Initially supported on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, the app has recently expanded to Android phones and expanded even further still, as Facebook acquired the brand.
It is a medium that represents the latest developments in photography and allows easy editing and dissemination of everyday snaps for the smartphone generation.
From the time that Stephen Stasson invented the first digital camera in 1975, photography promised to proliferate increasingly rapidly, and now that we are living in a culture dominated by online interaction and social media platforms, the digital format is in its maturity.
Instagram quickly creates pictures that have a nostalgic feel, many of them incorporating retro colouring and stylistic borders. Even the most mundane photos come to life through this app. The app is, of course, no substitute for truly great photography, but some fear that the value of the skill will be diminishedby this product.
The time and effort needed to produce genuine images of such a vintage aesthetic could indeed be forgotten, and by-passed in favour of instant gratification. However, instant access to media and arts has long-proliferated in literature, music and video and has not prevented the creation of sublime works. The art of photography will remain alive as long as artists prevail, and human beings are inevitably artistic.
The app benefits from being user friendly and free to download, making it extremely popular. It is well designed and has top customer ratings. Even the logo has a beautiful aesthetic that makes it one of those irresistible products.
In under a year Instagram has attracted over fifteen million users. 43,000 people signed on to a waiting list when the app was announced for Android, and now that it has been launched it is proving a success. It differs from the original version in that the filters applied are only displayed once the images are uploaded to social media sites. However, users praise the greater number of social networks compliant to the product compared to the iOS version.
I expect the ‘sharability’ of the product is one of its most attractive features. With one click, a photo can be seen by as many friends as you have on Facebook, and as many followers as you have on Twitter. Never before have the borders of photography been so limitless.
The combination of creating personal images of ‘hipster-brigade’ chic and using them to ‘meet’ other people virtually encapsulates the mood of a nation in the 21st-century.