gone wrong - http://argonautnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/14.jpg

Kodak app - http://wpuploads.appadvice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/kodak.png?showGallerySet=false

Kodak square - https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-1/p160x160/1012394_10151843651796755_741704967_n.png?oh=761877a065c8a36ac856517acd84d1c6&oe=554D7C83&__gda__=1431670805_5edaa5d328c6fe360c61df5d06876f7b

A Kodak moment - http://images.rapgenius.com/05067f8e18925c2e59ec2c6b05f51d79.580x388x1.jpg

Instagram as a platform.

Instagram as a platform has paved the way for many peoples careers, such as bloggers, models, video artists and even photographers because it can work as a blog or a portfolio for someone that can also be seen by many people in the palm of their hand wherever they are (as long as they have signal or wifi).
I think one of the biggest examples of this happened in June last year when a liverpool based photographer Conor McDonnell got called in as a replacement for Annie Leibovitz for the heavily anticipated Kanye West and Kim Kardashian wedding. The reason he was chosen? Kim had somehow managed to spot him on Instagram and he was flown out 24 hours. The main photograph of the wedding went viral on the app and is now the most liked and probably viewed photo on the platform with 2.4million+ likes! (Along with 58,000+ comments). It just goes to show that social media in a sense can be just as powerful as reputation and or word of mouth. Some people say digital is the death of print which to some extent I agree with but in this day and age could print provide an opportunity like this?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/27996193 - Story on Conor McDonnell

Instagram Moments are becoming life changing...

In our world today, looking your best is one of the most important things for some people, whether it be the clothes you where, your hair, your figure or your make-up but because of the recent influx of 'The Selfie' it has been taken one step further.
Since the introduction of the mobile phone self portrait, 'The Selfie' has came on to be a popular worldwide hit! From getting itself into the dictionary to (in a sense) having a app based on it (Snapchat) 'The Selfie' has taken over social media feed's all over the planet but they have became life changing moments for some people. People are now going to plastic surgeons with pictures from their Instagram asking to look like themselves but how a filter has made them look. From an edit option made to make your photographs look like a different photography format or maybe to look like you shot in a more exotic area, these filters are now becoming the basis for plastic surgery so peoples 'Selfies' can look the same all of the time, even without a filter!
To me this is social media rather than instagram itself doing this as you wouldn't feel like this for a 'Kodak Moment' or especially from a 'Nokia Moment'! The camera's were rubbish! I can understand it in a sense and plastic surgery isn't anything new but I still think it's a little crazy!

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/instagram-fuels-new-wave-plastic-surgery-article-1.2102389
Here is an article talking about the topic.

Photographing ourselves now (Kodak moments/Nokia moments).

For my project, I am choosing to cover 'Photographing ourselves now'.
I have chosen this as I feel it's the most relevent to society at the minute and to me in a sense.
Having experienced the back end of a 'Nokia Moment' portable photographing devices have always been a big thing for me. Although when I was younger I took to videoing more than Photography, capturing myself and my friends skating. Then one of my friends got a camera to start taking photographs on and once I had a go I was hooked, that was around 2011. Since then I have tried lot's of mediums such as digital, 35mm, polaroid, medium format, 5x4.
Having had a form of an iPhone for around 3 years and having instagram maybe just as long, I have posted 596 photographs and counting. Instagram is an application in which you share your photographs to possibly the world. It is like the modern day Kodak/Nokia moment, In where you take a photograph of your chosen subject there and then but with a few differences. Before even truely leaving your phone there is a few things; it is square format, unless you have an app inwhich you can frame your photographs. Once you have your chosen photograph you can edit your photo's, give it different 'filters' which are different effects, you can adjust saturation, contrast, brightness and a lot more. There is also a lot of third-party applications that can do this along with Apple iPhones having the effect on camera now as well. Once you have your photograph ready with your preferences, you can caption your photograph and publish it. On instagram you have to have a profile in which to post your photographs, you can follow people so you can see their photographs such as celebrities, your friends, artists, etc. and they can also follow you back to see your 'Feed'. When you post a photograph it goes to whoever follows you. I have 363 followers so as soon as I post a photograph it instantly reaches that many people, which is a sense is a lot, but you can reach more.
There is a thing called a hashtag, which if you hashtag a photograph e.g. #polaroid, you can click on that hashtag and it put's it in to a collective along with other photographs in which people have used the same hashtag, which could be only 50-100 or it could be millions who have used the hashtag, in turn reaching worldwide as well as whoever follows you.
Instagram is in a sense like a blog, documenting your day to day life but you can also put up videos and even your own work making it probably one of the best platforms to get your work out there (especially for us) without having to make print or hold an exhibition.