Photography matters.

Why images have value in a video-driven world.

Most social media is currently fighting over video. They are leaving still images behind and racing towards short-form video entertainment channels.

While video is the most engaging storytelling medium humans have created, it doesn’t mean still images are dead or worthless. The reason video is popular is because it attracts and holds our attention better than still images. All social media is currently built around who can attract and hold our attention the longest.

It’s an all-out war for human attention, but that is another post for another day.

Because video is so popular, sometimes I ask myself, ‘What the hell am I doing and why?’

Questions like this can be scary, and they are at times, but they are essential. Other people that are following Foto are asking me similar questions. They want to know what Foto is and why I think now is the time to build it. These are foundational questions, and I need to ask myself these questions more than once.

One of the challenges we currently face is how fast technology is advancing. It feels like everyone in the photography industry is talking about AI. Fear, speculation, predictions, anger, and anxiety over AI create many things to discuss.

It’s easy to get sucked into the noise when creating something new, which can lead to losing focus and losing the narrative. I have to check in with myself to ensure I’m staying on track and that the purpose of Foto feels tangible.

Does Foto want to be the next Instagram or a smaller platform?’

My current answer is, ‘Probably somewhere in the middle.’

We are building Foto because there isn’t a great online platform that serves image makers.

All the legacy online social platforms don’t serve users very well. I’m talking about Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

They pulled us into their worlds through a freemium business model that created massive network effects. Once the network effects took hold, we felt like we had to stay to be connected, build an audience, and avoid FOMO.

Then they flipped the script on us and sold our data to advertisers. They doubled down by creating a truly addicting experience. Online drama, visual sugar, and dopamine-producing user experiences have kept us scrolling, commenting, and scrolling. Last, they forced us to play their algorithm game while not allowing most of our audience to see our new posts.

Most accounts on Instagram only have 5% - 15% of their followers see a new post.

That’s a pretty horrendous reach, and Instagram doesn’t care. They want you to keep the app open and to scroll. That’s how they make money. They don’t make money by helping you have a sustainable career.

They do not care deeply about image-making.

It’s been found that the more these companies create moral outrage, the more time we’ll spend on their app. Their advertising model incentivizes them to build the most attention-grabbing product they can without much consideration for you or your mental health.

Why are images worth fighting for?

I believe images are important because of how closely they tie into our memory and how they invite us to slow down. If you really look at an image…I mean really look at it for a long time…you enter into a state of reflection and consideration. This often leads to empathy.

While video is a great storytelling medium, I firmly believe that photography is good for humanity. The act of walking out into the world and observing, slowing down, waiting, and making photographs opens us up to new experiences and interactions that we would often never have.

Photography is often a window into another world. Like any technology, it can be used in horrible ways, but I fell in love with it because it allowed me to connect with others and myself at a deeper, more thoughtful level.

I want Foto to do the same thing. I want to build a platform that helps people increase their empathy, that helps them slow down and helps them enter a mental state of deep reflection.

Videos take you on a specific journey. Photographs tap into this other area of human existence, where we aren’t given all of the answers. We don’t know what happened before or after that photograph was taken. The best images allow our minds to wander and explore.

This experience with images is important from personal family snapshots all the way to the best fine art photography that travels the world in museums. Photographs have a universal language that influences our culture, creates connections, and helps us remember.

This is why I’m building Foto. I want to help preserve and encourage a more thoughtful experience with images in a more humane social network.

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