Dear Instagram,
Yesterday I reached 50,000 followers on your app.
I don’t want to focus too much on that number because what do social media numbers really mean, anyway? My large Instagram following has something to do with my photography, sure. But it also has a lot to do with luck and being in the right place at the right time. There are lots of great photographers with far fewer followers and lots of crappy photographers with more.
(Nonetheless, reaching 50,000 Instagram followers is pretty flipping cool. If I told you I wasn’t over-the-moon excited about it, I would be lying.)
But even before this 50k thing happened, I’ve been thinking lately about how much I love you. I’ve loved you ever since I uploaded that first fuzzy picture of my cat, shot with my iPad, more than three years and 1900 posts ago.
I Facebook as much as the next person, and I tweet because I have to. But you, Instagram, you I truly love. I wake up every morning excited to see you.
You introduced me to many of my closest friends. You improve my photography. You encourage me to explore. You’re always evolving, working to suit my needs better. You provide perpetual entertainment while I’m standing in long South African queues. You have advanced my career and helped me to make a better blog.
Sometimes I get tired of you, and complain about you, and feel frustrated by you. Sometimes I make fun of you and the people who take you too seriously (even though I often do that myself). Sometimes you make me feel jealous and insecure.
Beneath all that, Instagram, I love you.
Here are a few photos that I shot in Joburg yesterday, in honor of you.
Man on a bike in Gandhi Square.
Jozi streets.
Family living in a building off Gandhi Square.
Amazing graffiti off Gandhi Square by Cape Town artist Faith47.
Incidentally, in a few days I’m attending the first-ever South Africa National Instameet. Events like this are another example of what makes you cool, Instagram. Here’s a video about the Instameet.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daD0xrBe3Ec[/embed]
That’s all for now, Instagram. Thanks again.
Love, Heather (@2summers)
How have I never blogged about 44 Stanley Avenue, the coolest shopping and dining complex in Joburg, which is only five minutes from my house?
I guess it’s wrong to say I’ve never blogged about 44 Stanley; I’ve mentioned it countless times over the years (see here and here) when writing about specific restaurants or shops that are there. But I’ve never written a dedicated post about 44 Stanley as a destination and it’s about time I did – especially now, with the holidays upon us.
I’ve been dreadfully uninspired lately, struggling to think of anything I want to blog about despite having a long list of great ideas (many of which you, my readers, provided in September). I’m finding it hard to feel positive about life at the moment. But on Saturday Thorsten and I got the chance to visit Indwe Park, an indigenous garden and sculpture park in Braamfontein, and I knew I had my topic for today.
Given this week’s political nuclear bomb blast, it feels like a weird time to publish a light-hearted post about my recent (pre-election) jaunt through the United States. But I’m hoping you’ve have had enough of the U.S. election horror show – I know I have – and are ready (at least temporarily) for some wholesome American travel adventures. If so, please read on about my four-day visit to Maine, the northeastern-most state in the lower 48, with my sister, Susanna.
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It makes me smile, when I see it.