The photo-sharing and social networking service Instagram is
revolutionising photography by bringing the medium to the masses, but few know
that its origins lie, in part, in Florence.
When
one of the co-founders, Kevin Systrom, studied at Stanford University in
Florence during the winter quarter of 2004-2005, he enrolled in a photography
class that set in motion his interest in the field. His teacher forbade him to
use his state-of-the-art camera and gave him instead a plastic Holga camera.
The square and very quirky pictures of Florence, with their soft, vintage
appearance and distorted light, provided Systrom with much of the artistic
inspiration behind Instagram.
‘I
think going to Florence and taking this photography class-experiences like that
are what shape your perspective on the world … Those experiences [that] may not
seem applicable in the moment end up coming back to you time and time again,’
Systrom once said in an interview.
Director
of Stanford University in Florence, Ermelinda Campani, recently mentioned her
former student at a conference during Florens 2012, saying great things can
happen ‘out of the synergy between the humanities that we teach here at the
program and the humanistic education that Florence fosters, and the
state-of-the-art technological innovation that comes out of Silicon Valley …
When these field, the humanities and technology … enter into a dialogue with
one another, the results are extraordinary.’
Celebrate
Instagram in the city that helped inspire it at the Instameet event this
December 1. Meet other Instagrammers and explore Florence both physically and
photographically. The afternoon will include tours of Palazzo Vecchio and the
exhibit, Francis Bacon and the Existential Condition of Contemporary Art, at
the Strozzina. Instagrammers are also invited to take part in the Artistic
Tuscany challenge.
For
more information and to register, see http://instagramersitalia.it
