Back in October, we hosted one of our Explore Instagram meets in Shanghai with InstaMeet Shanghai. I finally got the chance to sit down with Leon, founder and organizer of InstaMeet Shanghai, and talk about his story and to share his experience with us on the collaborative Instagram meet-up in his hometown. Here's what Leon had to say:
"We started InstaMeet Shanghai in January 2014, when we all first met in Laoximen and the Bund for a WWIM. Before that meet, there wasn't a network of Instagram users in Shanghai. Part of the reason why I wanted to organize that first one was to see who else was out there and because I felt a city as big as Shanghai needed something to help connect this talented community. Ever since then we’ve been organising meets nearly every month. The thing I probably like most about the meets is the social aspect. We’ve tried to keep the events very casual, cool and non-commercial - it’s mostly about meeting new people, exploring new places in Shanghai and improving your shooting by meeting up with other photographers. Every month it’s interesting to see how different people can shoot the same location but in very different ways. This particular meet we did with MIGHTYKILLERS at 1933 was a great one because we got to catch up with Kevin Mao who came to represent MK. Also the location at 1933 is incredible for exploring. For many years this was an abandoned and disused slaughterhouse from the 1930s. The structure is full of winding paths, ramps, and air bridges that go up and down. It's a great spot for meeting up and shooting."
We couldn't be more stoked on the turn out of the meet and we are grateful to be apart of such a dope community of creatives. Every event we have put together, we have been blow away with the support and the amount of talent in every crowd; time after time. We have put together a handful of contributed photos from the meet by:
@k_mao / @instameetshanghai / @danieullec / @hx1125 / @movable / @panvelvet / @sleepingforest1226 / @tuki6
