Philosopher-Photographers on Instagram (and Elsewhere)
Sometimes a little beauty is in order.
I know about and follow a few philosophers who take gorgeous photographs and post them on Instagram or their own sites. I’ll share some of them with you, with a few samples from each.
I hope you’ll be able to clue us in to some more philosopher-photographers to follow, be it on Instagram or elsewhere.
Justin Sytsma (Victoria University of Wellington)
photo by Justin Sytsma
photo by Justin Sytsma
photo by Justin Sytsma
You can follow Justin Sytsma on Instagram here (@jmsytsma)
Daniel Star (Boston University)
photo by Daniel Star
photo by Daniel Star
photo by Daniel Star
You can follow Daniel Star on Instagram here (@daniel_star_net). He also posts his photos at his own site.
Maureen Eckert (University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth)
photo by Maureen Eckert
photo by Maureen Eckert
photo by Maureen Eckert
You can follow Maureen Eckert on Instagram here (@maureenaeckert).
David Estlund (Brown University)
photo by David Estlund
photo by David Estlund
photo by David Estlund
David Estlund doesn’t have much recent work on his Instagram feed (@destlund1), but he does have his own photography site with many more photos.
Simon C. May (Florida State University)
photo by Simon C. May
photo by Simon C. May
photo by Simon C. May
You can follow Simon C. May on Instagram here (@nomisyam).
Richard Pettigrew (University of Bristol)
photo by Richard Pettigrew
photo by Richard Pettigrew
photo by Richard Pettigrew
If only we could all be as happy as that lemur looks, right?
You can follow Richard Pettigrew on Instagram here (@richardpettigrew1981).
I also park my occasional amateur photography on Instagram, here (@justin.weinberg).
Do you know of other philosopher-photographers with pictures on Instagram or somewhere else publicly accessible online? Are you one? If so, please let us know where to look.
UPDATE (8/4/19): People are really coming through in the comments with pointers to some great photography by philosophers. Thanks! Check them out!
These are great–thanks for sharing. You go, Maureen!
Wendy
There’s also a philosopher photography group on Facebook called Philosophers n Photographers. It’s a closed group but I assume anyone can join who wants to or asks to. (I think as a member I can add you.) I also admit to having a page on Flickr titled Philosopher_Queen, but fair warning, it’s pretty full of cat photos (in addition to the usual other things such as flowers, food pictures, and tourist photos).. https://www.flickr.com/photos/94283635@N00/
Philosopher and photographer here, kinda. Instagram: @ninj.ah
Enviado do meu iPhone
Wow! Fantastic photos, especially the lemur gesturing “Alright, let’s go!”
Thanks for posting, Justin.
Philosotographers?
(OK, I know the etymology of that -soto- part is all messed up.)
“Die Wiener Reis” is a contemporary journey into a photographic imagery of philosophical projection. Hey there I’m a philosophy and art photography student from Vienna Austria // I like to create and communicate philosophical ideas via the medium of photography // have a look 🙂
https://www.instagram.com/die_wiener_reis/
Via email, a reader clued me in to the beautiful photography of Seth Lazar (ANU). Check it out here — especially the night ones.
Also, philosophy grad student Jonas Haeg posts interesting surrealist images on his Instagram here.
Seth has won awards for his gorgeous photography.
Wow. These are wonderful! What a lot of talented people. I don’t have that kind of gift for it, but do have an old school photo blog. The subject matter is just the region around my family’s farm in southern Missouri. Not beautiful in any conventional sense… maybe aesthetics of decay or just documentary registers of what things look like around here. Might be of interest to people who don’t know what rural American looks like. http://hcbonemuseum.blogspot.com/search/label/Safe%20as%20Houses
My Instagram account has sometimes been described as well-curated
https://www.instagram.com/jonathanichikawa/
I think philosophy and photography make a great pair. As a result of working with a camera, I see more and say less.
I have about 15 years of shots on my Flickr page at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kebpix/with/48367714936/
Thanx!
see my flickr feed at https://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathancohen/
Those are all great (though some a bit too photoshoped for my tastes – it’s obviously a somewhat subjective preference, and perhaps not different in kind than old-school filters, tuch-ups, etc., but there does seem to be a point where the medium is no longer photography and rather graphic design or such, and a couple look close to that line to me.)
But, any discussion of photographer-philosophers needs to include Chris Bertram, of Bristol He often puts photos up at Crooked Timber, but you can see more of them here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisbertram/
I ought to have included Saba Bazargan-Forward (UCSD) on this list. Check out his Instagram.
And someone just clued me into the Instagram of Tracy Isaacs (Western), which is also great.
Tom Sparrow takes the most gorgeous photos! IG: @mycatmimsy
My shots are on 500px (no Instagram).
https://500px.com/ttahko
This is great, especially the comments. I’ve enjoyed sharing my photos on Instagram (@byrd.nick) , but I’d be curious to also learn about philosophers of photography that use Instagram not only to share their photos, but do a bit of public philosophy of photography. Suggestions of who to follow are welcome.
Daniel Kirchner at the University of Kentucky has some photographs here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/136850704@N03/?fbclid=IwAR23Ed26k0nlFbXBhf1zNjvoyULjLD7pGGpBLJCVFpC_ofQ1PAGNnmac1NI
You can see some of my photography here: https://rstreiffer.myportfolio.com/, but most of it is posted on FaceBook.
There are some wonderful photos here–thanks to all for the links. As an amateur myself, I wish to offer just one photo that’s among my favorites–just a plain, completely unretouched photo of a bowl of soup–but a reminder that when it comes to photography, the timing of the photo sometimes is everything. . .
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129932173@N06/15981161835/
That’s a lovely photo, and if it wasn’t for the plastic butter tub in it, it could be art. Even still, it’s a great domestic scene. (To my mind, it also shows how an unretouched photo is often more interesting and pleasing than one that’s been photoshopped, too.)
Thanks Matt, but the reason that the photo is there is for how that shot caught the steam rising from the chicken soup. . .the whole shot is the shape of the steam. . .
I’d say lots of philosophers do photography.
You can see mine at my Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/esteinhart/
A reader alerted me to the fantastic photography of Ian James Kidd (Nottingham), also on Instagram. Take a look.
Hi, I’m another one who plays with philosophy and with cameras. My photos are posted here: https://www.instagram.com/robvigliotti/
Hi,
I am a photographer (and a 2nd year graduate student at Fordham University). My personal account can be found at @astrangecharm. I also run our philosophy department’s social media. We have an Instagram which can be found @fordhamphilosophy, where I post profiles of students and faculty, pictures of dept. events, and photos of campus. Please give us a follow if you are inclined to do so/are interested in the happenings of our department!
I have to plug Christopher Grau’s instagram feed ( https://instagram.com/revgrau?igshid=b5xg41erol93), it’s full of stunning photography.
Here’s a recent example: https://www.instagram.com/p/B0Pd2Vhnv0G/?igshid=1tqj0nlbzymbr