Beyoncé’s maternity photo is the most liked photo in the history of Instagram
Feb 3, 2017
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
Share:
A photo of the most popular pop star on the planet has broken all the Instagram’s records. Beyoncé’s maternity photo reached 1.4 million likes half an hour after its publishing. At the moment I am writing this, it has 9.1 million likes and counting. This makes it the photo with the most likes on Instagram, ever. While photographers are doing whatever they can to reach Instagram likes and followers, it seems to be something else that brings the audience. The photo did bring tons of likes on one side, but on the other – it received an equal amount of criticism. But does the number of likes has anything to do with photography?
Beyoncé announced that she and Jay Z are expecting twins by publishing the photo on Instagram. The fans were overjoyed, likes and comments were pouring. The news has certainly caused a lot of positive reactions. At the same time, the photo itself made most people react with “Wait, what?”
“What’s with the veil”, “The flower arrangement reminds me of a funeral”, “Photoshop gone bad” are only some of the comments. Well, I have to agree that I personally don’t like the photo either. I think it’s kitsch. I don’t like any element of it, except for Beyoncé herself. She’s gorgeous as usual. But by no means do I think this was done because the photographer is bad or he had no idea what he was doing.
Awol Erizku, the artist behind this image, is a young Ethiopian photographer. He has an MA in Fine Art from Yale, and his works are said to be inspired by classical paintings. He has become popular among the members of the hip-hop community, and his work examines the place of black culture within American culture. Considering his education, I doubt that he didn’t know what he was doing. He definitely had a certain idea behind the photo – although people just don’t seem to like it, or get it.
Beyonce is the highest-paid pop star on the planet, and she takes extra care of her representation in public. Especially since that unfortunate photo from Superbowl performance in 2013. And when it comes to her in this maternity photo – she looks absolutely gorgeous and serene.
There are other images of the maternity photoshoot on her website, but this one has caused the most stir. It broke Instagram’s records and beat all the other photos ever when it comes to the number of likes and comments. But did it beat them in quality? I don’t think so. There are many photos most people would found more beautiful and more skillfully done than this one. But I think this is not about photography. It’s about Beyoncé. She’s the most popular pop star at the moment, and it’s not the photo that got the likes – it’s the announcement. It’s the news that a favorite singer of 9 million people is expecting twins that broke Instagram’s record. It’s not the light, composition or anything else regarding photography.
So, fellow photographers, I think nobody should feel annoyed about this photo and the amount of popularity it has gained. Sure, all of us have the right to like it or hate it. We can try to reach its point, and we don’t have to. After all, would it cause that many reactions out of Instagram if it wasn’t that, hm… unconventional? What do you think?
[via FStoppers]
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
Related Posts
Random photo of an egg is now the most liked Instagram post of all time
Lionel Messi breaks Instagram’s record for the most-liked post
Perseverance rover shares its most “liked” Mars photos for 2021
History.JPG: The American Museum of Natural History Digitizes its Photography Collection for Online Public Access
Join the Discussion
DIYP Comment Policy
Be nice, be on-topic, no personal information or flames.
24 responses to “Beyoncé’s maternity photo is the most liked photo in the history of Instagram”
It can’t have anything to do with the actual photo because the photo is super crap.
“But I think this is not about photography. It’s about Beyoncé.”
Exactly.
“Hey everybody, look at me, I’m pregnant!”
Talk about an attention whore.
You’re confusing her with the Kardashians. I think Beyonce might have some actual talent. And I don’t think she is asking for attention, I think her fans are just showing some appreciation.
Having shot hundreds of events in SoCal, where I met “celebrities” on a regular basis, I’ve found many of them to be pretty normal. Eating sushi many weekends with Tom Selleck and his epic mustache was pretty cool though.
pass.
I think someone said “Hey, let’s shoot the weirdest, most ill-conceived, irrelevant photo ever and see if we can break the internet.” Definitely a Class A WTF.
We know the answer. It’s all about the ??. I don’t hate the photo though like so many others. It’s got a colorful, fun, kitsch aesthetic created by a conceptual multi-media artist, not a traditional portrait photographer. If you go to her website, there’s plenty more to enjoy. ???
She is beyond gross
No it is liked because of who it is not because of the photograpgh because it stinks
load of BS. I commented somewhere else that she looks like a bad offering at a funeral.
Did they decide to do pictures at a funeral home? Steal some flowers from a cemetery?
It’s just one of the social media ploys where everyone shares and talks about the photo because of how horrible it looks. I’m not falling for their gimmick.
Huh. Never thought of that. Considering she’s already one of the most famous people in the world, that would really be saying something (awful) about her character.
The most liked photo in the history of Instagram????? How sad.
Proof terrible images are the new accepted norm THIS IS WHY YOU DO NOT BASE YOUR VALUE AS AN ARTIST ON “LIKES” on Social media. OMG
She could have a picture taken of her puking and her fan base would go nuts over it. She’s way overrated. These images look as if she hired her niece, who got her first camera the day before, to take them.
There goes instagrams credit…
She is replicating other pieces of art. Unfortunately I think hers don’t quite make it. But to each his own.
People nowadays wanna see crap like this!
The absolute worst photograph ever. Well almost.
My question, who actually put thumbs up. Lol
it’s probably photo shop ..how can i unsee this…should i riot lol
There…I fixed it! =)
I’m not normally this crass but, really, who gives a fuck?
I can see the possible influence of other photographers / artists in the image- Pierre and Gilles, a dash of LaChapelle. But the execution is not up to standard.