Note: this article was written in 2013 but it’s still relevant and my opinion is still the same about VSCO.
Why I like VSCO so much
I used to be a heavy “forumer” photographer, always talking about gear or comparing mine to others’, feeling like I could not take pictures with my Nikon D3 anymore just because the Nikon D3s was released. I had totally lost the relationship I had with photography by making material possessions become my biggest concern instead of doing what I was actually in love with: taking pictures.
Disclaimer: this post is not sponsored or affiliated to VSCO in any way; it is just a personal feeling about this company.
Then one day, I came across a new company that had released preset packs for Lightroom: VSCO. Their website had (and still has) great showcase of what their products could help to do (I did not say “what their product could do” because yeah, in my opinion the pictures you take are definitely 90% of the work — but let’s keep this debate for a next post).
When VSCO released the last major version of VSCOCam, a camera and filters app (for iPhone only right now), they also launched VSCOGrids, a free minimalist platform for publishing pictures directly from within VSCOCam app. With Grids, you can showcase your best mobile pictures in a minimalist, clean personal gallery in just a few clicks (well, touches). No social feature like followers count, reposts or faves: VSCOGrid focuses on what more and more websites seem not to care anymore: the content.
I also own a Tumblr blog, which I try to fill on a regular basis. 3 days ago, I don’t know how nor why, one of my pictures was noticed by someone who reblogged it; since then, my iPhone won’t stop notifying me or new reblogs or likes, with more than 2'000 in one night and around 4'500 total now. But is this making me happier? No. Did this help me getting more notes on other 2-notes posts? No. Neither did it make my followers base grow.
I have now actually more pleasure to post to my VSCOGrid than any other social network or for this reason. Since I created my Tumblr (and 500px and Flickr, too), I’ve always been trying to please my followers, willing to get more and more notes on my posts. This is not the way I live. I live for myself (hey, I mean not in a selfish way) and I want to identify myself to my work when I look at it. With VSCOGrid, I am not disappointed when I wake up in the morning and see I did not receive any new notification. I dare posting what I think is good and documents my life the way I want and fantasize that maybe, a lot of people appreciate my work as much as I do with other grids.
If you liked my first post, don’t hesitate to get in touch on Twitter (in French or English). And as English is not my mother tongue, I would be pleased to accept corrections :-)
