The Storytelling of Sara Tasker
In 2013, Sara Tasker went on maternity leave from the United Kingdom National Health Service to await the birth of her daughter. During that time, Instagram and photography changed her life, and she became an instant worldwide sensation.
The start of her photography career began just before her daughter Orla was born. She then decided to start a 365 photo-a-day-project on Instagram and her followers drastically increased from 90 to 35,000 by April. She currently has 222,000 followers, and the platform has become the basis of her journalism career.
She is now a full-time photographer and writer and lives in Yorkshire, England, with Orla and her husband, Rory. Tasker’s intention is to tell her thousands of Instagram followers stories about simple moments of appreciation, family, food and peace. She has a blog called “Me and Orla,” where she shares tips about iPhone photography, the photo editing process and Instagram. Tasker said on her blog that she’s passionate about helping other women find their online voice and understands the challenges it brings. She came out with a book in 2018 called “Hashtag Authentic,” and said that this publication is beyond her comfort zone.
“It’s about being seen,” Tasker said in an Instagram post. “It’s about being a woman on the front of a book not as a model, not even as a size 8, but as a skilled & experienced voice on her subject, who isn’t writing for the people who want her to be anything else.”
Tasker is an award-winning photographer who has traveled throughout England and Europe to share her work with everyone. Her work has been featured in the biggest publications in the world.
I admire Tasker for the mood and creativity that she expresses in her photographs and the love that she shows for her daughter Orla. She doesn’t care about what her critics have to say and wants to inspire everyone to step out of their comfort zone.
Even during this pandemic, she has been able to post pictures of her surrounding to keep all of us entertained. Tasker has the perfect lightning and angles for her still-life photographs and makes every photograph look like art. Her Instagram videos are flawless and there is no movement when she is recording, especially the video when it is snowing.
What makes her photographs powerful are the fades and unsaturation that appear. They all have a mix of tight shots, medium shots and wide shots and contains well-composed imagery. Everyday she shoots and tells her story with a purpose and I believe it’s the colors of her photographs that draws the audience in. Tasker’s Instagram captions include empowering messages of hope and stories about her home life.
Going forward, I plan on emulating Tasker’s work by using natural light to my advantage and ensure I get the best angles for every shot. She has motivated me to take pictures with a purpose and share a story for my caption whenever I enable Instagram for my photos.
The biggest takeaway from this week is that Instagram can be utilized as a platform for anyone that wants to share their story through pictures. Tasker is someone who embodies the idea of becoming a global phenomenon, just by taking clean photographs and providing captions that will motivate us.
