THE TERRITORY IN ALL ITS GLORY
No longer just for people obsessed with taking photos of their food, Instagram is opening a window into the lives of others. A new exhibition in Darwin has turned the social media platform on its head, and given audiences an insight into Territory life
AS life moves increasingly into a digital world where you’re only as good as your last post, it’s rare to see that world ripped from its carefully curated screen.
In 2015 artist Richard Prince caused outrage in the arts community when he hung and sold other people’s Instagram posts for upwards of $100,000 each for his show New Portrait at the Gagosian Gallery.
Unlike Prince, Northern Territory Library (NTL) community engagement co-ordinator Caddie
Brain sought permission from Territory Instagrammers to be part of the iNsTagrammers: the best in NT photography.
It’s the largest exhibition to date at the library, with more than 70 images on the walls of the space in Parliament House.
But that number is just a fraction of the 80 million images shared on Instagram every day.
Social media has changed the way the world communicates and documents history, which has challenged institutions like the NTL.
“We are an organisation that preserves NT history, and often through photography,” Ms Brain said.
“In the past we’ve collected prints and albums, but this exhibition also starts the conversation about how now we’re all online and sharing our stories online.
“The images are here today and gone tomorrow so how, down the track, are we going to preserve the amazing work that’s being produced and largely being shared through social media?”
Gone are the days when being a photographer required an elaborate set-up, when shots were limited by film length. These days history is documented by everyone from professional photographers through to selfie slaves.
“We all have cameras in our pockets all the time as we walk around this beautiful place, so it means a far greater diversity of people are sharing their corner of the Territory and their view on how they see Territory life,” Ms Brain said.
“We’ve aimed to get a complete mix of some of the best of what’s happening out there on Instagram.
“Some are photojournalists or professionals, but there are also all kinds of people who have contributed, including an architect, an icecream chef in Alice Springs and mums.”
But for all the challenges social media platforms such as Instagram have presented to cultural institutions, and even the art world itself, as seen in Prince’s show, it has been a strong tool for growth and reflec-
“... how, down the track, are we going to preserve the amazing work that’s being produced?”
tion for many. Alice Springsbased designer Elliat Rich (@elbowrkshp), who shares an Instagram account with her shoemaker partner James Young, sees Instagram as not just a business tool, but a visual history.
“The positive thing about sharing on Instagram is that we have one spot where we keep our memories,” she said.
“We print our Instagrams into books, and that has become a really beautiful record and visual diary of the last three to four years.”
Ms Rich said the NTL exhibition was an opportunity to reflect on the presence of social media outside the solitary gaze through a curated feed.
“Generally we pour content on to digital media, but rarely does the flow come back out,” she said.
“It’s nice to have an opportunity to assess social media presence in the real world, and there’s value to doing that.”
Social media, particularly Instagram, has become a way for people to showcase both curated and candid moments of life, as well as lose themselves in stories and images from foreign lands.
“I feel like Alice is a micro- cosm of the psyche of Australia,” Ms Rich said.
“Things play out here in a very intense way and there’s a lot of really positive stories that we experience here that don’t necessarily get focused on.
“Our stories and stories of this place have relevance and currency to a national and global audience, and Instagram is a really beautiful way of being able to meet and share our stories.”
Architect graduate Katy Moir (@_katymoir_) said removing Instagram images from the cyber world and putting them in to a gallery space visited by travellers was an effective way of sharing real stories of Territorians.
“I think (the exhibition) is a good tool to market to (the backpackers) demographic, and (for) promoting things in the NT. And because there’s such a wide variety of images on show — it’s not just the stuff they’re going to see through big tourism campaigns or at their backpackers,” she said.
“There are a few great images there of true Territory life, which is what a lot of tourists don’t get to see when they come here. I had a backpacker stay with me and before she arrived she had been told by someone ‘apart from Mitchell Street, Darwin is shit’.
“After she’d been here for a week she said, ‘It’s really weird to think someone would give me that advice, I would think the only bad thing about Darwin is Mitchell Street’.
“But that’s all they’re offered, so how else are they supposed to connect with the community, without a clear way to access it?
“Something like Instagram can help with that, and having the exhibition in a public place these kinds of people are going to access quite regularly encourages that promotion.”
Ms Moir said she used Instagram as a way to stay connected with creative communities down south, and show off part of the world many don’t get to see.
“Everyone likes to share photos of waterfalls and sunsets, and there’s value in that, but I also think Darwin has a very unique and interesting architectural presence, which isn’t always appreciated by the rest of the architectural community in Australia,” she said.
Far from the world of archi- tecture, Jett Street (@little.karama.gangsters) embodies another world of instagrammers — mums.
As a mother and photographer, Street credits Instagram with fuelling her passion for photography.
“Instagram is 100 per cent responsible,” she said. “I think and breathe photography these days and I feel like I have all these different friends who are all mums.”
Ms Street first picked up a camera three years ago and has learned almost everything she knows from other photographers sharing tutorials on Instagram.
“I made a separate account for my kids because I didn’t want to spam my friends, and then started following other mum bloggers, but they didn’t blog the stories of motherhood, so I started to question how did they take that photo and how do I take photos like that,” she said.
“I did a lot of online courses through the people I was following.”
No longer just a platform for selfies and photos of artisanal quinoa dishes, Instagram is offering a window into the real lives of Territorians.