If you have a smartphone, you will probably take a photo with it at some stage. If you have taken photos with your smartphone, you might upload them to a photo sharing community. This photo sharing community will probably be called “Instagram”, as it is the biggest photo network of this kind in the world, boasting more than 200 million users. Well, you upload your photo to this platform and call yourself an Instagramer. You follow other Instagramers, you look at their photos via app, give out ‘Likes’ and make ‘Comments’ and so interact with other users.

Some day you might ask yourself who is behind all these photos, user names and profiles that you are networking with day by day. Instameets are a great opportunity to answer this questions. In many cities there have been large or small or three-person groups of cell phone photographers who go on a “photowalk”, if there are 20, they will hold an “Instameet”. During those meetings, photography is not the main issue, the exchange of ideas is also important: discussing which apps to use, for example, and other tips and tricks.

Last weekend Berlin hosted the large “Europewide Instameet” where 200 Instagramer from all over Europe met to get to know one another, celebrate together and take photos, from Friday afternoon to Sunday evening. Countless online relationships are enriched through offline components. The event was organized by the Instagram Community of Berlin, which has known each other very well for a long time and does a lot of networking. You don’t always have to have 200 persons, even 20 make up a nice group. Therefore, Instagramer, you should meet up to indulge in your passion together – you’re guaranteed to have fun!

Uwa Scholz

About the author: uwa scholz. aka @uwa2000 on Instagram. Grew up in Berlin. Cell phone photographer. On Instagram since July 2011. Street photographer by coincidence. I document the city, but other Instagramers call me a street photographer. I’m currently traveling through Europe and the USA.