Firstly it's always a great honour when you get the call up to work with a world renowned surfing platform such as The Inertia. I was pretty excited to find out they wanted me to 'Takeover' their Instagram for 24 hours whilst telling the story behind a number of photos I have taken.
There is the mix of excitement at getting to show off the work you love, which represents so much of my actual life. The photos I take are what I see in my mind. I am connected to my camera, and we see the same things. But to remain respectful to the platforms, organisations and magazines that give you the opportunity to show off your work is also paramount.
I must admit, I had a bit of nerves, or perhaps not nerves, but definite considerations, when selecting which images to show. It's a fascinating thought, but in a world of 'like' buttons and shares, it is very easy to get caught up in publishing images only because you think they will get the most 'likes'. Of course one can not predict the outcome of the future, but I am certain most photographers are actually quite aware of which photos generally garner the most traction for their immediate impact, that is, the one second the person looks at it and presses like before flicking on.
So my predicament of course, with such a large audience as that of The Inertia, and with complete control over what content was shown over 24hours, do I go for those dark images that confuse and conflict, or do I go for images that a one second audience is sure to like. With some profane exclamation, I ended up choosing my actual favourite photos, most of which are the opposite of what some crappy online how-to social media guideline will tell you gets 'likes'. Because seriously, we are making choices based off a like button? Don't swear so much my manager says. Fuck that, I do what I want lol. :D
