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Weekend Hashtag Project: #WHPbettertogether

Weekend Hashtag Project is a series featuring designated themes and hashtags chosen by Instagram’s Community Team. For a chance to be featured on the Instagram blog, follow @instagram and look for a post every week announcing the latest project.

The goal this weekend is to make photos and videos inspired by subjects that are better when combined. Here’s how to get started:

Cookies and milk, Beauty and the Beast, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson — create your own version of a classic pairing or dynamic duo.
Do you have a squad? Whether it’s a comedy troupe, a sports team or your Sunday brunch crew, share photos or videos of the people you enjoy spending time with and what you accomplish when you come together.
Use video to show the coming together of a team project or Boomerang to share a collaborative feat.

PROJECT RULES: Please add the #WHPbettertogether hashtag only to photos and videos taken over this weekend and only submit your own visuals to the project. If you include music in your video submissions, please only use music to which you own the rights. Any tagged photo or video taken over the weekend is eligible to be featured next week.

weekend hashtag project, whpbettertogether, video, photography, instagram, friendship,

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Visiting Creatures in Need with Charlie Hamilton James

To see more of Charlie’s photography from around the world, follow @chamiltonjames on Instagram.

After spending several months during the course of a year in Africa shooting a story on wildlife poisoning, National Geographic photographer Charlie Hamilton James (@chamiltonjames) enjoyed his final day on assignment photographing (and cuddling) orphaned elephants. “On one level, it’s lovely, and on another level, it’s very sad. There’s a bit of a weird sort of emotional shift going on at the same time,” explains Charlie, who traveled to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (@dswt) in Kenya to see Roi, a young elephant who lost his mother to a poison dart. “Every single one of those elephants has seen some horrific trauma in its life.” Charlie offers advice to those who want to get involved on #WorldWildlifeDay but may not be traveling to Africa anytime soon: “The thing we can do is think locally,” he says. “Consider the animals on your own doorstep, and fight to protect them.”

photography, WorldWildlifeDay, David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, elephants, Africa, nature, Charlie Hamilton James, instagram,

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Carnival Goes to Our Head with Fernanda Guimarães’ Designs

This feature is part of #MadeToCreate, a series highlighting our community of entrepreneurs, makers and artisans on Instagram. Discover more stories from Brazil on @instagrambrasil.

(This interview was conducted in Portuguese.)

A sunflower, a unicorn’s horn, a piece of tropical fruit and a newborn chick are some of the elements Brazilian designer Fernanda Guimarães (@cancanacessorios) has combined to create her imaginative head ornaments, often worn during Brazil’s Carnival celebrations. “Female strength inspires me,” the 32-year-old says. “I want my work to empower women, and it’s amazing to be able to create head ornaments that will remind women that they are all goddesses and queens.” Although Fernanda’s creations are a result of her vivid imagination, her creative process starts in real life: “I travel to places where head ornaments are part of the culture, and I am constantly researching women’s fashion and old vintage costumes, especially from the 1920s.”

Fernanda started her business eight years ago, but her love of Carnival dates back to when she was just 3 years old. “My mom took me to a party where all the kids were beautiful and looked just like cartoon characters,” she remembers.

photography, carnaval, carnival, costumes, Head ornaments, São Paulo, Trancoso, Bahia, SMB, MadeToCreate, instagrambrasil, Fernanda Guimarães, User Feature, Instagram,

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Book Lover Lisa Presnell Has Tails on Tales

To see more of Lisa’s literature-inspired home life, follow @pagesandpaper on Instagram.

There’s a lot that happens when Lisa Presnell (@pagesandpaper) opens a book. For one thing, her dog, cat or snake might decide to perch on top of it. “I’m always looking for new ways to make reading exciting,” says the elementary school educator and mother of two, who lives in Tennessee. “If you’ve got a book, you are never going to be bored. You can be waiting in line, and instantly you’re in another world.” There’s a place in Lisa’s heart for e-readers — you can have 500 titles with you at any time — but her home bookshelf is filled with used classics and natural light that inspire fun photo shoots with her critters. “There’s something about the yellowing of some pages, how many hands have held it? And you find old bookmarks, those are all little stories.” Lisa’s animals provide her with ample tales of her own (Lars, the snake, had an accident on one of her recent reads), and a unique way to connect with the larger #bookstagram community. On #WorldBookDay, Lisa has a couple of questions on her mind. “What would we do if we had another pet? What would be fun?”

photography, instagram, worldbookday, bookstagram, tennessee, lisa presnell, literature, used books, pets, education,

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Embracing Modernity with Designer Virgil Abloh

To learn more about Virgil, follow @virgilabloh on Instagram.

“The next collection revolves around the idea of embracing a modern woman’s being,” says Virgil Abloh (@virgilabloh), who showed his Off-White (@off____white) designs at Paris Fashion Week, “freedom to wear her clothes with confidence.” Virgil’s inspiration is “a proportion”: “I’m always intrigued by mixing my aesthetic of classic basics with expressive fashion in the realm of femininity.”

photography, fashion, Paris Fashion Week, PFW, Off-White, Virgil Abloh, instagram,

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Travel and Studies Combine in Florian Schmitt’s Photography

For more stories from the German-speaking community, follow @instagramde on Instagram.

(This interview was conducted in German.)

From snow-covered Himalayas to the glowing sunsets of Marrakech, Florian Schmitt’s (@kidkutsmedia) photographs transport us to remote landscapes and bustling cities. “For me, traveling means to feel free and to expand my horizons,” says the Mannheim, Germany, resident who regularly gives in to his wanderlust. “I was in Nepal for two months this year and worked there in a hospital and a health camp.” It was an ideal opportunity for the 30-year-old medical student to combine his studies with his passion for photography. Florian was fascinated by the open-mindedness and friendliness of the Nepalese people, and it’s the interpersonal encounters he most wants to hold on to and share. “Most of my pictures are created by wandering through unknown streets and encounters with people,” says Florian. “These short moments often tell a story and I hope to capture them with my pictures.”

photography, nature, landscape, travel, Germany, Florian Schmitt, instagramde, instagram,

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Celebrating Mardi Gras with Photographer and Teacher Akasha Rabut

This post is in celebration of Women’s History Month. Throughout March, we’ll be highlighting the stories of women doing extraordinary things around the world.

New Orleans may be synonymous with #MardiGras, but for photographer and teacher Akasha Rabut (@akasharabut) the city’s locals make it a magical place. “It’s the weirdest and most beautiful place I’ve ever lived,” Akasha explains. “It’s full of these luminaries and visionaries that don’t really have much. The vibe here — everybody’s so passionate.” As a documentarian, Akasha is fascinated by subjects that embody a unique experience, so it was by lucky design that she ran into members of Caramel Curves, an all-women motorcycle crew, during Mardi Gras Indians parade. (They invited her to join their club meeting at a nail salon.) “They were all just so strong and so cool,” says Akasha. “A lot of them are single mothers, and they’re talking about how much pride they had in raising their children and how riding motorcycles was this outlet for them. It is such a special part of their lives. It meant more than just being seen on a motorcycle — riding a bike gave them a sense of freedom.”

photography, Documentary, New Orleans, Motorcycle club, Caramel Curves, Mardi Gras, Akasha Rabut, instagram,

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Model Iskra Lawrence Celebrates One of Her #RecoveryHeroes

This post recognizes #NEDAwareness Week in the US. Use the hashtag #RecoveryHeroes to give some ❤️ to the people who support you on your recovery journey. Your story may be featured by @neda, @projectheal and @iskra during #NEDAwareness Week.

Today, British model Iskra Lawrence (@iskra) exudes confidence and balance, but it’s taken years of work. At 13 she was scouted by an agency when the sample size was a UK 6. “I just couldn’t fit into it,” says Iskra. Then followed five years of measuring, scrutinizing and crash dieting, without landing much work. “I sacrificed so much, so much of my happiness, just for the pursuit of weight loss. And then I thought, ‘This doesn’t make sense.’” From that point on, things were different. “If I was going to be a model, I was going to be the model that I needed and wanted to see.”

One of Iskra’s #RecoveryHeroes is Karleigh, a New Yorker in recovery for an eating disorder that she met at a charity walk. Their first meeting was brief, but Iskra, who’s now 26 and also living in New York, was moved by Karleigh’s passion and enthusiasm to help others, despite her struggles. “She never let it stop her from inspiring others or making new friends,” Iskra says. “It takes strength to share what you’ve been through, especially when you’re going through it. There are other girls out there struggling, and they need to know that there is hope — there are good days, there are bad days, but it does get better.”

photography, RecoveryHeroes, NEDAwareness Week, NEDA, Project Heal, Iskra Lawrence, eating disorder, modeling, National Eating Disorders Awareness, instagram,

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Weekend Hashtag Project: #WHPcolorful

Weekend Hashtag Project is a series featuring designated themes and hashtags. For a chance to be featured, follow @instagram and look for a post every week announcing the latest project.

The goal of #WHPcolorful was to create photos and videos that pop with color. Each week, we feature some of our favorite submissions from the project, but be sure to check out the rest here.

weekend hashtag project, whpcolorful, romania, india, instagram, photography, video, united kingdom, venezuela,

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Art is Activism with Melina Matsoukas

This month, we’re sharing the stories of African-American community members in celebration of #BlackHistoryMonth, which runs through February in the US.

“Being socially aware has always been a very strong value in my family and in my life,” says American director Melina Matsoukas (@msmelina). “I really try to use my platform to say something, to create some sort of change and initiate a conversation that is not happening — or continue a conversation.”

The two-time Grammy winner’s work has proven that art remains a powerful engine to encourage dialogue. “I’ve always loved this idea of political art. We’ve seen that through the civil rights movement, and it’s definitely continued now with a lot of artists, in music, TV and film,” says Melina. And her collaborations with iconic artists like Beyoncé (@beyonce) are no accident. “I like people who are courageous and who aren’t scared of saying something that’s different than what everybody else is saying.”

photography, Melina Matsoukas, BlackHistoryMonth, music, Beyoncé, activism, instagram,

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