FocusOn Instagramers 1.40: @ArthusKing

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Each week, Instagramers.com discovers new people. People addicted to Instagram, revealing their lives, passions, and favorite tips in Instagram.  Today we feature a guy from Germany, Tansel Akman. Tansel and a one of his friend, @ecomania launched recently a Tag #IgersNrw for all Instagramers from Area of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. The tag is more than 7.500 pics yet and collect more and more followers each week from NRW.
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Let´s know a little bit more about this active and creative IGer.
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His  name is Tansel Akman

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But we know him as @ArthusKing in Instagram. He was born and grew up in a city called Duisburg in Germany where his parents emigrated from Turkey in the early 70s. He has always been a very creative person. He loves music and he started playing guitar at the age of ten.

He used to play in different bands, but currently photography became his new passion.

“Photography takes me a lot of time so right now I more often enjoy listening instead playing music” he says.

To be able to pay his bill, he works as a Key Account Manager for an IT Company. His job gives him the great opportunity to travel often especially to foreign countries what is a great moment to take pics for his Instagram feed. Most of all when he admits he enjoys so much to learn about different cultures and to stay open minded.

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Thank you Tansel for graciously accepting to answer our weekly interview! You can see his Gallery in Instagram here.

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When did you first join IG?

I have joined Instagram in April 2011. (that means he is user number: 2.957.812 of the more than 60 million users today)

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Why are you so addicted to IG? And how would you define your style?

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Instagram was something new that gave me the possibility to express myself by using just a phone camera with a hand full of filters. The results can be breathtaking and very impressive.

It opened a completely new planet for me that needed to be explored. You meet a lot of great people around the world – Instagram is very international and it seems to be able to stash borders and limitations that normally exist between different cultures away.

It can build bridges between individuals. I do not have a specific style that I could describe here. The pictures I took recently look totally different from those I made a couple of month ago. I feel like I am on a journey that hopefully never ends.

(Wuerzburg by Tansel Akman ©  2012)

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Were you already fond of photography before you started instagramming?

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I did not have any specific interest in photography or cameras before. It all started with Instagram for me.

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For you, which are the 3 best photo apps?

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My phone is full of camera apps!

But usually I use few very common ones. The rest is only for experimenting. Camera +, Dynamic Light, Snapseed, Noir for Black and White pics, Picfx for special effects and frame and finally Hipstamatic for “vintage” pics.

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How much time do you spend on IG on an average day? And what do you do?

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Between 2-3 hours per day. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I try to reduce it a bit to be honest. Sometimes I do nothing for days – Some breaks can be helpful to start with new ideas.

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Which is your favourite picture?

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Not easy to say. Not easy to decide among all of them. I have some that I like. This one was something that I really love.

I made this shot at Cologne Main Station at six o’clock in the morning during a travel to another city. On this cold winter day it was -15°C and very sunny outside. My train had to stop at Cologne because the water pipes of the train were frozen. We had to wait for an alternative train to go on, this took over 45 min. Just to use the time and stay warm I walked around a bit and started making shots.

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(Cologne Main Station by Tansel Akman ©  2012)

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What was your first reaction when you had your first Pop? And do you still like the picture?

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I was very excited. I remember that I told it to my girlfriend and other friends and they treated me like I was crazy, or a nerd, or something. If you are not in it – you cannot understand it. It was like being a kind of star for a moment! Lol. Today I am happier about getting good feedback instead of being on pop page and, yes, I still like my first pop pic.

 

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Are your “non Instagramming” friends and family members bothered by your IG addiction?

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Sometimes they are, but by now they are actually used to it and accept it. Of course I have to show them all my pics and they like some of my work. Some of my friends have shots of mine on canvas on their wall  and I am negotiating with my boss to hang some pics in the office floors (he proposed me to do so!)

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Is there a link between your personal Instagramers Life and activities and your job?

The only link is that this IG thing relaxes me and this is good for all other parts of my life. There is not a direct connection. If IG would be relevant for me in business, I would have run danger to lose the fun factor. This is the most important thing for me: Being free to do what I want and how.

(Duisburg Harbour by Tansel Akman ©  2012)

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Tell us a little bit about Instagram addiction and users in your country?

In Germany we have some really great Instagramers and the community is growing more and more. I live in Nord Rhine Westphalia and we have our own hashtag #IgersNRW which is used by many Instagramers from NRW and contains nearly 7.500 pics today. My friend @ecomania and me made up this hashtag and we did not expect that this would be used that often since the idea was born a couple of month ago.

(Duisburg Ruhrort by Tansel Akman ©  2012)

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A trick you would recommend?

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Only post pics that you really like and stay behind it – just be yourself!! It is not all about the pop page! Lol.

 

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Something you would say to a new user?

Be patient and always polite full, don’t steal pics that others made. Enjoy the really big community.

Ask other users for tricks and hints. Generally the people are very nice and will answer your questions. Setup photo contests and build hashtags and spread them. Read the articles on Instagramers.com. lol.

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And finally, Tansel, a user you would recommend?

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There is so many of them and I will probably miss some of them. I enjoy @thomas_ka, @jn, @evagolightly, @renee59, @jr_el_nota, @stabiano, @majenta, @ecomania, @civilking, @bradpuet, @joanna, @diegobot,@pedroescobar3, @ kalleyilmaz_ru, @amayas, @drfeelgood_gf,@lingalong8, @seb_gordon, @atzikor, @mustafaseven, @ duhbomb21_gf, @eternetix, @bayia51, @burningme, @missdior, @hayalci, @aycoo,@twheat,@richideus,@jennyhendra, @aufgetaucht, @augenweide,@blumenkraft, @rickymedina_gf, @babilemos, @maleisha, @philgonzalez ….and many many more!

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Thanks very much Tansel aka @arthusking for your nice comments and interesting interview. Keep on the good work!

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@philgonzalez

 

Tansel Akman aka ArthusKing was featured recently at our friends Juxt Blog too

You can follow me him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/TanselAkman

 

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