Students express passion for photography through social media

Photo courtesy of Grace Jones 

Instagram has been around for almost seven years, but a new trend has been coursing through the social media app.

Multiple amateur photography accounts have been created by East students. Photography accounts have become somewhat of a trend as East students want to separate personal photos with friends from their more professional photographs, according to senior Grace Jones. Jones made her photography account early last year.

“I definitely think it has become more trendy to have a separate account,” Jones said. “On your personal Instagram you can kind of post whatever, but [the photography account] is where you can post what you love the most.”

Aside from providing a separate place to post, the photography account serves as a place to store photos.

“I don’t plan on [my account] going viral or anything, but it’s kind of a portfolio,” Jones said. “If I need to go back and find a picture to submit somewhere, it’s easy to go back and find it.”

Junior Sam Fay started his account about two years ago after taking an interest in photography.

“I had a lot of really cool pictures from backpacking in New Mexico,” Fay said. “I had nothing to do with them other than keep them and compile all of them in a certain place.”

Neither Jones nor Fay are seeking instafame — it’s mostly for their own enjoyment. Fay enjoys showing his account to friends and family.

Both Fay and Jones are interested in going into the film industry, and Jones is going to school for film and minoring in photography. She was accepted to KU and is waiting to hear back from Emerson College. The accounts can help with applications to college and jobs, as they serve as a portfolio of all their best work.

Although Jones doesn’t foresee photography being her primary career, she would like to have side jobs in photography. If she wants to show her final work, she points people to her Instagram account.

Fay’s favorite part of photography is the ability to record his life and look back on the good memories.

“That’s the joy of being an amateur photographer. You can just look back on anything and it’s really fun,” Fay said.