#LightBoxFF: Building a Fine Art Feed with Fabien Baron

Welcome to this week’s edition of TIME LightBox Follow Friday, a series where we feature the work of photographers using Instagram in new, interesting and engaging ways. Each week we will introduce you to the person behind the feed through his or her pictures and an interview with the photographer.

This week on #LightBoxFF, we speak to Fabien Baron (@fabienbaron), the visionary behind iconic ad campaigns for Calvin Klein and Burbury and the current Editorial Director of Interview Magazine. A photographer at heart, he fills his Instagram feed with luxurious snap shots and surreal still lifes.

LightBox: Why did you start using Instagram, and how has your use of it and understanding of it changed since your first post?

FB: I never thought Instagram was going to be such a big deal and become such a way to communicate. I love taking pictures and I do almost everyday. Some people write in a journal, I take pictures of what I see. Instagram was a logical way to share those images.

Jun 5, 2014. 9th & 6th Ave

LightBox: How are you using Instagram now, and how has it become a part of your professional practice/workflow? Are you taking photos with your phone?

FB: I use Instagram exactly the same way I did when I started. It is a journal in images for me, and a way to share what inspires me at the moment. I take all my pictures with an iPhone and post them immediately. If I forget to do so in the moment and I look at the picture the next day I can’t post it. It feels irrelevant, the moment is gone. I also never post anything personal from my family, friends, kids etc., that’s private. But I enjoy very much sharing these kind of pictures only with friends on Instagram using the direct feed.

LightBox: What is the purpose of your feed? What does Instagram provide for you, that other platforms don’t?

FB: It allows me to play with a medium that I know very well—photography. It’s something I really enjoy.

LightBox: Do you find it liberating to be able to produce/distribute work instantaneously?

FB: I think that is the attraction. Instantly your choice.

Jul. 30, 2014. Jersey to NYC

LightBox: Who do you follow on Instagram and why? Who do you think is doing the most interesting work? Do you and your team at Baron-Baron look to Instagram to scout new talent/photographers?

FB: I follow my friends mostly because so I can feel closer to them, but I also follow a few other people that I do not know that are using Instagram in a more creative way, like @BESSNYC4 for example, who does amazing photo collages with fashion advertising.

Fabien Baron is a photographer, art director and designer based in New York

Tara Johnson is a contributor to TIME LightBox