Three of Instagram's Most Awe-Inspiring Photography Feeds

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Today marks 177 years since the invention of photography was officially recognised – and here are three Instagram-shaped birthday gifts to celebrate

August 19th marks 177 years since the French government purchased a patent to the invention of the daguerreotype, legitimising it and all of its future iterations in the process. Though nowadays photography is virtually unrecognisable from those first foggy plates, it is nevertheless an anniversary worth celebrating, and what better way to fête such a day than with three of the medium’s greatest pioneers?

From Magnum Photos to Life magazine and the inimitable National Geographic, here are three accounts whose recognition of photography's extraordinary potential are unmatched across the industry. A birthday celebration indeed.

@life
Nowhere will you find a feed more likely to have you wishing you could step back into the 20th century than @life, the channel dedicated to extracting “incredible stories and photographs from the LIFE archive” – one which has been running since the magazine's inception in 1883, no less. From nostalgia-soaked snaps of Sophia Loren gathering roses in the garden of her Italian villa in 1964, to a history-making photograph of Tommie Smith and John Carlos recreating the black power salute on the Olympic podium in 1968, it makes for a welcome interruption to the rigmarole of daily life. 

@natgeo
Cloud-cloaked mountain tops; panda cubs on weighing scales; the Northern Lights hanging eerily in the sky over Canada’s Yukon territory: National Geographic’s Instagram feed is a treasure trove of natural wonders. Providing lessons in both life and wildlife since its first issue in 1888, the magazine was started by the members of the National Geographic Society with the aim of sharing their astounding discoveries in the realms of geography, history, and world culture. Photography is, of course, one of the most compelling ways of documenting such finds, and over the course of its storied history, the publication has prided itself on hiring nothing but the finest photographers, whose imagery graces both the pages of the title and their outstanding Instagram stream, underscored by insightful captions. "Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better," Albert Einstein once said, and @natgeo is the perfect portal to enlightenment.

@magnumphotos
Ever since its foundation by photographic foursome Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David "Chim" Seymour in 1947, Magnum has stopped at nothing to pursue the most groundbreaking, innovative and important photo-journalism that the industry has ever known. It follows, then, that the Instagram feed is similarly informative. Tying some of the most inspiring and influential photographs ever taken to contemporary events, it is equal parts compelling and educational, equating social media with anthropological study in one fell swoop. A more visually fulfilling follow is hard to find.