Glass tacks
Photography has been a hobby I've enjoyed, and spent a lot of time and money--especially money--over the last few decades. There are photo albums from my time in college, from times before and after, lots of loose photos that will eventually be transferred somewhere more structured, and of course, thousands upon thousands of digital photos taken by numerous devices and stored in several places. The switch to digital has been a blessing and curse, particularly when deciding how to display these photos, which brings me to today's post. Similar to my recent post about thoughts that occur while washing dishes, most of today's thoughts happened during a shower.
I have been reading Craig Mod's newsletters since early 2019, with Ridgeline #7 being the earliest one in my collection. My guess is that Warren Ellis recommneded Craig in one of his newsletters, and since I had been following Warren since late 2014, I took his advice and subscribed. Don't ask me why I needed four years to sign up for Craig's Special Projects membership, but that happened in late 2023, and you can read about what all that entails at the link. Recently, in fact so recent that Craig hasn't updated the outward-facing membership page, he spun up something of a throwback members-only chat called The Good Place. I hesitate to call it a "social network," but in some ways it is like the early days of Twitter when it was known as "twttr." Discussions go all over the place at TGP1, but one throughline is about photography, and that's how the seeds of my shower thoughts were planted.
A large part of my attention this year has been on a digital declutter project that has morphed into something less like decluttering and more like repurposing. Time I could be spent scrolling mindlessly or despairingly can be used for creative or purposeful intent, or can be used in a scenario that the kids call "touching grass." During February and March, I hit pause on using Facebook and Instagram, largely to see what about these services were enjoyable and what elements weren't. The break also gave me some time to start this blog. Now that I have a presence here, I can think about bringing back the paused sites. Both Facebook and Instagram will probably be hit or miss, but I want to keep some established connections going. However, Instagram doesn't scratch the photography itch, and it really never could. It can't be a real subsitute for Flickr, or at least the Flickr from the past that still lives in my head and causes me to sigh whenever I see what's happening on that site today.
A few days ago, a discussion started on TGP about Glass, a photo-sharing site that has been around for about three years or so. I signed up for Glass last year, but haven't really done much with my membership so far. In spite of my relative inaction, I shared my Glass profile on TGP and found other members' profiles as well. I also have a profile on Foto, and have toyed around with Pixelfed but have yet to commit to that site. During my shower today, just as I was soaping up, I started to weigh the pros and cons of all these sites, and before I knew it, I ended up committing to Glass. Why? Let's look at the other sites first before I talk about Glass.
Foto and Pixelfed are both in many ways Instagram-like sites, similar to how Bluesky and Mastodon roughly replicate the older Twitter experience. Foto is nowhere near as far along in development as either Glass or Pixelfed--for example, I have a small profile on Foto, but it's only available to view if you download the iOS app. I can't link to it through this blog entry. I have received a lot more notice for pictures I upload to Foto than Glass, but they are nothing more than likes. I already have that experience on Instagram, but as I know more people there, I'll also get comments and messages that I am not getting on Foto. It feels like Foto hews a bit too close to the Instagram experience without offering up anything appreciably different.
Pixelfed is older than Glass or Foto, and taps into the Fediverse ecosystem that also holds Mastodon. I can follow Pixelfed accounts through my Mastodon account, and their photos show up in my Mastodon feed. There are also Pixelfed apps, both official and third-party, in numbers more numerous than Foto or Glass combined. I can comment on photos via my Mastodon feed, or through the Pixelfed apps, so again, the interface experience has some familiarity to it. My biggest concern now about Pixelfed is with its development, as there's only one developer coding for it. The recent security issue with Pixelfed, best read through the link, makes me think that it's a passion project that quickly grew out of hand due to unforeseen growth. Given its tie-in to the Fediverse, I believe Pixelfed has more staying power than, say, Foto, but for now I'll pass.
As for Glass, it's not trying to be an Instagram clone. There are more comments than likes given out on Glass, and the site is set up to encourage the former instead of the latter. In many ways, it's more like what Flickr (or 500px) could have become in an alternate universe, if neither of these sites went through periods of neglect or enshittification, respectively. There's a more "serious" tone to Glass that is, frankly, a bit intimidating, but can also be rather inspiring to me. Could my photos be anything like, for example, Hideki Anbo or Julian or Sean Breslin? Maybe, but it's okay if they aren't (and as you can see, there are public profiles on Glass). I have a large collection of photos, taken with DSLR's, with phones, and with the now-suddenly hip compact cameras, and I know there are quite a few winners to be found. Some of these photos I've shared on my former Flickr account, others on Facebook or Instagram, and some have never seen the light of the public. I feel encouraged enough to give Glass a go, as I may not be as skilled as some of these folks linked above, but I shouldn't shortsell myself and my experiences. Even some experiments, such as the two black-and-white film photos I'll link at the end, have merit.
So if all goes well, expect to see more photos interspersed with the text of future blog posts. Excelsior...you fathead!
One cute feature about TGP is iOS-based: if you save the page as a bookmark, or as a link on your homescreen, the resulting icon will be a smiling, be-suited Ted Danson.↩