Liz Gannes

Recent Posts by Liz Gannes

Hipstamatic Makes an iPad Magazine out of User Photos

Hipstamatic today is releasing a free app called Snap that will house a monthly photography magazine with pictures from Hipstamatic users and other artists and print from a Hipstamatic editorial team.

Snap elaborates on the Hipstamatic aesthetic by providing interviews with subjects like musicians and tattoo artists accompanied by pictures notated with the in-app lens and film with which they were taken. For instance, a couple excerpts:

“I feel like a poseur ignoramus before I’ve even crossed the threshold. I may like my coffee strong and Fair-Trade, but I can’t tell the difference between Ethiopian and Venezuelan beans to save my life. And those baristas? They can smell mainstream.”

“A mIxtAPe IS lIke A mAtINg cAll. It’s an aural aphrodisiac, a symbol as clear as Lloyd Dobler’s massive boombox in Say Anything; it says, in no uncertain terms, ‘let’s bang.’ That’s why creating the perfect mixtape is such a delicate art: one misplaced Kanye track and you can kiss your chance at romance goodbye.”

The art in Snap isn’t 100 percent Hipstamatic photos — but much of it has the trademark square crop and obvious post-processing. There aren’t any ads in the magazine except a few promotions for a new Hipstamatic “global art project” to create more beauty in the world called #makebeautiful.

Hipstamatic CEO Lucas Buick said he sees the launch as an attempt to combat social media burnout. What he means by that, he said, is that right now Hipstamatic users find photos by following people and hashtags around the Web, which don’t necessarily provide a stage for the art that people are creating.

Latest Video

View all videos »

Search »

Just as the atom bomb was the weapon that was supposed to render war obsolete, the Internet seems like capitalism’s ultimate feat of self-destructive genius, an economic doomsday device rendering it impossible for anyone to ever make a profit off anything again. It’s especially hopeless for those whose work is easily digitized and accessed free of charge.

— Author Tim Kreider on not getting paid for one’s work