Dronestagram

Lore & Background

Dronestagram was launched in July 2013 by Eric Dupin and is owned by his company Dronescape, based in Lyon, France. The site also has an iOS app. It holds an annual International Drone Photography Contest; in 2016, the competition was co-sponsored by National Geographic and received 5,900 submissions from 28 countries, divided into three categories: Nature-Wildlife, Sports-Adventure, and Travel. To coincide with the 2015 UN climate summit in Paris, Dronestagram launched the 'Small drones, big changes' competition seeking aerial photographs illustrating 'the effects of pollution on planet Earth and the solutions to tackle the problem.' Dronestagram is also a partner of the Professional Drone Film Festival Contest dedicated to drone cinematographic art in Nantes.

According to Eric Dupin, drone photography offers 'a new vision of the world, with stunning images taken from low altitude, near field,' distinguishing it from satellite, plane, helicopter, or street view images. He calls it 'an intermediary layer' and 'a new photographic language,' noting that 'drones can capture images of places that are impossible to reach with another flying device' and that drone photos show the world 'at low altitude, near landscapes and buildings, like a bird would do.'

The site features a drone business directory and a drone pictures world map. As of 2015, the site had over 30,000 users. A study showed continuous uploads and steady community growth. Contribution analysis revealed participation inequality: 55% of users contribute only one or two images, and only 11% contribute 10 or more pictures. Analysis also showed that 92% of users contributed pictures in only one country, and a clear relationship between a country's income category and the number of uploaded drone images. The largest cluster of images was around the project's home country France, and the US' largest cluster was in the southwest, known as a thriving region for IT development. The website is not to be confused with @Dronestagram on Instagram launched in 2012 by British artist James Bridle, which shows Google Earth images of drone strike locations.

Reader's Guide

Dronestagram's significance lies in its role as a dedicated platform for drone photography, described as 'Instagram for drones,' and its founder's articulation of drone imagery as a distinct photographic language. Eric Dupin positions drone photos as an 'intermediary layer' between satellite/aircraft views and street-level images, offering a 'new way of seeing the world, at low altitude, near landscapes and buildings, like a bird would do.' The site's annual International Drone Photography Contest, co-sponsored by National Geographic in 2016, attracted 5,900 submissions from 28 countries, demonstrating global interest. The 'Small drones, big changes' competition tied to the 2015 UN climate summit shows the platform's engagement with environmental themes. The site's user statistics reveal a typical participation inequality pattern, with a majority contributing few images and a small core contributing many. Geographic analysis showed most users upload from a single country, with clusters in France and the US southwest, correlating with IT development. The platform also includes a business directory and world map, and partners with a drone film festival in Nantes. The article notes a potential confusion with a separate Instagram account of the same name, which focuses on drone strike locations.

Did You Know?

• In 2016, the International Drone Photography Contest co-sponsored by National Geographic received 5,900 submissions from 28 countries.
• A study found that 55% of users contribute only one or two images, while only 11% contribute 10 or more.