Take Photos for Yourself: Forgetting Social Media Acceptance
In the age of technology and social media, photographers face a huge challenge today. While a platform like Instagram, launched in 2010, was supposed to be for photographs, the world of social media today has turned it into a different direction. Currently, it is more important for IG users to post reels and videos than it is to publish interesting and compelling photos.
Throughout my life as a photographer, which started in 2010, but became more professional in 2014, I didn’t start posting on Instagram until 2019. Although for a while (the end of 2019 until mid 2021) I posted daily, the growth I had made in my community and my niche did not keep me having a regression in the number of interactions (eg. likes, comments and shares) when I had moments of silence.
The first of those moments happened was before my departure from Cuba, where there was a whole month of no posting on my part. The reasons were obviously related to my safety, but the algorithm of IG made me pay for it. The second moment happened in my transition from Mexico to the United States, and the more than a year that passed after that, when I did not post on a steady manner.
What is happening now
The reality is that right now videos and reels are more important than photographs to grow and reach people. A platform that started bearing a logo with the shape of an instant camera has become a video-oriented site. Ergo, really good artistic or documentary photographs get very little reaction unless they were taken by a renowned photographer, were breaking news, or simply had that award-winning picture feel to them.
The other hurdle photographers (whether artistic, documentary, nature or wildlife) face is the existence of influencers. Although the term is in my opinion overrated (as is the amount of money and support they get, with all due respect), these people have way more reach on social media than photographers, and even reporters. A young woman showcasing her physical assets to promote a product, a clothesline, and even her lifestyle gets unquestionably better and more reactions from users than a well-composed image telling a story.
What turns out to be very curious is that even when those “assets” are displayed in an artistic mode (well-lit, composed, pursuing an artistic concept) by a photographer (whether male or female), the photographer receives more “love”. Yet, such “love” and “support” will never be as much as the selfie of a young woman in a bathing suit, taken with a cellphone, and with very poor composition and technique.
I even remember when I photographed Larissa Jones in Toronto. It was a nude session, and a very artistic one with an incredibly beautiful woman. However, when I posted on my social media, I had very little interaction, compared even to other posts I had made.
So, what do we do?
The million-dollar question is: how do we deal with that? Do we stop posting because we don’t get reactions? Do we quit social media because we feel unwelcome or unappreciated? Do we stop taking pictures altogether?
My answer to all of those questions is no. We should not stop posting because we don’t get support, quitting social media feels way overboard unless you no longer have anything to say, and stopping taking pictures would only make sense if we have lost all the drive we had.
So, what do we actually do? Well, we adapt to our situation and do our best to stay in our own game. It is incredibly hard: I experienced over 100 reactions a day to now fall to 30 or 60 when I am lucky, but I am not going to let that deter me from doing two things I like: taking pictures and writing.
With that in mind, I came up with some things I like to do whenever I am posting on social media. I do so knowing that I will never get the acceptance and the support I used to have when I was still in Cuba and even during my time in Mexico. Bear in mind that I post on Instagram, and it automatically gets redirected to Facebook.
Bear in mind that there are people who have mastered social media strategy, start growing on followers and likes, and at some point can even start to promote themselves on Instagram to make money. If that is what you are looking for, this list is not for you. If all you want is to put your photos out there without thinking of followers and reactions, you may want to read this:
You do you. Don’t forget why you take photos. You take them for YOURSELF, not social media or anybody else. You take them to tell a story, to document, to capture special moments for people, to create portraits, to immortalize an animal or a landscape.
Quality is better than quantity. In my experience, I would rather have 25 likes by meaningful people than 100 likes by people who just came across my post. If my 25 likes include mainly people I know and care about, other photographers that I admire, and sometimes even the Canon USA Instagram account, I am happy with that amount. I need no more.
Use reels and videos showing BTS. That is something I have to work on. People have experienced incredible growth thanks to this. In the world we live in, showing your face makes people more interested in your profile and your work, and showing behind-the-scenes footage is also very helpful. I have experienced a lot of likes whenever I post a picture of myself, which happens only on my birthday. So it is evident that it works.
Have meaningful interactions. Make sure you interact with other photographers and organizations. Find other photographers who have a body of work you like and interact with them. Tag organizations that may notice your work and sometimes interact with you and your work. Support other lens professionals all the time, and try to keep the industry alive. Keep your niche close to you.
Don’t get discouraged. It is very easy to lose momentum, drive, enthusiasm. I myself am a victim of that. Upon losing support after my moments of radio silence, I experienced the loss of interest. One thing I did not take into account was that most of my photos of Cuba and Mexico are way more colorful and interesting than most of the ones I have taken here in the United States. It is not that my pictures changed, but that the location I am in did.
Don’t be obsessed. Whatever you do, don’t become an influencer wannabe. We all need to understand that we have most likely lost the battle, at least on this front. The next step is to actually keep on doing what you do best, and that is taking photos.
Follow logical advice. Several people offer strategies on how to get more reach on social media. From the time of posting, to what hashtags to use, to how to get more likes and engagement, there are a number of things that can help you get favored by the algorithm. I confess I don’t follow any of these things, and maybe am paying the price. Yet, whatever you do, don’t pay for fake likes and follows. It is better to be organic and to get benefited by your own merit.
Final Thoughts
I stated above that we had lost the battle… but maybe we haven’t. Fortunately, there are many talented photographers who are constantly receiving thousands of interactions, and letting the world see their amazing art. What I do believe is that we should not be discouraged and we should continue to be photographers, whether social media “likes” us or not.
We should keep in mind that we take photos for ourselves and to tell a story, not to get likes and followers. Yet, if this feels too much to you, there are other platforms, like Flickr or Viewbug, where you can still be yourself and upload photos for people who are interested in them.
I still use both platforms, although I am not as active on Viewbug.
