They look old because they are brand new. Wait... what?

My grandmother always had many different photographs on display at her house. She had at least one framed photo on every shelf, and almost every photo had a faded orange tint to it. This is what happens to pictures that were taken 40, 50, even 60 years ago. This is also what happens to a digital picture taken 30 seconds ago. At least, this is what happens when you use Instagram. Personally, I don't understand why someone wants to age their pictures. The great thing about digital photography is that there is always a crisp, clean version at your fingertips (that is, of course, if you have uploaded it to the internet). A version that will always be as vibrant as the moment it was taken, or at least, as far as your camera will let it.

Instagram now has over 27 million users, which is rather impressive considering it is currently only available on Apple products, and with an Android version just around the corner, that number will only skyrocket.

But why? I have tinkered around in Instagram on an iPod Touch and found it a bit lacking in comparison to other camera filter apps. It's one thing to use a filter app when you are trying to be creative or artistic, but many of the photos I see from Instagram are of people at a party, or a restaurant. Why do these pictures need to look like they were taken in 1977? There are no bell-bottoms, nor tie-dye shirts in sight!

Photo of my great-grandmother in the early 1920's
using what was, at that time, new technology

This is the issue I see with adding a filter to a photograph. When you look at the picture above, you know it's old. You can tell, because of the clothes, the car, it's black and white, and ever so slightly out of focus. You can easily picture in your mind, Bonnie and Clyde, dirt roads, small towns, prohibition, etc. True vintage pictures have a certain nostalgia to them that no filter can capture. What can you picture with the photo below?

Looks like it could have been taken in the late 70's or early 80's? Can you imagine the giant Buick station wagon driving down the street just out of sight of the camera?

I took that picture on March 9th, 2012 with an 8.0 megapixel camera phone using an app called Pixlr-o-matic (dumb name, yes, I know). So again... why put a filter on a picture that was just taken? There are some occasions when yes, it does add something special to the picture. An old building perhaps? Sure, age it. A picture of flowers? No! Let the bright colors, not a filter, speak for the photo. Wanna show off the awesome sandwich you ordered for lunch? Don't use a filter. Taking pictures during a late night bender at the bar? Go for it because nobody will remember anyway. I like good photography as much as the next guy, but please stop trying to be artistic with every mundane picture you take.

Note: I'm not trying to pick on Instagram, it's just the most widely known filter app. There are many others that do the same thing, and yes, I have downloaded some of them.