Ode to Instagram

I set up an instagram account yesterday (no this picture isn't from it but it's the same basic concept) and suddenly everywhere I look I see not just a candle holder, but a potential picture. I don’t see my earrings lying on the table, I see a potential picture. My world isn’t a 3D space in which I exist, it’s an infinite stack of 2D pictures waiting to be taken, to be captured and frozen and shared forever, or for an instant.

I consider myself a writer before a photographer or visual artist. I prefer words. They are my comfort zone. I know how to challenge myself with words and to challenge my readers if I so choose. I enjoy seeking out the perfect synonym or setting up a clever ambiguity. I enjoy the task of presenting in black and white horizontal lines the depth and color of the world around me and within me. Why then am I obsessed with this very visual sharing technique? I could make my facebook status say that I’m having homemade corn tortillas with my lunch, or I could just take a picture and put it up.

I think the answer lies in a few things:

1. Loneliness. The longer I am away from home and my friends, the more I wish I had someone, anyone, everyone to share this experience with. I could describe it, but an image feels so much closer to a shared experience. This is what I see. You can see it too and describe it for yourself if you see fit. I picture is worth 1000 words, or so they say. I’d say a picture is worth 1000 miles, or the distance it closes between me and you.  

2: Ease. Granted, while I do find writing relatively easy, it’s still somewhat of a chore.  When I want to share something, I want it to be effortless (again, as if my friend were here). A picture is so comparatively simple. A few seconds, a few pushes of a few buttons and there you have it. My moment is captured and I can go on enjoying it or wallowing in it as I see fit.

3: Novelty. It’s just fun. It’s fun to look around and to find something interesting in your surroundings that you might not have otherwise noticed. It’s fun to take that something and to lock it into a little box, and to manipulate it into a little visual taste of where you are or what you’re doing. It’s fun to know that somewhere out there someone will see what you’ve done, and you can see what they have done. It’s fun that our imaginations can all be connected like that.

Travelling long term is hard. But I set up an instagram account yesterday, and I’m glad. It brings me that much closer to my friends, wherever they may be. And, if nothing else in a day, I can look for ways to share little pieces of my world. It may be just another silly AP, but it’s a silly AP that makes the world that much more beautiful, that much more friendly, and that much more fun.