For Holden resident Keith Greene, unpredictability is essential. On his Instagram (@_keith_greene), the 34-year-old father of two treats followers to a constantly shifting, diverse collection of photographs, from lushly detailed cityscapes to striking black-and-white portraits of some of the city’s most interesting residents.
Q. You’ve been active on Instagram for more than a year now. What draws you to the platform?
A. I seem to have developed, organically, an Instagram addiction. There’s something inherently magical about it. It has the best of social media, and it’s also based around an artistic concept, which is what makes it works so well.
Q. What catches your eye as a photographer?
A. Everything. [laughs] All my favorite photos have come as a result of really not thinking, being a blank slate. Whenever I go out, I try to keep any preconceived notion of what today’s photographs are going to be out of mind. There have been times I’ve been walking through the Back Bay at sunset and haven’t taken a photo, because nothing struck my eye. And then there have been other, totally overcast days when I’m walking down the street and something catches my eye. It’s weird. I haven’t been able to quite identify what it is, but it does vary greatly. I feel like those pictures are more a reflection of how I was feeling at that time rather than anything objective about the scene.
Q. Your captions are quite spare and succinct. Is that intentional?
A. I try to keep it short, to the point, and a little bit off-point from what the actual subject is. I’m consciously thinking of how I keep people’s eyes on my photos for a longer period of time, so something that gives them reason to pause is the ultimate goal.
Q. Is there a philosophy to your photography?
A. Of course, finding the inherent beauty in all things is an understatement but it’s a pretty accurate way to describe it. But I really, even from the beginning, was trying to convey a message where I highlighted the beauty of less obvious subjects and maybe toned down the beauty of more beautiful subjects. If you look deeper into my feed, you’ll see I’m turning around a scene someone wouldn’t have looked at as beautiful before, or graying out a Back Bay scene, or removing the color from a sunset. And I’m constantly looking to have my opinion changed about something I previously thought I knew about, so I’m always looking at things as if they’re new, trying to strip things of their exteriors and take them down to what they are.
This interview was edited and condensed. Isaac Feldberg can be reached at isaac.feldberg @globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @i_feldberg.
