Instagram FashionIs there a new type of fashion photography that only functions on Instagram? Patagonia Case Study ~ Part 6.

For example, Patagonia is an outdoor brand which focuses on nature and wildlife and has been created to save the planet by donating one percent of their sales to environmental protection. This qualifies them to be a part of the ‘Social Awareness’ subculture. It is evident that this brand does not go alongside the definition of IFP, as this brand concentrates on reducing waste and giving back to the planet, whereas Instagram fashion tends to promote fast fashion, which is cheap but harmful to the environment (Simončič,2021).

Instagram Fashion Photography?

The models in Figure Three are captured in a candid way, which reciprocates the idea of Instagram culture, as this is a photographing method that individuals use for their own accounts.

Conventional Fashion Photography?

Investigating this, it is palpable from Figure Three that the clothing is different to everyday clothes, as it represents outdoor hiking attire. This instantly sets them apart from the rest of the brands aforementioned, as they sell clothes for outdoor events, resulting in their images being based in rural settings. Unlike Cider, where the background is separate from the model, Patagonia embrace the background making it almost the subject of the post, creating a documentary aesthetic to the image. Viewing Patagonia’s feed holistically, there is an overall documentary theme, not only referring to the technique behind the photographs but with the caption of the images also. The captions uploaded are generally stories about late professional climbers or accomplishments of the brand. This supports the idea that this brand, like Burberry, does not fit in with IFP. Furthermore, Patagonia uses this imagery on their website and their Facebook account. This means, although the images are being designed for Instagram purposes, they are being integrated into other social media platforms. Rather than IFP it is likely that this is an example of a subculture of social media, such as ‘Social Awareness’.

This has been pivotal for this discussion, as it is apparent this image has elements of IFP as the candid nature of the models correspond to Instagram aesthetics.  However, other elements such as the documentary aesthetic of the images, extensive writing and infiltration onto other social medias segregates them from IFP. Highlighting the idea that this image may be the result of a subculture on Instagram, suggesting IFP is a part of a subculture not a genre itself. However, it is still unclear whether IFP is the result of a subculture or a subculture itself.