I probably should have titled this The Seven Year Photography Itch…
Last July I wrote about the beginning of my social media decluttering. I have to say, I don’t regret it one bit, and find myself wanting to shed even more. It’s similar to going on a weight-loss program, once the difference becomes tangible, you know you did the right thing. I started with Facebook, shutting down the photography page, and leaving most groups, keeping only the bare minimum and the author’s page. And for the record, I am very motivated to trim down even more of my FB activity as a public protest to the new layout and lack of functionality. I don’t know about you, but I can’t seem to find anything anymore if I want to change or add something. Forget it. Walk away. Twitter I hardly touch these days, especially since the blog entries are automatically posted there.
Two days ago I began trimming down my Instagram as well, filtering out a lot of accounts that I am no longer interested in, have become inactive, or just took a very strange turn, and seem to be redundant and repetitive on my feed. I am sick and tired of seeing shots of women in various stages of undress, shouting out the message “I just had sex” or “I am about to have some great sex”. The Instagram novelty has worn off for me, and I am not particularly motivated to continue being active on that platform. Unfortunately, we have reached that point in society where if you want to register either as a photographer, photojournalist or the website, one of the requirements everyone insists on is a social media presence of sorts.
In terms of photo sharing platforms, I have come full circle and am back on the two websites where I started back in 2013. At the time I barely knew what I was doing and was not as experienced with social media or the finer points of my craft. Seven years is a long time to improve and now, gaining approval in one of the toughest platforms to break into is a sign that although my journey may have taken some unusual twists and unexpected turns, it definitely has been worth the adventure thus far. I look at my portfolio now and smile with pride, knowing what lies behind each photograph.
There are even bigger changes on the horizon for me that I cannot talk about just yet. Let’s just say that it will be a very different winter altogether, so it is time for consolidating, trimming, and focusing.
FrogDiva Thoughts 