Estetika fotografie v ére Instagramizmu
Aesthetics of Photography in the Era of Instagramism

Summary/Abstract: The starting point for the topic of this paper was finding out that for today’s students of photography who were born in the digital era, publications and magazines about photography are no longer the reference sources of information, but it is the social platform Instagram. There, they are looking not only for current aesthetic trends, but they also actively use Instagram in their art projects. In the introductory part of our paper, we analyze three types of the most common aesthetics of Instagram, as described by Lev Manovich in tnis book Instagram and Contemporary Image - causal photos, professional photos and designed photos. Subsequently, we study the so-called phenomenon Instagramism, whose representatives are a young digital class, actively using social platforms and communicating in particular visually. They work with photography in more conceptual way and their Instagram profile must have greater aesthetic consistency. The neologism “Instagram” suggests speed, quick decision, and fast action. If this was the platform’s original intension, then the visually sophisticated global youth and members of Instagramism use it today in a completely opposite way. Instagramism needs slowness, craftsmanship, and attention to tiniest details. Than we discusse how Instgram was used by established artists as Cindy Sherman, Richard Prince and Czech photographer Libuse Jarcovjakova. Sherman surprised the art world with a selfie-filled Instagram account, Prince gained attention with his series New Portraits and Jarcovjáková uses Instagram as visual diary. By shifting to new medium, they continue in their previous work; new technologies are used here to raise questions about our relationship with internet and social platforms. On the other side, for Instagrammers and thus also for the current students of photography, Instagram is a way of lifestyle and space for self-presentation. It is a new gallery space for them.

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