Filtered: Photos by Shigeto

Zachary Saginaw (aka Shigeto) will be the first to tell you that he’s not a photographer. He expressed as much when we met up with him prior to a gig at the Berghain Kantine in Berlin. And then, almost immediately following this statement, he pulled out his phone to show us recent Instagrams he’d snapped while on tour.

Okay, so maybe Zach isn’t a photographer. But he’s certainly one prolific Instagrammer. On his previous European tour he tallied up an unspeakable cell phone bill, in part because of his Instagram habits.

For our recurring “Filtered” series, we asked Zach to pick his all-time favorite Instagrams and answer a few questions about why he likes to share (see after the jump). Ever humble and eager to contribute, he sent us some inspiring shots, along with how he achieved each effect.

(Top image: “Taken in the Red Wood Forest on tour with Emancipator and Marley Carrol. I used Camera+ for the HDR effect as well as Crossprocess.” -ZS)

“Taken 4/18/2012 in Luxembourg using the TopCamera “timer” app and the Crossprocess applications. It’s my first self portrait.”

“A combo of some trees in South New Jersey and Matthew Dear’s elevator door. I used CrossProcess to make the reflection on the door look like a rainbow and then used Blender to combine the two.”

“Taken in Greenpoint, Brooklyn at my favorite place to dig for records in the basement of this little second hand shop. I used the Crossprocess and Camera+ with no Instagram filter.”

“Taken on the train going from Paris to Dijon on this tour actually. I used Diptic to make the frames along with the Instagram 1977 filter. ”

“A combo of the New York skyline plus the Queens Borough Bridge. I used PictureShow for the “mirror” effect, Blender to combine them and then the Instagram Brannan filter to top it off.”

“Taken flying from NYC to Seattle. I used Camera+ for the HDR effect, Diptic for the frames and the Instagram Brannan filter.”

“Taken on tour with Mux Mool in Vermont. Horrible blizzard that day. This has no effects added to it.”

“This one went through countless processes. It started as a normal photo taken at a show I played with Dabrye and Madlib in New Jersey. Then I put it through multiple effects in Camera+ and then through CrossProcess. Then I used Pictureshow for the text and then Diptic to make the frame smaller.”

[GI] Why do you take and share photos?

[Shigeto] I like what can be said with just a picture. I also like being able to document my travels. I really enjoy going back and seeing the different tours I’ve, done day by day. A lot of the time I forget the places I’ve visited, or the little moments that I capture, so [also] to have it all documented for me in chronological order.

[GI] What do you like most about Instagram?

[S] I like that it’s less invasive than Facebook and Twitter. It gives you a chance to share with your friends/fans what you’re doing without having to say anything if you don’t want to. It also isn’t considered as rude I feel when you don’t respond back. It’s hard riding the line between your life as an artist and your personal life, and I think Instagram makes that easier, if that makes sense.

[GI] What is your favorite subject matter?

[S] I know it’s pretty cliche but “landscapes” would probably be my favorite. I also like getting those “funny” or “awkward” moments that you look back on crack yourself up with.

[GI] Any tips for other Instagrammers looking to develop their own style?

[S] Yeah, don’t take it too seriously. It’s just for fun. I don’t consider myself a photographer, just someone who enjoys using the amazing technology that we have now. It’s incredible, the different apps you can incorporate with Instagram now. My favorites are Camera+, Diptic, Crossprocess, Blender, and Pictureshow.

Follow Shigeto on Instagram, @__Shigeto, and check out his latest release, Lineage, in The Ghostly Store.

(If you, or someone you know, would like to be considered for a feature in our Filtered series, send us an email at tgs [at] ghostly [dot] com with the word Filtered in the subject line.)