New York City offers many riches for the picture taker, and as a photographer and longtime resident, John de Guzman, 37, has shot the city endlessly — to the point where, he says, “I was almost getting a little bored with it.”
Two things changed that. One was discovering Instagram, the iPhone app that lets users manipulate images with a digital filter — applying a retro tinge, ragged borders or other subtle effects — and share them on a social network. The other was becoming a part of Instagram NYC, a collective of fellow users who trade tips, go on photo explorations of the city and, of course, share their snapshots.
Admiring others’ photos on an Instagram feed is one thing, but “when you meet the person behind the photo it changes the whole game,” de Guzman says.
The group was founded in March 2011, when Brian DiFeo, who manages the work collective Hive 55, hosted a meet-up. An Instagram devotee, he’d noted the way the app had galvanized amateur photographers, and “saw the potential to connect both on and off the app.”
Some 50 people came to that first meet-up to hear speakers and socialize. Since then, the group has grown steadily, says DiFeo, who created a Web site (instagramnyc.com), and Twitter and Instagram accounts. He estimates that there is a core group of 200 to 300 members, though several hundred others have attended the group’s events.
Those events have included scavenger hunts and panel discussions, and members meet regularly for “photo walks,” where they explore various parts of the city, taking shots and winding up at a bar.
As you might expect, ways to use the still-evolving app are an abiding interest among the group’s members, who often share tips.
“We’re always exploring what the hardware can do,” says de Guzman.