An instant hit
Architect and amateur photographer, 22-year-old Rashiq Muhamad Ali has a high-quality arsenal at his disposal: a good eye and four analog and digital cameras.
However, he has still become addicted to posting scratched-up, quasi-vintage photos online.
Television reporter Virginia Casado, 31, proudly posts about a dozen similar pictures per day on the social networking sites of Facebook and Twitter.
Medicine school graduate Tao Ruifeng, 25, is a devoted lomographer and film buff. He has also fallen under the sway of these photos with their square, black film backdrops.
More and more Beijingers, from curious shutterbugs to image professionals, are joining the 27 million Instagram social network, which is the free photo sharing program that applies a digital filter to photos and allows the photographer to share them on various platforms.
The app has already inspired Instagramers Beijing, a local group that steps out on regular walks around town to capture Beijing in pictures that have an atmosphere of yore. App enthusiasts claim the dusty photos explore new photographic limits.
Sandy snapshots
Ali is picky about photos. He isn't interested in what other Instagramers had for breakfast or that cute puppy in his neighborhood.
"I appreciate Instagram because it reignited my passion for photography," said the Indian architect. "A friend introduced me to the app about a year ago and I became hooked," he recalled.
"It's very multi-layered, minimalist. The ease of sharing and the broad connectivity are part of its appeal. The more comments I receive from other Instagramers, the more I want to improve my photos," said Ali.
Used to having her cameras on hand for work, Spanish reporter Casado enjoys the freedom of strolling around with nothing but her iPhone. She seeks beauty from the banal, taking photos of anything from her mother's omelets to city landscapes and sunsets around the world.
"I love experimenting with the filters and the frames, but the best thing is the way you can catch and share a moment that you don't want to miss," explained Casado, who enjoys the sense of nostalgia that the grimy snapshots incite. The reporter described Instagram as a "visual Twitter."
"Instagram has the strong points of a good photo app: It's fast, easy and diverse," noted Tao. "It's also fun, which makes it very attractive to people who do not use regular cameras," he said.
Tao explained that the widespread use of mobile phones and social networks led to the popularity of the app that Facebook bought for $1 billion in April this year.
Powered by people
"I want to inspire. I like the feedback and the ability to comment on other people's photos," said Ali, who got into Instagram when his pictures of a music concert in London caught people's attention.
"A person commented on those photos and suggested that I submit them to a competition. It was not until then that I entered the second layer of Instagram and discovered the social network beyond it," recalled Ali.
He started following photojournalists and discovered it was a powerful communication tool. The visual posts of Chinese Instagramer Sha Luo particularly caught his eye.
Following in the footsteps of other Instagramers in London and New York, the architect created a Beijing fan group last October.
Instagramers Beijing has so far organized six walks in hutong and the 798 art district. It brings together a mixed group of foreigners and Chinese Instagram aficionados aged between 18 and 50.
"The group is more of a social connector, an alternative way of meeting new people and discovering the city under a new light," said Ali, insisting that owning a smartphone isn't a compulsory requirement.
"The walk was full of surprises," described 28-year-old Sha Luo, who works as a business development manager in Beijing. "I took a new look at the city around me. I found scenarios and angles that I had never noticed before."
Picture perfect?
Group discussions on microblogging sites like Sina Weibo and Tianya debate the app's pros and cons.
Without the need to properly adjust a lens and set shutter speed, Instagram garners as much awe as it does distrust for the dubious quality of its photos.
"Gear is good, vision is better," said the creator of Instagramers Beijing, paraphrasing photographer and author David duChemin. "I met people in Instagram that started taking pictures with their iPhone and are now full-time photographers," he noted, praising the posts of several photojournalists.
ADR Studio took the app further and released the Instagram Socialmatic Camera this May, allowing the app to actually function as the instant film camera that spurred its very existence. Then in June, Polaroid launched the Z2300 model.
Both cameras allow users to snap, print and post square photos instantly.
However, some people refuse to succumb to instant photos. "The biggest joy of print photography is the uncertainty of the frame and the feeling of waiting for images to develop. The (instant photo) idea is brilliant, but there is still a long way to go until it captures the true essence of photography," Tao commented on his misgivings of the format.
Strictly a film guy before getting into photography, Ali slowly surrendered to digital cameras as he feared he would not get the same feel.
"I don't want to make the same mistake and say that phone photography isn't good. I want to see more things happening that make photography evolve and become more attainable," Ali said. "I believe everyone should be able to take a good photograph no matter the platform," he continued.
Perhaps an exhibition of Instagram photos by Instagramers Beijing may be in the works.
For more details e-mail igers_beijing@gmail.com or follow @igersbeijing on Instagram
Wu Kameng contributed to this story