How amateur photography helped to change my world view

Or the art of pausing

We’re living in a wonderful world of proliferating technology, and I believe that photography is one of the best technological advances we have.

Pictures are a highly effective communication channel. With a picture, it is possible to say so much more using way less. As a linguist, I know how powerful words are, but equally, I believe that pictures can touch so many emotions so quickly and it makes them incredibly powerful.

At the same time, digital photography allows us to take photos at zero cost and so easily — it is literally at our fingertips 24/7 — that it feels that “Kodak moments” ceased existing the moment digital cameras became largely affordable. I don’t think so. On the contrary, I think that a lot more moments are becoming Kodak, and Instagram is the tool that enables and encourages us to capture these moments.

I started my Instagram at the end of December 2012, right before the new year. This is the first photo I took:

December 2012, Moscow, Manezhmaya Square

It was the first time a European-style Christmas fair had been held in Moscow. I was excited about it so decided that this is the moment I’d like to share and keep.

And that’s how it all began.

Instagram wasn’t an important part of my life for a while. And don’t get me wrong, today I still don’t have thousands of subscribers and my Instagram account is still a very intimate place. But over the years it’s become an essential part of my life.

When I just started, for a very long time though I was publishing photos just for the sake of taking them, playing with the filters and making sure I remember I have a life. Like this:

January 2013

There is nothing wrong with them apart from they did not capture the actual beauty of the moments at which they were made or tell a story.

Some time after starting my account, I found myself taking and posting photos rather often, trying to capture the moments that made me stop and notice them, trying to freeze details that felt important to me even though for my subscribers they could seem minor and insignificant, like this:

February 2013. On the left: As you can see, there is a lot of snow outside, and this plant on the windowsill was so intently green, as a promise of spring that will eventually come, and an invitation to cheer up (winter is the most horrible time for me, especially when in Russia). On the right: This canary bird was attracting attention to itself in one of the cafés in my home town, and it looked beautiful against the background of its blue cage and ochre colours of the venue.

About a year and a half in, I noticed that I’d started paying more and more attention to the simple yet mesmerising beauty of everyday life and wanted to capture it. Pictures of these moments are turning into mosaic tiles of my life. Eventually, I hope, someone will look at the whole mosaic picture, made of my Instagram photos, and will know that I lived and I choose to see beauty. This is a proof that I walked this earth and a testimony to my deeds and thoughts.

This perception, which shaped gradually as I was matter-of-factly documenting details, started to move my perspective on what I photograph and how. It didn’t immediately (and up to these days) make me turn into a professional photographer taking amazing pictures, but it shifted the focus and allowed me to indulge my natural attention to details and nurture the desire to freeze the moment. I also believe that even though up to now my Instagram account is private, it is vital that the pictures appearing there capture the moments in a compelling and impactful way. I do want my friends to feel the same I did when I took a particular picture, for that reason now I try to think about what I want to say.

What I learned from the pictures I made

Because I’m a learning specialist, I’ll take you through my journey of learning to make photos of everyday life that, I hope, capture the feeling and the moment accurately. It is not about professional or artistic photos; it’s about the learning a language telling simple stories of day-to-day life. I’m showing the pictures that are not great, but there would be no learning if they were perfect from the very beginning, right?

1. Collage means a confusing message and a low impact. I don’t do collages anymore, that’s not audience friendly (unless it’s a work of art which is a totally different story). In my defence, at the time, there was no option of photo series on Instagram and posting 5 photos in a row wasn’t a great idea either. In fact, it is good because it then forces you to choose one — one! — rather than a bunch.

March-April 2013. On the right, these are cool wooden toys with some interesting mechanics, but no one knows as it’s impossible to understand.

2. It’s all too obvious in 2018, but even 4–5 years ago using Instagram filters wasn’t a great idea (I know, it was before they introduced editing feature, but there were plenty of photo editing apps at the time already).

April 2013. What on earth is that? Does it look like a beautiful country? No? Well, it doesn’t not only because my phone camera was lame (it wan’t too bad), but the filter!

More often than not, most Instagram original filters kill your pictures rather than enhance, especially if you’re not a professional photographer (like myself).

If you are interested to know how Instagram filters were created, here’s an article (one of many). To add to that, the reason why filters created in 2010 do not really work in 2018 (and were not great already in 2013) is because the best camera you could get in your phone in 2010 was 12-megapixel one in Nokia N8, and iPhone wasn’t featured as a great camera smartphone at all (though it was one of the best smartphones of that year). Instagram was originally released specifically for iOS and wasn’t available for devices on Android or Windows (yes, they existed, I personally had 2 of those and they had decent cameras).

In 2010, iPhone 4 was released, which had a 5-megapixel camera (2592×1936 pixels). It was an okay camera, especially at the time. However, it was a new version of iPhone, so a lot of people were still using their iPhone 3GS or earlier versions. iPhone 3GS had a 3.2-megapixel camera (2064 x 1552 pixels). Not the end of the world, but pictures made with this camera seemed more “professional” with the Instagram filters. Well, or not:

On the left: June 2013, Moscow. Not talking about composition here, this filter makes the photo extremely dull. It was a bright sunny day, I remember it, but it doesn’t look like it on the photo. On the right: Took this one a year later. May 2014, Denmark. Yes, #nofilter, yay!

3. What makes a picture worth being taken? For a while, I trusted my gut feeling as to what I photograph and how I go about the editing. Unfortunately, my gut feeling in this department wasn’t particularly well developed at the time:

Why?

So, with time, I realised that I can justify posting something only if I try and capture its beauty, show a particular way I see it or try to say something.

On the left: Autumn 2013. I’m still relying on filters, but there is a message. On the right: January 2014. Trying to minimise the use of filters, and also trying to capture the beauty in simple moments like that exploring light and composition (kinda).

On the left: January 2014, Sergiev Posad (my hometown). Using the filter, but with a better understanding of what it adds to the photo and what I’m trying to convey. On the right: February 2014, Gorky Park, Moscow. Terrible filter and tilt shift with no particular reason, but at least I though about composition. Need to retake this properly when in Moscow again.

On the left: March 2014, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. Experimenting with composition, trying to capture the light, but failing to recognise that filters won’t do my pictures any good. On the right: May 2014, Copenhagen. Light and composition (kinda, not yet). I remember, when editing this photo, for the first time I questioned this square Instagram format as it felt uncomfortable. And yes, a square is a tricky shape as it is a very static form, so the risk of a boring photo is always there even with the most beautiful subject (above is the example, this fountain was stunning in this light).

4. Food pictures is what Instagram was invented for. But because there are so many of them, if I must take one or two (and I feel like I must, of course), how can I make them less void and plain?

Professional food photographers would tell you that the most important thing about food is it must look mouthwatering (otherwise what’s the point?). When they take photos of food, they use a lot of funny techniques to make the end result look amazing. But without overcomplicating your life, I think it’s as simple as that: colours should be bright but natural, plus a decent composition, and you’re good to go.

On the left: Filters are evil. Remove the filter and this photo would look way better. On the right: This is the first photo of food that I consider not too bad. No hidden meanings, everything is simple: salmon is of delicate natural colour, salad is freshly green, the tomato is red and altogether I still want to eat this.

I find amateur instagram photography — both process and result — fascinating. I’ve been practicing it for several years now, and I’ve enjoyed so much iterating and learning from what I am doing in terms of techniques and subjects. However, I don’t think I’ve changes the overarching subject too much over the years — it’s always been about life. Yep, for the time being it’s just my life through my lens. But what has changed is how I see this life — life in details that we might fail to appreciate.

It’s life that is so rich and so full, yet terrifyingly transient.

For me, the most important thing about my instagram is not even the learning curve I’ve found myself being on while filling my profile with pictures of questionable value to anyone but me. It’s been an exercise in pausing.

A pause is an opportunity to appreciate.

We need to learn to pause in our busy lives. Pause as we speak, so that the meaning of the words we’re saying can actually sink in. Might be worth pausing as we live — so that the meaning can actually sink in.

Post Scriptum

Oh yes, my vanity moment and everyone’s guilty pleasure — selfies. I find selfies a tricky thing. Lately I haven’t been in the mood to experiment with more meaningful selfies, but there was a time when I was willing to explore.

These are my portraits that I creative directed and edited, therefore they are selfies :) These are those that I think are not too bad. Some important lessons from them though are as follows: if it fades, it should fade for a reason (top left corner — no reason for fading); also, I think it helps a great deal if selfies are funny (top right corner). Just a tiny bit.

I do have a modest collection of photos that I showcase as a portfolio on Behance.