Written by Katrina Garofalo

With the popularity of Instagram comes the obvious desire to filter our lives into a stream of perfectly curated photos. It’s difficult work, there is no denying that. It takes focus and initiative, an eye for composition and a healthy dose of self-indulgence. But while I’m working on gathering ideas and browsing pics by the dozen, I’m left with one problem.

Where are all my photographer friends?

Who is willing to spend a few minutes taking various pictures of me sitting at a cafe table with a coffee cup and cheesy grin? Who is going to help me find my best angle as I pose in my new favourite jeans?

If you’ve even been within two feet of Instagram or Tumblr or any blog ever, you know that well poised photos of the Instagram-er or Tumblr-er or blogger themselves make all the difference. For most occasions a selfie just won’t do. And although we all do it, there is a unique kind of embarrassment that goes along with snapping selfies unabashedly in public. Someone else snapping photos of you, however, is significantly less embarrassing. That’s how pictures were meant to be taken, after all. There is magic in the candid picture that someone else has taken. A kind of magic that makes for a much more genuine and seemingly less egotistical Instagram post than a selfie ever will.

I know I am not alone is this silly struggle. We all see those posts of perfectly imperfect candid moments that friends have captured of their friends. Is it so much to ask that I have those kinds of moments too? I think not.

And hey, this would be a two way street—you take my pic, I take yours.

Just call me Ms.Testino.