Learning about Photography through VSCO and the Discover Page DML
Photography has come so far from generations before, where almost everyone has access to take a photograph and become a photographer. Digital photography has changed the game and even more when smartphones came out with digital cameras built into them. Editing photography adds a whole new dimension to people’s photographs and it really changes things as much as people let it. VSCO is an editing app that also allows you to post and look at other people’s edits and photographs. VSCO has changed the game with edits and has become a social media platform for photographers to work together and share their work with other artists.
Joel Flory and his Co-Creator both love photography and intended to create VSCO for “creators by creators.” That is why I think VSCO works so well with real photographers, because it was created by real photographers. The founders both had a passion and they wanted to share it with people and be able to constantly be learning from others. This app allows artists from anywhere to show what they are doing and allows other artists to experience things through a lens that they might never have seen. Photography is already a magical thing and when you are able to add another layer such as editing and then be able to share it with people all over the world, it becomes an amazing platform. In an interview with Greg Lutze, who helped found VSCO, he spoke about why he wanted to create VSCO and what he continues to look for, creators. They wanted to create something where people could express themselves and create a way for people to achieve expression and creativity in one place.
The editing feature on VSCO is what it is really known for. With Digital photography the ability to edit your photos online is another way to enhance your creativity. This allows you to edit photos how you want and adds another layer to what the viewer sees when they look at what you have created. VSCO makes editing easy and it is all laid out there for you. There is a tutorial that you can follow through that allows you to see everything that makes up a photograph. Things that are included are filters which add a new color scheme to the photograph, contrast which helps to make the darks darker and the brights brighter, and brightness which allows you to make your whole image brighter or darker. This is a version of Remixing, taking something and changing it in some way. For Example, taking your image and adding a filter to get a different aesthetic. But the key aspect of VSCO that makes it Digital Media Learning and not just some editing app is the Discover aspect of it.
The discovery page of VSCO is where Digital Media Learning really comes in. The discovery page allows you to interact with other creators and take inspiration from the other participants. In this participatory culture, any creator who uses the app or uses the editing aspects of VSCO lets them be a part of this culture. By being able to discover other creators’ work it allows you to learn from what previous people have done and allows you to use the same edits that they did. There is a messaging aspect of the app as well which allows you to connect with other creators who may be interested in the same things as you or who you take inspiration from and vice versa.
This is a prime example of interest driven learning because you choose to use this app for however you would like to use it. The people that come up on your discovery page are picked for you from VSCO based on your previous interactions with creators and their work. This allows your discovery page to be interest driven and allows you to learn what you want to learn and discover what you want to.
Connected learning is applicable to VSCO because it connects back to your everyday life. The participants in this participatory culture are people who actually enjoy photography and editing and that is why they are using the app. It connects to everything in your life just like a photograph does. Photography is an art matter where it freezes a moment and allows you to reflect on it which you rarely have a chance to do in real time. VSCO takes that moment and allows other artists to feel that way and connect it to what they do and how they feel.
When I spoke to an influencer named Monica, she discussed her favorite part of the discovery page of VSCO. Monica is a student at CSU and she is majoring in Photography. She first began using VSCO in high school when she thought it was just another social media app but soon she really found her passion. The discovery page of VSCO is meant just for you by other creators who you may find interesting and she raved about it. She found some of her favorite artists and reached out to them and most of them were just young aspiring artists. She found that it was an awesome way to reach smaller creators and really make a connection based on their photography. She loved the messaging function as well and found that it really helps her find other artists as well as them find her. She was thrilled when her first “fan” reached out to her and complimented her eye for composition. It made her really feel like what she was doing was worth it and that people actually saw her stuff and liked it.
I also did another interview with my middle school art teacher who I got my love for photography from. Her name is Ms. Tripp and she got her masters in photography after getting her undergrad in communications. I asked her what she thought of VSCO. She stated that she had just gotten into it and she loves it. She finds that it is easy to use and really allows her to express herself. I immediately thought of when I read about how older generations were “often associated with fears about the emergence of a ‘digital divide’ — between those who are digitally literate and those who are not. It is feared that a digital divide will create a deep social and economic inequality, in which those who are not digitally literate will be seriously disadvantaged” (New Literacies pp. 22). Something that she is really disappointed with today’s social media is how hard it is for local artists and smaller creators to be found. With VSCO and especially the Discover Page, she felt that it was much easier and it wasn’t about how many likes or favorites your photograph received but how it made others feel. She will be continuing to post her photographs on VSCO.
Academically oriented: The VSCO discovery page is very Academically Oriented because the creator is learning from another’s work. This causes them to recreate the edits done or recreate the photo. It connects back to academics because photography is used in many things academically even if you are not just majoring in photography. It is vital to know and understand how to read a photograph because it relates directly to many academic subjects.
This leads into Civic Engagement with photography and the VSCO discover Page. Because the page allows other creators to be open and post what they want, it allows room for awareness to be spread. Any photograph or editing style that someone sees on this Discover Page brings another perspective or allows others to see it through a different set of eyes.
Production centered: The VSCO discovery page is very Production Centered because of how digital it is. Anyone has an equal opportunity to produce and create. There are even ways to remix the image with edits and filters which allows for another level of creativity. There are many opportunities for the discovery Page to be updated and continue growing as does technology.
Shared purpose: Something vital to know about VSCO is that it does not count how many likes or favorites that your photograph receives. This gets rid of that popularity that people can fall into with social media. The discovery page is a way for anyone from anywhere to be able to be on the same page to share their work. Anyone from any generation or place is allowed to join the community and become a part of the affinity group.
Openly networked: VSCO is very open and accessible, it is free unless you want to upgrade to premium filters and such but there is no need unless you want to. There are also instructions on how to use VSCO, the discover Page, and the filters for those who are new and just learning. Anyone from anywhere can post their photographs and be displayed on the discover page.
Everyone can participate: Everyone can post anytime and anywhere. There are many people from all over the world who post their photographs for people to see. If people want to take a step back from the side of creating, they can favorite other people’s photographs or message them to create a new friend. There is also a following aspect where you can follow people you enjoy seeing their photographs and aesthetics so they come up in your feed.
Challenge is constant: Challenge will always be constant because digital photography is always changing. VSCO is always updating and adding new aspects to make it appeal more to the younger generations and even to the older ones as well. The VSCO discovery page is always going to have a challenge because different people’s photographs are shown to each person based on what they like and how they are interacting with other images. This creates a challenge of the edits as well where the creator can edit their images to appear different which is always changing.
Interconnected: There is a lot of interaction between the creator and the consumer on this app. You can like, repost, and message anyone or any photograph that you would like. You can copy someone’s edits as well and make them yours and put your own creative twist on them. There is always a way for someone on this app to interact with someone else on the app. “The line between producers and consumers is hard and fast” (New Literacies pp. 73).
Learning happens by doing: Not only do consumers get to look at other creator’s work, they get to create their own. It is easy to post and edit your photos to become the creator. When editing, you can watch tutorials and look at other people’s edits to create your own as well.
Fosters engagement and self expression: Creators are encouraged to post their photos and it automatically is public so it goes to the Discover Page. This allows for people to engage with the photograph and repost it or give it a like. There is room for self expression everywhere because you are able to post photographs and edit them however you are feeling. It is an art form.
Increasing accessibility to knowledge: There are lots of help from other creators who you can reach out through the chat option. There are many tutorials over the internet from people who want to help you express yourself as best as you can. There is also the feature where you can use the edits that someone else used in order to teach you how to edit as well. The Discover page also allows for knowledge because you learn something when you look and think about art and photography the same way, you learn by seeing it not by telling it or reading it.
Expanding social support from interests: The message option is vital to be able to connect and form formal relationships with one another. It allows you to reach out and have a conversation with someone from anywhere in order to understand where they are from and what they have to share. In the informal connection, there are likes and reposts where you don’t have to have that conversation with anyone but rather just a small reach out to tell them how you feel. It all comes from what you are interested in because that is how it appears on your Discover page and what you want to repost or like.
Expanding diversity: Because this app can be used from anywhere there are many diverse creators present. Anyone can post anything and be open to sharing opinions as well. Each photograph speaks to everyone and diverse opinions can be made or shown in each.
Peer- Supported: This app is very peer supported due to it being solely based on posting for others to see. People can comment, reach out to the creator or give a like in order to give their feedback. This app is all about sharing your photographs and art and inspiring others.
Core Media Literacy Skills: There are many of the Core Media Literacy Skills present in VSCO and its Discover Page. There is play because you get to mess around with edits and filters and scroll through and just enjoy looking at photographs. Performance is judged by posting your own work, liking, messaging, or reposting someone’s work. Judgment is used because without meaning to, everyone makes judgements and it isn’t a bad thing but in order for you to give feedback on someone’s photographs, you must judge them. Transmedia Navigation is also present because you have to take the image on another app or different item of technology. Most people use the Camera app, but Snapchat or a real digital camera can also be used which is outside of VSCO. There is networking present because you are sharing and communicating with other creators which allows you to meet new people and see new things.
A Quote that Sums it up…. “At this point they become Collaborators in a very strong sense of the world– the full sense of the world– because they understand parts in relation to a whole, and know how to integrate their activity of others and, moreover, how to play an integrative or coordinating role in relation to the activity of others” (New Literacies pp. 162).
Colin Lankshear and Michele Knobel’s New literacies: Everyday practices and social learning (ISBN-10: 0335242162, and ISBN-13: 978–0335242160).