8 years! That’s how long I’ll have been posting on Instagram when we reach the 23rd November 2026. During that time Insta has changed a lot. Do you remember when it showed you the latest posts from the people you were following, in chronological order, and then you had a little pop up to say that you were all caught up? Those good old days are long gone!!

The following photos are all my own (except for the 3 sections at the end, you’ll see why). In my digital art I only use composites of my own images or my own digital painting.

Throughout this article I’ll weave screenshots from my own Insta account, starting with the most recent and working backwards. Above is my feed from May to Sept 2026. It breaks a rule I usually follow in that one post is duplicated. That’s because I posted a painting to Instagram for the first time (3rd on top row) and then Tower Gallery posted it and asked me to collaborate (1st on top row). I’ve found out that this means that it shows on my feed, so it’s now appearing twice. I’ve decided I’m happy in this case because this was a big step forward for me so I want to leave both. This is also the first time I’ve had 3 types of images on my feed; photography, digital art, painting.

Painting 2. Digital art 3. Painting 4. Digital art 5. Photography 6. Photography 7. Digital art 8. Photography with digitally painted sun.

Now Insta is full of ads and suggested posts from people we have no interest in. It’s become a lot more controversial as well. So many photographers have become frustrated by it.

At one time there was talk of it being replaced by a Canadian rival. I joined up and so did a lot of others. Fast forward and I can’t even remember the name of that platform and I couldn’t find it on a quick online search today. Unfortunately, it just didn’t make photos look as good as Instagram does and it didn’t catch on. Some people who swore they were making the shift came back to Instagram shortly afterwards. Luckily, I didn’t burn any bridges and I posted to both for a short period before transferring back to just Instagram.

This Instagram screenshot covers the period from Dec 2025 to Jan 2026 and includes my Christmas card (with digitally painted snow - flake by flake) and New Year message.

Photography 2. Digital art 3. Photography 4. Digital art 5. Photography with a digitally painted overlay 6. Photography 7. Photography with a digitally painted overlay 8. Photography

I try to post a nice fluid feed so that anyone looking at my profile gets an idea of my work and my recent work. I was initially hesitant to add painting to the mix but I’ve now decided to mix all of my media on the feed; photography, digital art, painting and collage. I haven’t posted a collage yet so that’s still to come.

The above screenshot covers May 2025 to June 2025. My favourite from this section is probably the girl standing in front of Gerhard Richter’s painting Two Candles. I asked her to pose when I took part in a photography workshop at Tate Modern. I later included this in a blog titled People and Art. Click here if you’d like to read that one.

1 to 8. All Photography except for No. 3 Digital art

So, I’ve now had 3 collage/paintings in 3 real world exhibitions. And this is where I’ve found that Instagram comes into its own. As an artist it’s the accepted platform for connecting with other artists and galleries. If someone says “Let’s connect” they mean on Instagram. Almost everyone has an Insta account and some (including me) also have websites and these seem to be the 2 main platforms for viewing artists’ work.

This got me thinking about my Insta history and evolution. Luckily I’ve never abandoned Insta for long periods. Neither have I posted consistently over the 8 years. The nearest I got to regular posting was twice a week for a period of around 8 months. Despite this, what I have now is a wonderful little personal history which reminds me of the results of new techniques, my best photos from photography workshops, favourite photos from when I made YouTube videos and portraits of people who posed or modelled for me. I look back at some older ones and think I should have corrected for perspective, adjusted the contrast or made a better edit. But that’s how it should be. I can see my progress in that feed.

Sometimes I try to keep a bit of colour harmony in my feed and this is one of those times. A mini pink phase! No. 7 was taken in the Yayoi Kusama Infinity Rooms at Tate modern and I used one of these photos from that day as a background in another piece of digital art. This set is from Feb 2024 to Oct 2024.

1 to 8. All photographs except for No. 2. Digital art

There’s also a community within my following and followers. With some of them I’ve been connected over the whole 8 years. Some in real life and some from around the world I’ve never met.

Going back to Jan 2022 and here are some of my early pieces of digital art.

No. 5 is titled Spirit of London with Tower Bridge, New Year fireworks and a protective angel hovering over us all (from the Jermyn Street Christmas decorations).

No. 6 is Oxo Tower - Mirrored .

I started off in the early days by making what has turned out to be a very good decision. I only follow other photographers and artists and I use Insta as my daily dose of inspiration. When my own photos get Likes or Comments I’m very appreciative but thankfully I’ve never got caught up in the numbers game. That’s allowed me to find joy in the platform by tailoring it specifically for my personal satisfaction and promotion within my own little bubble.

We’re back in Covid times now, from Aug 2020 to Sep 2020. A very colourful phase for me with lots of night time street photography.

At this time all my photos were straightforward photography and my challenges were usually due to the darkness. If you haven’t spotted it by now, my photos are normally taken at sunrise, sunset or in the dark of night. I don’t know why, it’s what I’ve always been drawn to.

1 to 8 Photography

I do have to say that the sheer amount of ads now on Instagram are a bugbear. I never accept cookies if I can avoid it and I take steps to avoid putting too much personal information online so that I can’t be targeted by ads too precisely. I also make full use of the 3 dots or 3 bar menu at the top right of ads to say that I don’t want to see that ad again. I also regularly use the reason that I’m seeing too many ads. This does have the effect of slowing them down - but only by a little.

This section from May 2020 made me laugh for the sheer amount of tall pointy things and Shard obsession all in one space. Feel free to make me laugh again by sending your analysis!

No.1 was the first time I believe I altered something digitally then posted it to Instagram. The fun was just beginning. In No.2 any keen photographers may notice a bit of lens distortion which I’d never miss now but was oblivious to then.

Playing with shapes and colours! Almost right back to the start now with this section of my Insta feed from March 2019. These were all straightforward photography.

No. 1 recalls a day walking with a friend, who’s sadly no longer with us, along the seafront between Hastings and St Leonards. She was a very keen photographer herself who studied photography in college and produced a book of photos from the Greek Islands.

No. 2 was the first time I tried to capture the glow of neon.

No. 7 was the first time I posted a black and white photo, behind the colour version. Sometimes it takes you a while to figure out what your ‘thing’ is and sometimes it’s instant. I don’t think I’ve ever taken another black and white photo since. I knew straightaway it wasn’t for me.

I’m currently following around 240 photographers and artists on Instagram so it could have been hard to choose. I didn’t dither though and I’ve quickly selected 3 here to show some screenshots from their feeds.

The first is Gunnar Gunnar from Iceland. When I thought about why I love his photos so much it boiled down to 4 Cs. Contrast, Composition, Clarity and Colour. His subjects are wide ranging but all based in Iceland. Landscapes, wildlife, people, buildings, fabulous aurora pictures. He really does justice to one of the most amazing places on Earth.

My next pick is Nigel Danson from England. He mainly shoots landscapes and has a particular love of trees and woodlands. Although most of his photos are from England he also travels to wild and rugged parts of the world. The Faroes, Scotland, the Arctic, etc. His pictures are always wonderfully natural and atmospheric. He started as a full time photographer not too long before me (although he had been a keen photographer previously). He produces wonderful YouTube videos, runs workshops, courses, books and calendars among many other talents. I’m in awe of his work ethic!

Next up is Ana V. Ramirez. I stumbled across her by chance while looking at photography websites when I started to build my own. Hers instantly caught my eye and I signed up to her newsletter so that I could keep in touch with what she’s doing. She used to post more photography and now she’s becoming more prolific with her art made up of her own photography, collage and paint. As you can see she’s also a cyanotype fan. She lives in the US so it’s great to see different styles such as in photo 6 which I absolutely love.

Here are links to everyone’s Insta profile including my own.

Ana V. Ramirez @anavramirez

Nigel Danson @nigel.danson

Gunnar Freyr Gunnarsson @gunnargunnar

Loren Brand @loren_brand_london

Overall, my verdict on Instagram, even today, is that it gets my vote. Yes, the ads are annoying and there are far too many of them but you can take measures to reduce them. The sheer global reach of the platform is amazing. Think of a country or a city and you can follow someone from there. I love looking through beautifully curated feeds just for entertainment. I would likely follow more people if I didn’t have other things to do, which is the point of me being on the platform in the first place.

It does need customisation though. Be selective and you’ll be rewarded!

As usual, I could talk about this for hours but I’ll stop there.

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Yours

Loren

Instagram - My Personal View