one of my main social media platforms for where i post my work is instagram @alex_lc_art and often seen by other art enthusiasts or photographers reading a wide audience. instagram has a very formulaic 3 box layout
wanting to plan my layout for a more cohesive look i’ve chosen to use indesign as it presents an easy document i can place images ive edited.
starting with a blank A3 document (420mm x 297mm) i divide my page into thirds, to mimic the IG layout, i then measured out 9 photo frames at 99mm x 140mm, making sure to edit this on the master page so it would be copied throughout, this would help when adding more pages.
im doing this because i have over 100 photos i feel are up to quality, however, i want to refine them down and post only key images, thinking about the context of what a final product might look like, focusing on sequencing, as each image shares a relationship with the images around, they should work as a whole to convey this idea of unity
i then placed in the photos i wanted from my infrared folder.,id right click and fit them proportionally to frame (Alt + Ctrl + Shift + C) along with (Ctrl + Alt + H) for high quality display for easier editing. this was a little awkward for landscape photos as they didnt fit in the boxes properly, however, this should be ok as its just a representation for myself for what to post on each day, IG will do a similar thing anyway when looking at the page.
from this, i was able to move around my images to where i wanted them and discard any i decided i didn’t want. i want to take note of how the photos communicate with one another as they are relative to each other. they should be unified not just by their colors and aesthetic but also by their composition as well
these posts will be posted from newest to oldest to mimic what my feed will look like, these posts also follow after my styling posts
> styling <
coming back to this post on the 1st, i have come to realise a few kinks in my design layout, meaning there were some delays in posting and things happening outside of uni which effecting my schedule
since these posts follow on from my styling which concluded on 06.05. these photos started being posted on 13.05, i felt my feed was taking a turn towards the adventure side, losing touch with the original theme of ‘the trees have eyes’ i switched the first post to include this theme, kicking things off to a good start, however only getting 24 likes as of today, its performance falls below a 60% average
continuing on with my posting schedule, the next 6 posts received positive attention with a 37 like average, with the highest being 16.05 of the close up garlic blossoms, with 44 likes presenting dark purple foliage and white plumage, i feel this is due to the alteration in hashtags being used
#escapism #adventure #lockdown #infared #photography #hue #saturation #nature #alien #otherworldly #strange #bright #colors #red #pink #eyes #theyknow #landscape #forest #rest #relax #calm #meditate #japanese #eyes #theyknow #watching #waiting
this photo reached 100 people in total, using these hashtags i only reached 14 people, 6 of which weren’t following my account liked this photo. maybe these are too unconventional to be used with a low traffic rating?
#escapism #adventure #lockdown #infared #photography #hue #saturation #nature #alien #otherworldly #strange #bright #colors #red #pink #violet #theyknow #landscape #forest #rest #goblincore #cottagecore #meditate #japanese #calming #atmosphere #snowdrops #grove #leaves #moss
choosing to mix things up by 16.05 i introduced more hashtags relating to cottagecore , reaching 117 people, i recently came across these hashtags thanks to my love for frogs, goblincore refers to the aestheticisation of fantasy goblin culture, the love of small shiny rocks and bring them back to their hobbit holes/groves, they find themselves enriched by a natural atmosphere and moss.
cottagecore provides similar vibes and aesthetics, but refers to the romanticism of a small countryside life, with large gardens and lunchtime picnics, while holding cups of teas, they have an affinity for flowers, and thatched roofing
making this link to my work proved most effective as i started to gain more followers from this change and likes per photo
my next change occurred on the 26.05, by this point i had been posting the same editing style for 16 photos and im starting to feel bored of this after 23 days,which i image my followers are feeling the same. which makes me feel a lot of my photos might be filler as im trying to think about the layout’s composition as rows of 3 and grids of 9, tilting this post ‘feeling something new, something blue’ i used this as a central post for its central vertical aspects, it also sense for this post to be blue as any side post might have looked awkward or unconscious. receiving 28 likes, with 114 people in total views,i got 17 new like from accounts that werent following me, from this i also got 2 more follower
it was around this time i wanted to engage with smaller content creators, doing these meant searching small tags but frequently posted to hashtags like cottage and goblin core, setting the search from most likes to recently posted, this directs the serch to smaller accounts that might not get featured in weekly highlights by Instagram, spending about an hour a day going through these tags, commenting and like other creators posts seemed to gain me some attention and follow backs. when i started posting these on the 16th i had 180 followers, today i have 207, this shows a steady and constant growth in traffic, that might not have happened without these unique tags
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as this project starts to come to a close in its final days, i want to start posting fewer filler images and focus on more important key images
1 “They lurk from a distance, waiting and biding their time”
#escapism #adventure #lockdown #infared #photography #hue #saturation #nature #eyes #otherworldly #strange #bright #colors #red #pink #trees #theyknow #landscape #forest #camo #goblincore #cottagecore #meditate #japanese #calming #atmosphere #woodland #wood #leaves #octopus
this photo looks into octopuses and uses their ability of camouflage to convey the idea a predictor the lurks in the shadows to stalk its prey, as it blends into its surroundings this is denoted by the knot in the tree as it looks like a Cephalopod’s eye, the vines that wrap around it enforce this menacing glare as it aims to obscure and blend the creature
2 “We venture this world looking for a higher power to guide us through this life, to hold our hand, but it is often this hand that feeds us that we bite” #escapism #adventure #lockdown #infared #photography #hue #saturation #nature #hallucinations #otherworldly #strange #bright #colors #red #pink #trees #theyknow #landscape #forest #trippy #goblincore #cottagecore #meditate #japanese #calming #atmosphere #woodland #religion #plant #foxglove
this photo uses fox gloves to convey an idea of religion with connotations of spirituality as the sun beams through the polka dotted bells, the lower angle perspective of the camera looks up at this central subject conveying this idea of a higher power, linking to Ram Dass’ psychoactive substance induced states through the poisonous lens of hallucinations
3 “This tree’s root system reaches into the ground for nutrients, interlocking and becoming one with the rest of the world, they create harmony together”
#escapism #adventure #lockdown #infared #photography #hue #saturation #nature #unity #otherworldly #strange #bright #colors #red #pink #trees #theyknow #landscape #forest #trippy #goblincore #cottagecore #meditate #japanese #calming #atmosphere #woodland #religion #spirituality #tree
the third photo aims to build on this by linking to Ram Dass’ idea of unity, echoing this idea of spirituality by looking at the symbioses of the roots systems and insects that live here
Alex's Photos & Thoughts 