we generally prefer to be hidden behind the camera looking through the viewfinder, but today we step in front of the lens to share what we’ve spent the past few months crafting. A platform for anyone that has a passion for photography, built by photographers for photographers
With the advent of DSLR’s in the mid 90’s & the launch of smart phones 20 years later, that are nowadays capable of achieving results arguably indistinguishable from modern mirrorless cameras, the number of images & the way people share them has exploded, photo communities catering for this explosion have come & gone or morphed into media platforms far removed from their origins(yeah we’re looking at you instagram™)
We feel there’s still plenty of space in this vast, ever evolving & varied industry for yet another photo community, one that adheres to our fundamental vision of a community built around quality photography, our name even evolved from that vision
Our portmanteau combines “LENS” for photography & “HOOD” for neighbourhood, a name that seems obvious now, but took us weeks of staring at whiteboards covered in scribbles & posit notes before we had that aha moment (more on that in a future update)
You’d be right in thinking that surely all “photo communities” have that basis no? To a degree yes they do, yet that’s just it, to a degree… without doubt it’s a key part of their strategy, yet it’s to build something else, a media platform, so not a core value per se
To us everything we do is designed around community & photography, we actively encourage our members to make connections, not to chase likes & follower counts (as there aren’t any) but to generally make connections, we’re not interested in building a sticky media platform designed to keep you glued to a never ending *timeline (that’s why we put you in total control of it), we want you to click with others on LENSHOOD, then go out & click in the real world
Social media platforms utilise algorithms to optimise media engagement via adverts & influencers, pushing likes & follower counts… they have no interest in users choosing their own connections or actually being social, we’re the opposite of that
where everyone clicks is more than a tagline, we stand by it, we’re a social network first & foremost, not a media platform disguised as a social network
we hope that’s what you’re looking for too, if so, come join us & connect with your hood
*Timeline, we name ours “roll”
