Instagram: A Platform for Artists

Before an Instagram artist has the opportunity to promote their content to a broad audience or even make money off their works, it is essential that they are first able to establish a brand for themselves. An artist’s career is known to be highly competitive, with this fact also holding true when it comes to the careers of artists who are utilizing digital platforms. Instagram artists are no exception to this, with there being a constant feed of independently produced works that compete to grab the attention of a potential audience. On top of that is all the other content hosted by Instagram which can also indirectly detract attention from an artist’s work. Because of these obstacles, artists must be able to make their work stand out by creating a brand for themselves; one that brings audiences always coming back for more. While easier said than done, establishing a brand is indeed possible, as evident by all the artists who successfully have made a name for themselves on Instagram. ...

Now that I’ve gone through the kind of art you can expect to see posted on Instagram, my blog is going to be shifting gears and focusing more on how this social media platform is being used by artists and more for financial gain. For this week, I’m going to start by focusing on independent artists who have managed to successfully utilize their Instagram accounts to promote and sell their works. First are those doing freelance work, consisting of a broad spectrum of artists who vary based on skill, notoriety, and commitment to the job. Many of these artists, on Instagram in particular, are not full-time artists and instead simply use their page to post occasional art and commissions. It is common to see these artists post the occasional sample of their work to establish their style, essentially advertising what they have to offer to any potential buyers. When they’re open for commissions, they will usually make it known by updating their page’s description and/or through an update...

With digital illustration covered last week, I’ll be using today’s blog post to explore photography’s presence on Instagram. With photography, the individual photos themselves can be considered works of art depending on the artists’ intentions. Additionally, photography can also be utilized to capture and share other art forms. With Instagram, most posts are unsurprisingly made up of photos captured by its users. However, only a selection of said posts is actually composed of photography that is being used as an art form. Though it can be argued that all forms of photography are art in their own ways, I am more so referring to instances in which the medium is deliberately used to frame subjects with artistic intentions in mind. For example, when looking at the two images below, it is fairly clear that the right was likely taken to share a moment in time that was spontaneously captured by the poster. On the other hand, the left photo was clearly framed with careful attention to the ...