To be quite frank, it’s because my iPhone’s camera is faulty. I know that some say that gear doesn’t mean anything, it’s the person behind the camera that makes the photograph. To a certain degree, I wholeheartedly agree with that statement, but when it comes to a point where a photograph’s colours are completely thrown off because of a manufacturing defect… it’s pretty difficult to overcome. I don’t carry around my Canon cannon everywhere, that’s simply too inconvenient, and I don’t have the funds to justify a M4/3 or point and shoot for everyday use. The iPhone has filled in this niche, especially with its ease of use and accessibility.
This is where Instagram comes in. The filters mask this inherent flaw in my phone’s camera. While I enjoy post-processing as much as the next, it makes photos a smudge different. It’s not raw, but at the same time, it’s not vomit-inducing. It’s subtle.
I agree to a certain point that the easiness of ‘acquiring’ Photoshop, the price of DSLRs, and the mainstream adoption of apps like Instagram has saturated the whole aspect of photography. Now everyone is a ‘photographer’, but not everyone can capture a moment. This is why some people see Instagram as just ‘fluff,’ an app for the teenager with a fascination with over-exposed photos and hipster vignetting.
I can’t blame them, but at the same time, cut it some slack!
