Old Instagram

This here is something of a memorial to my Instagram timeline as it was. I honestly do hate the platform enough to never want to go back but...at one point I didn't and I DID post honestly on there. I was also a wannabe photographer for a time, so I also actually took what I posted seriously for a whole. So, with that in mind,...let's go through the whole shebang!

These were my first photos on the platform. I actually wanted to be a photographer and this was...2020 or so (I THINK it was pre-COVID). So I wanted to show my skills with the medium - a big old "do it with an Android? A Canon Camera? Doesn't matter!" (I've changed a LOT since then)

I started collecting weapons when I was 19. Stopped in the intervening years but I wanted to show the three I could hang on a wall. I also have a Samurai Sword and a Rapier but neither work for wall hanging.

My cat Jai LOVED sleeping on my bed. I wanted to take a photo of it but he woke up mid-take

These were actually my first SpaceHey stickers as, at the time, I was new to the site and liked it enough that "yeah, I'll financially support it." I had some crossover between Instagram and SpaceHey friends and so...

This was a photo I took of my getting my second COVID-19 vaccination. Just a big broadcast of "I'm safe to be around." That and the topic of vaccination absolutely reached a boiling point for...obvious reasons.

This was a bit of a joke post at the time. The phone I took that on was a Nokia 2720 Flip. I wanted to do it as a "this is my phone now, stuck in the past, RANDUM!" However...that phone was easily the best mobile phone I've ever had. I've nearly never gone back to smartphones since. Also...get used to me being masc presenting and dysphoria enablement. It'll come up a lot.

Okay these two come with extreme dysphoria. They're "before" and "after" photos for a haircut I had AND a "test run" of interview clothes.

Another COVID-19 thing, this one was "The Booster"

If I remember correctly, this was another job interview thing. ANOTHER round of "Dysphoria image"

This is a SpaceHey friend's creative endeavors. She wrote a Werewolf fantasy book and I read it to see what it was like. I thought it was a pretty good book. One thing, you need an Amazon account to access it. I know I just broke my own rule by linking to Amazon but that WAS where the book got it's start. I had no other choice.

I found a Curlew on a walk home from work and tried to photograph it but they're very hard to get close to and remain calm

Um...as you can see.

This was a "walk home from work" image. I just really liked the look that came out of that.

Same again. Not much to say beyond "this time it was raining"

This one was around the height of the NFT craze. I DESPISED NFTs from the start. It was basically digital money for nothing. It's why I don't trust AI because it's the same tech bro "WE deserve the money! Not you!" shit. If you're wondering PPC stands for "Pay Per Click." And writing that down the side of a skyscraper, using the lights in front facing rooms, I still remember the caption I gave this image "OH FOR FUCK SAKES!!!!!!"

As I've said in the past, I embrace cringe. This was around the time masks in public were needed because of a new strain of COVID-19. I have/had two. One professional, which was blank, the other, I drew all over. Mid-2000s style. Yes that IS the "Pretty Reckless Going To Hell" image on the nose.

This is a part of a photoshoot I did called "It's October". The very simple premise behind these images is simple. Before I start, I do not dislike Christmas. There are "strengths and weaknesses" to the holiday and how it's developed over the years (I like specials that acknowledge "hard emotions" on the holiday). That said, one element I despise about the holiday is rampant commercialization. You get warnings about Christmas all throughout tax quarter, which I'd understand if you don't pay attention to the date at all but it invalidates the "specialness" of the holiday if we're celebrating it for months on end. I'm also much more into Halloween as a holiday. That's where THIS came from. A big old "It's October! Can we celebrate things on their own please!?" It IS just a series of photos of Christmas decorations but...the context of when they were put up infuriated me.

An artsy photo of clouds. That's all.

If I remember correctly, this photo was taken a few days after my 26th Birthday. Just a finished thing of cake.

I tried taking a "long way home" walk from work a couple times and found these amazing looking churches. Decided "midnight photo of a Church? What could be more Goth?!"

More photos of a walk home from work.

This was a Hospital visit I had to have because at that time, my back had started to ache excruciatingly badly. It was to a point I could barely sit down and any day I wasn't working was spent basically bedridden. So I went in for "what's going on?"

Sometimes you just wanna show off you have cute cats that love your bed in specific.

The first time I got COVID. I was the only one in the house that got it and so I was left with having to isolate entirely by myself.

This is ANOTHER series I did for Instagram. In short, while I was recovering from my first go of COVID, Roe V Wade was overturned. I was fucking disgusted with the decision. The thing I found out was that just before my job, there would be a rally about it. I didn't think it was good form to "I know I was off sick for a week with COVID but can I have ANOTHER day off?!" However I wanted to show my support. So, even though at this time I was in unbelievable pain, I went there first to show solidarity and protest.

This is a new laptop I bought for myself. Those stickers were just my attempt to have fun with decoration. Yes I DID put a Trans Pride sticker on my laptop THAT far back.

I figured that "something light hearted" would distract everyone. So here's another photoshoot of my making my cat Jai look like a Khajit from Skyrim.

If I recall correctly, that was the cake I had for my 27th Birthday.

This is legitimately the most recent concert I've been to. It's for a band called Your Man Alex Smith. It was in a bar after work. I actually approached the lead singer after the set and talked about how I wasn't just some drunk, I really WAS a fan. Which was true. Just before COVID happened, I saw him perform at a Nick Cave Tribute act and his rendition of "Into My Arms" impressed me as it takes a LOT to make that sound fresh, given how overplayed it is. I also like his songwriting. If you're curious, my favourite song of his is "Little Automaton" - thanks to this concert, I actually heard him perform this live. He also ended up giving me the set list for the night.

Sometimes in Australia, you have to boast about "I had to deal with this HUGE FUCKING SPIDER!" Also, because I'm a fucking nerd, I was mentally quoting Bo Burnham the entire time. (not the last time Bo is going to come up in this retrospective).

What would Instagram be without Holiday photos? This is actually from a trip to Mackay. My mother was adopted and some of her relatives lived up there. Thing was one day they weren't exactly free to talk to us, so I decided to book myself a "Great Barrier Reef" trip. I'm sure these are from another area closeby (based on the timing it'd take to get there by boat VS how long it actually took). That said it WAS a great day. Despite it being overcast, I was able to go to Whitehorn Beach (that's where the final photo was from - the SOFTEST sand I've ever felt on my feet!), swam with fish less than a foot away from my face and it was my first time ever seeing Coral. Also, Instagram has a 10 photo limit so if you've happened to find this AND used to follow me there, enjoy the "never before seen" stuff.

I went to a Goth Picnic in a full face of makeup. Wanted to boast about it, given at this point, most people I knew were aware I wasn't cis/hetero.

This one is a "my dysphoria at a height" one. See my mother insisted on a haircut as a response to changing my name. I did but I also wanted to put my own spin on it. So...I dyed it red to make it feel SOMEWHAT like me. I hated it at that length BUT...I do like having red hair. All I will say is my mother is extremely lucky I'm not coming home with Lana Wachowski hair anytime soon (real talk - I actually love Lana's hair, I just know dreads wouldn't suit me. Also, I wanted an excuse to link to that speech SOMEWHERE on this website. It's one of the most life-affirming things I've ever heard).

It took me a few months to post after that and what inspired me was seeing THIS in Christmas of 2023. I just found that affirming that other Holidays got their time in the spotlight. I mean I'm not Jewish (nor am I Catholic nor even Muslim) but I'm VERY supportive of the idea "safe spaces for EVERYONE!"

My start to 2024 was almost immediately getting COVID again...

This one just makes me sad to look at now, but I'm glad I documented this. This is Jai again and no posing. He actually WOULD sleep on my arm like that most nights.

Yeah...remember how I said that I was a Bo Burnham fan? This was officially how I decided to come out as a transgender. Why? That song he did in Inside - "White Womans Instagram." Probably the most openly hipster way of ever coming out but...I thought it was funny at the time (NO ONE got it though!).

This was something I did on my work break because I was told at that point I needed a work phone to access a certain app. So I decided to do a "smartass" thing and "here's a photo from my phone of me playing Tetris on my phone." (I mean I prefer Tetris on my Nintendo DS but...the phone one is a decent "kill time" thing).

This was my 28th Birthday pic. I had to work and as a way of saying "thank you", my boss bought me a glass of Pinot Noir. Absolutely FANTASTIC Birthday gift if you ask me.

This is my "Okay Milennial" rant about the fact that I had bought an iPhone for my job and within a month, this $300 POS already had cracks in it...and I had bought it second hand BECAUSE I can't afford the constant updates. I feel justified in yelling at the cloud about that! (yes that WAS a deliberate pun)

This...was a park I was in just before my job. Had to have a sit down. That's all. (also, just a warning, ALL my following are multi-photo posts)

This was an experiment I did with a couple of rooms. I found something so WEIRD about coming across something so BARE. So I just took a couple of photos

This is my take on the Liminal space art. I wanted to take it to the extra mile and actually use real locations as opposed to Blender (which I didn't know how to use at the time). I do think, despite it going against the typical idea of Liminal Space art, it still carries that presence.

I saw this in a Public Library during Pride Month. I wanted to document it just because I ALWAYS appreciate this kind of allyship.

GIR voice: I MADE WAFFLES!

These are photos I took on a trip to the State Library of Queensland. I'm not normally a fan of modern architecture but I DO love how this building, in specific, looks.

A friend of mine makes Jewellery and I bought some and decided to post as promotion. I'm WELL AWARE I don't fit into ANYONE'S definition of an "Instagram Model" but I figured the thought would count. Jewellery by Lady Lothian Couture.

This is a "just like last time" - a friend of mine was selling jewellery and, on top of buying it, I also wanted to promote it in spite of knowing I'm not "Model material" but thought the thought would count. This time the jewellery is by Dead Souls Jewellery. Both were taken at the same time and...I wish I had done better lighting AND accentuated them better

This was an "irony post" which was my ironic way of starting 2025.

And...that's it. I don't have much else to say. By this point, I grew to hate the platform as, for me, the entire "We're only here for THE IMAGE! tm" ideology of the website and most of it's users came in full swing to me. As I've said before, it's no longer about making connections, it's a neverending finish line of a popularity contest. So, why would I memorialize this even though I grew to despise Instagram? Because...as much as I despise the platform for very obvious reasons, the memories themselves are worth preserving, in my view. Even the memories of "people I don't talk to anymore."

And now...UNUSED Photos!

I love my cats...what can I say?

Another LGBT pride display I fucking loved seeing. Especially as this was a 2025 thing - as in in the days of "roll back support of minories" era.

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