A discussion on the theoretical foundations of the sociology of photography: The example of Instagram

The change and development of photography from the past to the present has been examined from a sociological perspective within the scope of this thesis. The purpose of this study is evaluating the use of photography on Instagram, which is a popular social networking application today, through the explanations of Walter Benjamin, Pierre Bourdieu and Roland Barthes. In the first part, starting with the human beings' idea of recording the image and based on cave paintings; the ongoing change of photography throughout history, the purposes of its use and its relationship with art have been explained. In the second part, photography has been evaluated through Walter Benjamin's concept of aura, Roland Barthes's concepts of studium and punctum, and Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of field and habitus. In the third part, a theoretical analysis has been made with the concepts explained in the second part, along with the history of the Instagram application, which is a popular usage area of photography today, and its purposes of use.