Instagram Photo Essays

Philip Joyce
Aug 26, 2017 · 3 min read

I love Photography. I spend a lot of time on Instagram, finding new photographers, browsing their feed, and increasingly, their Stories. I have found Instagram’s Stories to be one of the best product updates in years, increasing my time spent in the Instagram app hugely. I love seeing photographers’ behind the scenes work that goes into every image. I can see what gear they’re bringing to a shoot and get a real glimpse into their working day. The Stories feature works particularly well for photo journalists, as you can see first hand the danger they are putting themselves in, as they broadcast their day from war zones, or from their desk, writing a story.

One thing that is missing, is that final (most important) step — the presentation of the work. Sure, Instagram, have the classic feed, with one image or video, or even a carousel of images. But the carousel doesn’t do the work justice. Usually, the image will accompany a link to a photo essay or a journal, with beautiful images as well as text, giving you the full story.

I thought about how Instagram could tackle something like this. Letting users create their own quick photo essays on the fly, with rich text and images, giving users full control of the story they tell.

Instagram Photo Essays

The feature would be seamlessly baked into the current Instagram feed experience. The main image has a title and a ‘Read More’ button, when tapped opens up a beautiful full screen essay. Akin to the likes of Medium and Facebook Notes, the reading experience should focus on clarity, with emphasis on the imagery. Similar to other mobile writing apps, the editor should be fairly sparse, with options to style text, add quotes, and of course, images.

Simple intergration with the current feed
Focus on the story with type and imagery

Intergration with the current UX

The abilty to create an essay is offered in the usual ‘add’ screen we all know. As well as this, Instagram’s usual social offerings such as Likes, Comments, Sharing and Bookmarking are integrated into the essay, so it’s simple to share the latest incredible essay you’ve been reading.

For me, Essays are the missing piece for photographers, and maybe even most users, it could be a powerful storytelling tool.


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Philip Joyce

Written by

Designer at Mastercard. Photographer

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