Winter is coming, and hell froze over – Instagram has announced that their iconic square format is now not mandatory; you are free to upload your photos and videos in their original portrait and landscape formats.
https://vimeo.com/137425960
This is definitely a shock. According to the company, the reason behind the move is to allow better visual storytelling without having to crop out your friends, bridges, or videos into cramped squares. You are now free to post in whatever format you want. Your timeline view, however, will remain in square form (centre squared), just to keep things in visual order.
Although this is awesome on many levels, we have to admit that there is a definite appeal to the square format which forces photographers to think creatively about composition. In any rate, this is a welcome move for those who have always wished to do away with the square format – particularly in video – and if you want to post in square, you are still free to do so. A win for all.
Source: Instagram
