Taylor Swift's engagement pictures are so popular, they broke Instagram. But photographers have mixed opinions

When the artist with the most Grammy albums and the highest-grossing concert tour gets engaged to a three-time Super Bowl champ, the internet basically implodes. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement on Instagram on August 26 with a series of five photos. The post has become so popular that it has broken Instagram engagement records (pun intended) and even temporarily crashed the social platform for some users.

While the news undoubtedly had both Swifties and Kansas City Chiefs fans talking, photographers are taking to the news in an entirely different way: Pinpointing what‘s going to trend next in photography styles.

Fans look to Swift for more than music – the dress that she wore during the proposal has already sold out in every size. Similarly, the photos that the celebrity couple posted on Instagram (and the eventual wedding photos) will likely end up on many couples’ Pinterest boards as inspiration. The post isn’t (yet) the most-liked photo on Instagram, but it broke records with 14 million likes in an hour.

Shortly after the announcement, photographers took to Instagram to analyze the images, question the artistic choices, and pinpoint what’s going to trend next in photography styles. (The artist who took the photographs has not yet been identified.)

Here’s what photographers are saying – and what I think as a wedding photographer – about the photos that are so popular, they crashed Instagram.

A simple, documentary style

“The photography is so simple, this could be one of Taylor’s friends doing this,” photographer Alex Wood said in a reaction video.

I agree that the engagement photos are kept fairly simple. It’s unclear from the photos and one-line caption whether or not the proposal was a surprise and how much of the planning was Kelce rather than the photographer (such as who arranged for the florals). Swifties are guessing from Swift’s unpainted nails that the proposal was a surprise for the singer.

One photo in particular, though, has a blurred green edge that looks as if the photographer may have been hiding in the bushes to take that photo. The images overall have a documentary feel to them – although whether that was intentional on the photographer's part or because the surprise element is anyone's guess.

The use of harsh, direct flash

One feature from the set of images appears to have photographers divided the most: the use of what appears to be direct flash. In some of the images, there’s a clear, harsh shadow around the couple. It is particularly obvious in the image of the couple in the arbor posted last in the carousel.

Direct flash has already risen in photography trends recently. The direct flash look brings to mind two different looks. The first is that of a disposable film camera, as these simple cameras often had a built-in flash that couldn’t be controlled or turned off. I also tend to think of paparazzi photos when I see direct flash images.

But the use of direct flash has the internet up in arms because it can sometimes be a sign of a photographer who doesn’t know how to use flash. I won’t venture a guess as to whether that’s the case here, but the retro-looking colors make the flash feel more intentional to get that retro candid look popularized by the resurgence of disposable film cameras.

Desaturated greens

One of the first things I noticed about that first engagement photo is that the greens are very desaturated. The garden and florals where Kelce proposed look stunning, but the vivid green of summer can also be overwhelming in such locations. Toning down the greens a bit is something many photographers seem to do – and I predict this style of edit may see a resurgence now.

While I like to tone down the greens a bit, a lot of editing styles go a bit too far when the greens start to appear more gray and brown than green. In this set of photos, though, with the pink and white florals, it’s giving off romantic garden vibes.

Coupled with the use of direct flash and the candid-like appearance of most of the images, the muted greens also contribute to that more retro look. Some film types tended to tone down the greens as well (although the opposite is also true, as there are many different varieties of film emulsions).

Interestingly, fans have noticed that the engagement photos look similar to Swift’s photo shoot for the album Lover, which was also in a garden and also had more desaturated greens.

Centered compositions

The collection of photographs all seems to have a similar composition in that the couple is centered in the frame, rather than using a mix of different compositions. There’s no rule of thirds here. That, again, does make the photos feel more like candids.

The desaturated greens, direct flash, candid style, and center compositions give the photos a classic yet retro feel. And we already know from Swift’s 1989 album cover using a Polaroid and her choice of a camera (the retro-looking E-M10) that Swift likes that retro camera vibe. Retro photo styles are trending in part because they feel far more authentic in an increasingly digital world, and if Swift’s engagement photos are any indication, that trend won’t be going away soon.

I suspect that the couple’s wedding photographs will play a role in shaping wedding photography trends for quite some time, as Swiftie fandom transcends generations and could influence the wedding dreams of today’s pre-teens. It will also be interesting to see if the style of the wedding photos differs.

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