Professional photographers and their use of Instagram : How Instagram influences professional photographers’ mindsets and contribute to their rethinking of creative practices

Professional photographers who actively use Instagram in their work notice its influence on various aspects of their professional and creative activities. The present thesis examines the manifestations of such influence noticed by a group of professional photographers. The results of five personal in-depth interviews, determined by the thematic analysis, revealed the peculiarities of work of professional photographers on the Instagram platform and beyond it, and their noticeof Instagram influence on such practices as photography creation, photo shootings, retouch, andinspiration search. It appeared that the photographers’ practices are adapting for the better account performance on the platform under the “threat of invisibility”. Besides, to achieve audience recognition, modern photographers need to actively participate in the race for higher metrics, which, due to the algorithmic features of Instagram management, are not guaranteed. All the professional photographers’ practices adapted for better Instagram performance and visibility can be considered as unpaid part of the photographers’ work, that is taken for granted