Instagram is great for consuming car content — but it’s terrible for finding car photographers.

If you’re a car photographer, your work usually lives in one of three places:

  • Your Instagram profile

  • A Google Drive / website almost nobody visits

  • DMs you send manually to people who might care

The problem isn’t talent.
It’s discoverability.

The Discoverability Problem

On Instagram:

  • Hashtags are overcrowded

  • The algorithm favors reels, not portfolios

  • Great photos disappear in 24 hours

  • New creators have almost zero surface area

If someone wants to:

  • Find a photographer in a specific city

  • Discover creators by car type or >

  • Browse portfolios without scrolling endlessly

Instagram simply isn’t built for that.

It’s optimized for feeds, not search.

Why Niche Platforms Beat Social Media for Creators

General social platforms try to serve everyone.
Niche platforms serve one group extremely well.

For creators, niche platforms offer:

  • Intent-driven discovery (people are actively looking)

  • Search by tags, location, or >

  • Clean portfolios instead of algorithmic feeds

  • Less noise, more relevance

This is why platforms like Behance, Dribbble, and SoundCloud still exist — despite Instagram and TikTok.

The Gap in the Automotive Space

Surprisingly, car photographers don’t really have a dedicated place like that.

There are:

  • Forums (old-school, fragmented)

  • Instagram repost pages (temporary exposure)

  • Personal websites (hard to discover)

But no simple, centralized place to:

  • Browse car photographers

  • View clean portfolios

  • Message creators directly

What I’m Building: CarLens

I’m building CarLens, a small MVP platform for car photographers and automotive creators.

What it does:

  • Lets photographers create a public profile

  • Shows portfolios in a clean, searchable format

  • Allows users to discover creators by tags and location

  • Enables direct messaging for collaborations

What it isn’t:

  • Not a social network

  • Not another Instagram clone

  • Not a polished startup yet

It’s intentionally simple — focused on discovery, not dopamine.

Why I’m Sharing This

CarLens is still early and I’m actively looking for:

  • Feedback from photographers

  • Real users who want better discoverability

  • Honest criticism (not hype)

If you’re a car photographer — or work with them — I’d love for you to check it out and tell me what sucks.

👉 CarLens (MVP): https://carlens-eight.vercel.app