Food and Society
INSTAGRAM BEYOND FOOD
An essential application for sharing photos and/or videos, Instagram has become, within a decade, the fastest growing social media. According to the latest estimates, we...
INSTAGRAM BEYOND FOOD
An essential application for sharing photos and/or videos, Instagram has become, within a decade, the fastest growing social media. According to the latest estimates, we think there are over one billion active users worldwide (more than 22 million in Italy). Its success is due first to the power of the visual, to the media power of the images and to its communication impact far more powerful and immediate than other social media. Another important aspect is its simplicity, its sharing and feedback swiftness. We are witnessing young people gradually abandoning Facebook, while Instagram is loved in every age group and in every sector, from fashion to travel, to entertainment and food. The keyword is to share what you eat with your followers. Take a picture and share on IG.
An increasing number of people “profess” themselves as influencers or, more simply, bloggers. Their Instagram profiles gather from tens of thousands to millions of followers. In the last years, food has been the real Instagram trend. In the era of social media, food dominates. Many Instagram profiles are food influencers or food bloggers. Sometimes they are profiles of famous cooks, but in most cases, they are foodies, simple gourmets or food lovers. Food recipes, videos, photos, hashtags have invaded Instagram. However, why is food so present on this social network? Food is fashionable; it makes you feel like a millennial. It does not matter if what you photograph does not look tasty; the important thing is that it is something unique, that captures the followers’ attention, that is, in a word, “instagrammable”. What makes a snapshot “instagrammable”?
We need to make some indispensable introduction. Nowadays, we hear about Mobile Food Photography (or even Food Photography). The photos published on social networks cannot (should not) be simple photos; they should meet some defined requirements to achieve the highest visibility possible. First, they must be well-made photos, from every point of view, from light to composition, to its framing or cut, to the combination of colours to bring out our idea, our uniqueness even when picturing a plate of spaghetti.
Which food to photograph? The everyday food in your kitchen, food of our favourite restaurant (be it even a sandwich), food discovered and loved on a holiday or during an excursion, the food in the market. Food routes are endless…
To find the right inspiration, just wander around on Instagram and follow some profiles or some hashtags (keywords preceded by the # hashtag). The treasure hunt will always be very fruitful.
The chef Alain Ducasse stated, “The kitchen is a feast for the eyes and I have understood that our guests want to share these emotions through social media.”
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If already in the first century A.D. for the gourmet Apicius “the first taste is always with the eyes”, one can paradoxically say that our brain feeds on Instagram. Notice boards overflow with dishes. Smartphones (especially those of the latest generation), as well as any camera in automatic or semi-automatic mode, have specific options for food. Every application worthy of this name offers filters or combinations of filters dedicated to foodies. However, some apps do it better than others do. Hipstamatic for IOS primarily has excellent tools to enhance the dishes. Skilful combinations of “films”, “lenses” and “flash” create a unique for each shot.
On Android (and on IOS) there is only the embarrassment of the choice both as “native” and post-produced photos. The best job, though, is without any doubt done by the most popular apps. Among these surely VSCO (for the numerous filters of unsurpassed quality and in constant evolution). Let’s not forget those used for retouches, more or less obvious. Therefore, we welcome the skilful use of some Instagram, Photoshop (in Express version), Lightroom or Snapseed or SKWRT (to straighten the lines) filters. Is that all? Certainly not!
Created the “perfect dish”, we must make our photo even more attractive by publishing it with a good hashtag kit, so that it becomes visible not only to as many people as possible but above all to the right ones.
Instagram hashtags (as long as the algorithm works and if used correctly) are powerful tools that allow you to have visibility, customized targets, and profile growth.
There are specific hashtags for food, for every type of food, for every filter, in every language. There are serious and playful hashtags, for healthy food, vegan, junk food, coloured or monochrome, those related to particular holidays or ingredients. The risk is just to misuse the hashtags or use them inappropriately, making them practically useless.
The world of food bloggers and food and cuisine lovers uses countless food hashtags on Instagram.
This is the way food becomes fashion.
In the past, many dishes presented have had such vibrant colours, symmetries, and presentations that rivalled those from multi-star chefs. Now randomness seems to prevail over aesthetic perfection, but often everything is so natural or chaotic that it is blatantly artificial.
Is the “istagrammable” style dead? Is the aesthetics of Instagram dead with its strict rules? The most spontaneous photo has become the perfect social photo. Well-done shots indeed, but perfection is boring, false and old-fashioned. Yes to realism and hyperrealism, but with tasteful and non-sloppy photos, let alone with excess filters, HDR or Photoshop. Real-life is making its way on social media, as well as more traditional and authentic dishes. Instagram needs passion and creativity. It is no coincidence that food editor profiles are constantly growing. Bloggers who are no longer content to photograph food share recipes and collaborate with magazines or write books. A new frontier is also that of food allergies, vegan blogs or blogs dedicated to a specific territory. Even the simplest restaurants have begun to take into account the customers’ need to photograph food, improving presentation and lighting. Everything is social. Everything is Instagram. Each of us is potentially a blogger, a foodie, an excellent food blogger. Just tell and share with friends and followers “what food we are”.
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