Upon the release of his latest arts journal All-American Volume XV: Leap of Faith, photographer Bruce Weber avoided the traditionalism of glossy magazines to unveil his new work. Instead he turned to Instagram.
Inspired by the work of Angela Patton, a Richmond-based activist who organizes an annual father-daughter weekend gathering at the summer camp she founded, Camp Diva, Weber’s last chapter of All-American showcases fathers and daughters, residents of the Richmond community with whom Weber felt a strong, intimate connection.
“The experience of doing these photographs meant so much to me personally, because it reminded me of the closeness my sister and our father dad had with each other,” says Weber, remembering his passed kins. “I thought about them the whole time I was working, and how important the relationships that fathers and daughters and mothers and sons have with each other are for every family in every city.”
Despite his significant number of followers — Weber’s account has over 45,000 fans — this is the first time Weber chose Instagram to share new work. He joins a growing number of artists and organizations to give the social sharing app exclusivity over other platforms in exchange for exposure to Instagram's 400 million users.
Last June, Miley Cyrus launched an Instagram campaign, posting a portrait series of transgender people to celebrate the LGBT community, sharing under the #InstaPride hashtag. A month later, NASA partnered with Instagram providing a hour-long exclusive on the unprecedented first New Horizons’ image of Pluto. NASA social media manager John Yembrick explained that the collaboration throve from the importance of engaging new audiences.
Bruce Weber is an American fashion photographer. Follow his Instagram account @bruce_weber to see latest pictures from his new book All-American XV: Leap of Faith.
Lucia De Stefani is a writer and contributor at TIME LightBox. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.