017: terrible picture 😈
it would (not) be a shame if someone posted it...
i like "ugly" pictures
What's "ugly," though?
Is it something that doesn't fit the rules of photography?
Create depth
Fill the frame
Don't cut things off
Know where to focus
Remember the thirds
Fine, all those things are important. But what if a picture checks all those boxes but doesn't fill the traditional aesthetic we've been conditioned to believe "is what looks good"?
I love posting blurry pictures
I love posting pictures that seemed like a mistake
I like posting pictures that weren't what was supposed to happen
Something spontaneous
Serendipitous (great word)
The pictures people would usually write off or quickly delete
I love that shit
Some might say those pictures are ugly. I say, what's your goal when sharing this picture?
Do you want to have yourself perfectly framed from every angle so that anyone who comes across it thinks you have physical beauty? Or at least the traditional traits of beauty and attraction?
When I post, I want you to feel something. Ideally, you'd feel the same way as me. But that's impossible to predict or control. Instead, I hope you feel SOMETHING. Anything different from what every other thing you've come across has made you feel.
There are hundreds of thousands of things on the internet and in real life vying for your attention every single day. The things that make you stop, stare, watch, and consume. Those are the things people pay millions of dollars to create or own (or just steal if they can).
There's plenty of data out there that tells us what's working and what's not. So people try to do more of what the numbers say is effective. Even if it doesn't feel true. Even if it doesn't feel like it's showing who they really are. Because that's what they've been told will get likes and engagement.
We play this game with each other where we all think the internet and social media are some shitty things that have actually done more harm than good. Yet we keep using them, and we keep contributing to that very same negativity that makes us hate these apps we can't look away from in the first place. I'm not going to sit here and tell you to stop using your platform to complain about random dumb shit or vent about your day. It's your profile, it's your reputation, your life. If you want to be the person who only puts out negative vibes in the world and is always upset about something, do you. I think it's stupid and a waste of your mental and emotional energy. But I can't stop you from doing it.
Or if you want to post that picture that looks like the other 432 pictures you already have on your profile, go ahead. Do whatever you want. Just don't be surprised when people don't really give a shit. Or they tap through your story without any intention of consuming what you've created.
When everyone's fighting to post the same aesthetic, to have visuals that follow a specific formula, I think you should try and do something different. Do something that goes against what we've always been told is what works. Because I promise you plenty of people who are much more talented than you are doing that shit, and they aren't even getting any recognition.
So when I post random blurry pictures or pictures where I look ugly (no quotations on that one, I look TERRIBLE in some of these pics, they ain't helping me get a text back), I do it because I know it's going to stand out. I know you know that I'm not like anyone else you know.
That's a throwaway pic. Just post it on the story. It'll be gone in 24 hours, and you don't have to worry about likes.
I say before spending 2 weeks thinking about a picture, editing it on 3 different apps, coming up with the perfect obscure rap lyric to hide somewhere in the frame, and finally sharing it at what I have decided is the best possible moment (with absolutely no reasoning except IT FEELS RIGHT). Don't ever believe anything you see didn't take a ton of thinking before coming to life.
So when I share something, I want you to feel something. I'm still not sure what that something is, but I know it's something completely different from what anyone else is making you feel.
And when you see something pink, or you take a blurry picture and think to yourself, "David would love that." Yeah, my plan is definitely working 😘
