Focusing Inward With Instagram

I’ve always been a storyteller. For the last two years, this blog has been a place where I combine words and photos to tell stories. I haven’t thought of my photos as creative or artistic, at least not consciously. First and foremost, my photos are storytelling tools.

Until now. A couple of weeks ago, I got an iPad and discovered Instagram. I’m slightly ashamed to be so enamored by this gimmick. But nonetheless, I am. Thanks to Instagram, I’ve started taking pictures just for the hell of it. Instagramming for art’s sake. And since taking photos in public with an iPad looks really dorky (I don’t want to be one of THOSE people), I’ve been doing most of my Instagram artwork at home, in and around the Lucky 5 Star.

I got out of the shower and saw light combining with water droplets in the air. I dried off quickly, grabbed the iPad, and viola.

I’m not going to abandon storytelling. That’s still who I am. But since I’m on a journey of self-discovery at the moment, and I’ve also discovered Instagram, it seems like a good time to turn the lens inward. So when the mood strikes me and I take an interesting Instagram photo around the house, I’m going to share it on the blog.

I asked my Facebook fans for feedback on this concept, and lots of people seem to think it’s a good idea. So, consider this my first installment of Instagram for Art’s Sake.

I call this, “Creepy gnome in perpetually half-dead bamboo”. Very Melville, don’t you think?

I’m setting two parameters around this experiment. Every photo that I share as part of Instagram for Art’s Sake will be taken with Instagram, and every photo will be taken at home.

I hope you enjoy my gimmicky, hipster-y, self-absorbed art project. It’s all about me.

This post wouldn’t be complete without a creepy Instagram self-portrait.

Read more Instagram for Art’s Sake posts.