Meet your local Instagrammer
© Emmanuel Cole
Instagram has quickly grown into one of the most popular and widely used apps ever. With 300 million monthly active users, over 60 million photos are shared on it each day that receive 8500 likes every single second. In 2012, just over a year and a half after it launched, the photo-sharing phenomenon was bought by Facebook for a jaw-dropping $1 billion, and it’s widely regarded as one of the most influential social networking sites ever alongside Facebook and Twitter.
So it’s easy to see why people are taking Instagram very seriously indeed. Not only is it simple to upload, edit and tag your photos all within the app itself, but it gives the more discerning user a chance to build an audience that will see their work on a regular basis.
It’s for these reasons that photographers across the world have jumped on the Instagram wagon, networking with similar-minded users and slowly creating communities of ‘Instagrammers’ who use the app as a creative platform.
It was around two years ago that Instagrammer and graphic designer Bobby Anwar was on a lengthy walk when he came up with the idea of documenting the real human beings that are behind all the likes, followers and re-posts.
“While on an Instagram trip [travelling abroad to shoot pictures to share on Instagram] I got an idea for making portraits, first it was photography only but as the idea kept rolling in my head I started to evolve it. I wanted to make visual portraits; not just any portraits but of people like me who have found some sort of relief, purpose or peace by using Instagram. I want to tell these Instagrammers’ stories, meet them on their turf, get to know them better and share their stories with the rest of the world.”
Since this brainwave, Bobby has spent time travelling around Europe creating videos about some of the most influential Instagrammers on the scene, putting a face to the username and finding out how they ended up using Instagram as their primary creative outlet. “It’s a truly diverse group of people with different backgrounds, nationalities and belief systems,” he tells me, “but we all [share] a passion for photography.”
With over 30 Instagrammers to meet and film, Bobby certainly has his work cut out over the next few months. But what is he hoping to achieve with this project?
“My ultimate aim with this project is to tell the story of how one little social app changed these people’s lives. I also want to get the point across that you can achieve whatever dreams you have as long as you are willing to work for it.”
We’ll be revisiting Bobby’s Instagrammers project once he’s finished, so be sure to keep an eye out for the latest updates.
See more:
Instagram: #myli_anwar & @bobbyanwar
