Our lives are becoming digital desktops, beautified by daily snap shots, soaked in bleach, processed through 'vintage factories', and slapped with filmic borders.
I surrendered to the instant image craze, and gave Hipstamatic a try. Through weeks of trial, I concluded that by rendering your image through all the heavy effects, the story of each picture became muddled, hidden behind bursts of calculated sun flare and cream soda tints. It quietly destroyed the message.
So of course, I proceeded with caution when I discovered Instamatic, weary of repeated results. But my doubts for this new iPhone app were quickly disquieted. Instamatic has close to a dozen filters, mostly subtle color patterns that immediately give your diurnal cell phone images a pleasant face lift.
As a photographer I take the most pleasure from having to work within a new viewfinder. The perfectly square, polaroid mocking sizes are a welcome change and interesting challenge in capturing a story inside the frame of your car, or the interiors of your cubicle.
I have a few minor gripes --there's no easy way to browse through all the users-- but with a price tag of free, this booming little company of 4 employees, has made something to applaud.
My shots from the past few months since Instagrams inception:
