Instagram without influencers
September 15, 2020 7:45 AM   Subscribe

This may be impossible, but I live in hope. I like to use Instagram to look at neat places around the world. Unfortunately many/most of these photos are cluttered up with people (usually a woman with freshly blown-out hair artfully posed and facing away from the camera). Is there a way to frame a search or edit results so that I can only see photos without people in them?
posted by orrnyereg to Computers & Internet (10 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Look for accounts that focus on landscape photography?
posted by bbqturtle at 8:03 AM on September 15, 2020


Maybe try starting your search of Instagram off Instagram. Here's what I mean -

* Do a search on Google Images for a given place name, plus the word "Instagram" (i.e. "Paris Instagram" or "Burundi Instagram" or whatever). Or just "travel instagram".

* That will give you a set of thumbnails with pictures; most of them, sadly, will be the kind of photos you dislike. However, you may see a photo or two that's more like what you're looking for.

* Check out that photo and follow it to that person's instagram page, if available. If they're someone whose aesthetic you like. give 'em a follow.

(I literally did that exact process in another window while I was typing this comment, and saw a photo that lead me to a Conde Nast article about "19 Travel Photographers on Instagram to follow" and that article led me to about three accounts I'd seriously consider checking out.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:15 AM on September 15, 2020 [4 favorites]


I follow the official accounts of various countries to see uninfluenced photos. Travel agencies can also be wonderful resources, too.
posted by Kitchen Witch at 8:24 AM on September 15, 2020 [3 favorites]


Oh, and I also have a couple personal recommendations -

This guy is a photographer I met here in the city who does a broad range of stuff - his current Instagram is design-focused now, but towards the end of the month he leads photo walks in NYC (that's how I know him) and you'll see some NYC street photos. He also does travel photography when the world permits.

This guy is a good friend and former theater colleague; he made the switch to landscape photography a few years back, with a focus on Colorado, the Rockies and the Southwest. He's also done a lot in the Catskills and Upstate New York, and has some photos from New Orleans, the Caribbean, and various spots in Europe. And he is very much about NOT including people unless it suits the picture.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:30 AM on September 15, 2020 [1 favorite]


#emptylandscape is one hashtag that generally doesn't have people in the photos. #scenic is only about 10% shots with influencers. #nopeople is also good, though there are still a few people in it.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:50 AM on September 15, 2020 [5 favorites]


Look for photographers, not models.
posted by bradbane at 9:53 AM on September 15, 2020 [1 favorite]


A lot of the people who post at country specific /pics subreddits have instagrams.

For example, Japan Pics is devoid of influencer pictures, and a lot of comments will link to the OP's instagram.
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 10:05 AM on September 15, 2020


Try Flickr. It's for photographers, not "influencers".

(ugh. pet peeve of mine. I don't need to see you to know you were there. You being there isn't the interesting part of the scenery. The scenery is the interesting part. Influencers are boring.)
posted by notsnot at 10:20 AM on September 15, 2020 [1 favorite]


adding, rather than editing...

most people on Flickr will tag their photos, but it may not be obvious how to search. If you go to this link and append the name of what you're looking for to the URL, you can find stuff. For example, https://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/sanjuanmountains will get you the San Juan mountains in Colorado.
posted by notsnot at 10:24 AM on September 15, 2020 [2 favorites]


I used to follow @NatGeo for this - pictures posted from all over the world by their amazing photographers. I ended up unfollowing because there were too many posts, but sounds like it would be right up your alley.
posted by widdershins at 1:00 PM on September 15, 2020 [1 favorite]


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