Instagram stole my craft.
WHAT do you mean?
I have been thinking lately, that there is a chance that Instagram (or social media in general) possibly stole my (and many’s) craft? Sometimes I am sure it did. Do you know what I mean? When it started, I was a rebel. I did not embrace it- I couldn’t believe there was another social media platform that I had to post to and be active on, back then we did Facebook! Instagram suddenly became this place to show perfect magazine style beauty and this is not how I worked. I had already been photographing weddings for 10 years, busy and successfully. I photographed every kind of wedding form tiny to huge from $ to $$$$. it was about the good photography and telling their day with in this.
I see now when I look back when it started becoming the place to be found;
It made me worry about the wrong things in my work. It made me doubt my clients and their choices. It made me look differently whilst working, trying to find something else rather than just seeing. Somewhere along the way it made me look for ‘the perfect’ rather than embrace the messy ( cleaning up around everyone). It made me swap out what was in front of me for what needed to be in front of me. It stopped me looking for what was important , The kind of wedding photography I had done for years—confidently, intuitively.
It made me disappointed in my own photographs. And not because of my photography.
There came a point where it was ‘if it is not that brand’ or ‘that venue’ or ‘those flowers’, If they were not ‘that kind of couple’ or ‘that magazine beautiful’ it was not good enough to show. What is that? There was a scrabble for getting it right, but for the wrong reasons. To create for the feed. Somehow it became shallow and hollow. It has filled my mind with so many ‘other images’ and ‘should be’s’ , that sometimes I forget my own.
I have been looking back through my Ibiza weddings. 9,10,11,12 …. 20 years. Back then, the pressure I felt was from a different place.
For the couple. For myself. To create good art. (I’ve always pushed myself to get the best) There were no thoughts of algorithms, likes, or Insta-worthy aesthetics. No wondering whether the dress, flowers, lighting or editing were on trend and would go viral.
The questions were:
Is this a great photograph?
Does it tell their story?
Have I got enough for the day?
Did I capture the moment, the emotion, their magic?
Will this photo make them cry?
Did they make me cry?
That has been my art of wedding photography. That is why I love what I do-
And looking at all my work, I do LOVE my photography.
All the above is there in the files.
And quickly…. there is what happened to the Wedding Industry?
I think Instagram stole the wedding industry too. It has made everyone forget the real why’s. It has made it into a load of have to’s. It has made everyone hooked and focused on the wrong thing. Taken away the soul and replaced it with a shadow of insta perfect. Everyone wants to be a movie star for the day. Brides and grooms out there please, I want you to remember you are getting married and that it is forever? That should be the starting and end point.
The wedding indusrty turened into a highlight reel, a checklist of don’t forget the shots. ( I have been at weddings, where the bride is more concerned about her list of photos being right rather than the actual wedding or her husband!) People with Fomo. It became an industry driven by trends and algorithms. A show ( the Bezos wedding!). It has become an industry of $$$.
Stay with me.
I am not here with I hate it, don’t use Instagram. I use use it and need it for marketing. It is where creatives like me are found now. I have a very nice website too – don’t forget to check it out! (here). This is me looking back, being observant and nostalgic. This comes from having lived and worked before and after social media. It is an honest: think about what happened in the last 10 years.
This is me asking did Instagram really steal my craft?
or did I lose myself in and amongst it all, because of my own insecurities. After all it is self marketing, with a choice, directed by an algorithm and trends? Did I choose not stand tall and firm on what I believed was the way to photograph a wedding? How I liked to photograph and edit, what I saw and therefore what I showed. Or did I follow what I thought I needed to be shown!
Things ebb and flow. The industry moves in cycles. There will always be new trends, new platforms, new styles. ( I have not set foot on Tik Tok yet) But we have a choice in how we respond. And I take full responsibility. There were moments when I let my insecurities win. I looked outward too much, consumed too much, compared too much. I forgot to stay really true to my art. Because ultimately for me it has always been about the art and what I see through my lens.
I am human.
So the real story I want to tell is:
From an Ibiza wedding Photographer with many year behind me
MY BEST ADVISE for now;
Use the tools you need, to stay current but stay true to you. If you are making art and it is coming from within this is the only way. Always look back towards you, not out towards others. Not via trends and algorithms.Stop changing every time the trend does. Shoot what feels right. Your people are out there. Hardest lesson to learn!
AND The best bit is: Instagram has gone full circle and now it is about being messy, being real, being who you are now. No more fancy perfection, if that isn’t you! It’s is all about speaking your truth and being real.
Messy and real, raw and true. Oh yes that fits perfectly for me then! And I have a few pages you can find me on
See you over there.
Gypsy Westwood Instagram | @gypsywestwoodphotography
