There’s a time at every good house party, usually around 2 a.m., when it occurs to someone that while drinking and dancing is fun, it would be even more fun if everyone got naked and jumped into the pool. Well, at the rager that is Instagram – and all the other filter-heavy, photo-social parties out there – it’s 1:59 a.m., and the clothes are chafing.
It’s time for us to rip off our filters and just let it all hang out. Because like clothes, filters allow us to hide our insecurities. And when we take them off, surviving and triumphing over the vulnerability can be exhilarating.
>Like clothes, filters allow us to hide our insecurities.
Don’t get me wrong: These filters had, and continue to have, an important role to play in photography. Remember the excitement we felt when we first started using Instagram, or even vintage Lomography cameras? Whether app-ified on smartphones or effects on the cameras themselves, these filters add readymade contrast, color saturations, distortions, and other adjustments that make even the most mundane photos look, well, arty.
By lowering the barriers to entry, filters have democratized photography. Otherwise, many people find operating a serious camera to be a complicated, expert-only endeavor with a steep learning curve. It can also be frustrating, because people have to take a lot of bad photos before they start taking some good ones. Since there isn't much of a positive feedback loop early on, it makes sense that algorithms or devices that make our very first photos pleasing would be fun and encouraging.
But now, we’re suffering from filter fatigue. The adjustments have become rote. Our eyes and brains no longer get that neural tingle when they see "Earlybird." It’s the "naked" photos that stand out in a filter-happy environment. Just because we can make anything look arty doesn’t mean everything is art, or even interesting.
When everything is filtered, the absence of a filter is what becomes interesting.
>By lowering the barriers to entry, filters have democratized photography.
This democratization of photography has, predictably, also lowered the taste floor for the medium, and it’s now time to grow upward instead of outward. It’s time for everyone who has caught the bug and made it over the initial photography hump to start thinking about what they’re photographing ... and why.
It’s time to raise our standards and re-introduce risk into photography, so that taking good photos feels like an achievement instead of a built-in feature. Let’s take all the fledgling photographers created by apps like Instagram, Hipstamatic, and others and lead them to the next frontier.
Imagine actually trying to get the lighting and composition right before you take a picture. Imagine being forced to admit that a photo just doesn’t work and not posting it: essentially filtering the photos upstream, instead of downstream. (Yes, some people do some of this already, but not because they have to.) Filters are like auto-pilot for thinking critically, and visually, about one’s surroundings. The obstacles that they remove are precisely the obstacles that promote learning and a more discerning appreciation of what makes a good photo.
When everything is filtered, the absence of a filter is what becomes interesting.Let me be clear: I’m not calling for the end of Instagram. The ‘grammers can stay dry and warm in the house and keep drinking PBR from their keg cups. And sure, the #nofilter crowd has been nip-sipping all night, but it’s time for them to commit. A different type of ecosystem is created when everyone has to play by the no-filter rules, because otherwise there’s always a backdoor option to use filters. It’s like saying you’re on a diet after you realize you accidentally ate something healthy.
We need a service just like Instagram that omits any filters and discourages any sort of post-shutter manipulation. Same community, same UI, same commenting. Just no filters. I don’t think there’s such a service, and existing options won’t work on the social front. So this is an open plea to the internets – or even Instagram itself – to make one.
Disclosures: I am not a good photographer (see gallery), I just get paid to look at photos all day. I love filters and Photoshop adjustments. I have never been skinny dipping or been even remotely naked in public.
All photos: Keith Axline/Wired
Editor: Sonal Chokshi @smc90
