There are millions of the population using Instagram, a social networking tool whose success relies on its visual simplicity. Yet, there's an art to using it well. AnOther speaks to celebrated DJ Michel Gaubert about the way he uses...
There are millions of the population using Instagram, a social networking tool whose success relies on its visual simplicity. Yet, as with all tools, there's an art to using it well. And there are the traits of the Instagram offender: multiple nonsensical hash tags, monotonous catwalk shots that your catwalk colleagues are also uploading, bad self-portraits, multiple updates. You know the score.
Michel Gaubert (@michelgaubert) is a fine example of what makes for an interesting Instagrammer. Having began uploading in October last year, the celebrated Paris-based sound illustrator has used his feed to communicate his excellent visual vocabulary with a unique sense of humour. Having created soundtracks for design houses including Chanel, Raf Simons, Balenciaga, Dries Van Noten and Sonia Rykiel, his feed is of course heavily fashion influenced. But this doesn't mean repetitive runway snaps. Clever puns – Lana Del Rei Kawakubo and the Muiccia Bento Box are just two highlights.
Gaubert taps into the mood of the moment and uploads a wide variety of images, some that he has taken, others sourced online. Cue couture and a stream of extravagant images under the tagline, "It's couture, baby". Despite having a enviable position at the S/S13 Chanel couture show in the sound box, Gaubert chose to mark the occasion with an image of youths skateboarding around a park – a clever nod to the trees in the Grand Palais.
Here, Gaubert speaks exclusively to AnOther about his Instagram methodology, inspiration and the last thing that made him laugh.
Why did you start to use Instagram?
I registered a year and half ago not knowing what it was and started to post last October.
What methodology do you use for uploading pictures to Instagram?
It is very intuitive, most of the times I download pictures I like for several reasons and make them fit the mood of the day. I like to twist things around in general, turning the banal into glamour and vice versa.
"I like to twist things around in general, turning the banal into glamour and vice versa"
Who's your favourite Instagrammer?
There are too many to mention but Luis Venegas [@byluisvenegas] is one of them, I also like his tumblr.
How would your best friends describe you in 3 words?
Witty; reliable; determined.
What's the last thing that made you laugh?
Something silly when a relatively famous person ran into a glass door. I know it is not nice when it is the slapstick effect that you cannot control.
What's your favourite source of inspiration?
Music, surfing, watching movies.
What iconic image sums up how you feel right now?
This image. It still resonates nearly 50 years later, especially in Paris when gay rights are equality are still an issue.
Follow AnOther on Instgaram at @anothermagazine
Text by Laura Bradley
