Why Motorsport Photographers Need to Stop Relying on Instagram and Start Taking LinkedIn Seriously
For many motorsport photographers, Instagram has become the default platform. It’s where images are shared, likes are counted and exposure is chased and yearned for. For years, it’s been treated as the place to be seen. However, I want to tell you that Instagram is not where professional photography careers are built.
Instagram is nothing more than a shop window. In fact, a closed shop window is more accurate. LinkedIn is a business platform. Confusing the two is holding a lot of photographers back, and here’s why.
Instagram Is a Portfolio Platform, Not a Network
Instagram works extremely well as a visual showcase. It’s ideal for displaying your best, portfolio images, curating a consistent style and demonstrating consistency. As a portfolio platform, it does its job (to an extent).
What it does not do well is facilitate meaningful professional relationships or build genuine careers.
The platform is built around passive consumption, a culture of scrolling and not structured networking. Algorithms decide who sees your work, conversations are fleeting and decision-makers are rarely searching Instagram to hire photographers in any serious or deliberate way.
Yet many photographers still treat it like a job board. A place where they believe all theirs hopes, ambitions and dreams will be realised.
I see so many of these posts, almost on a daily basis on Instagram:
“If any teams or drivers are looking for a photographer this season, DM me.”
From a professional standpoint, this approach does nothing, especially if trying to build a long-term career. It signals a lack of strategy and whether intended or not - a sense of desperation. It does not showcase professionalism. This simply is not how serious clients hire anyone, let alone photographers. At least not one’s who will respect you, pay you properly and treat you fairly.
LinkedIn Is Where the Industry Actually Talks
LinkedIn is massively overlooked by photographers, and especially motorsport photographers (I’ve searched on there and there really aren’t many!). Why? Because they believe it isn’t image-first. But you can still post images, and in fact it is becoming more image and video friendly. Yes, it’s not as image based as Instagram but that’s why it’s such a crucial platform. To be a successful photographer, you need far more than just a portfolio of pretty images.
LinkedIn is where:
Team management personnel operate.
Marketing and social media teams operate professionally.
Brands look for partners.
Series organisers and sponsors connect.
LinkedIn allows you to connect directly with real individuals, professionals and not doom scrolling audiences. It enables conversations, networking and long-term visibility - not just fleeting impressions. What’s more, crucially, it allows you to demonstrate how you think, not just what you shoot.
LinkedIn Offers Better, More Genuine Engagement
In my experience, LinkedIn offers a much higher level of engagement, and genuine engagement too. Not just pointless likes or random people commenting with fire emojis! If you post with authenticity, value-led content, your reach on LinkedIn can be significantly greater than Instagram.
One of my most recent posts on LinkedIn, with my relatively small audience at present received 8000 impressions, 5000+ reach, 28 profile views and 8 follows. It also has 11 comments, 5 reposts, 10 saves and 60 reactions. By comparison, my Instagram content on average receives anywhere around 5-20 likes per post, no follows, no comments and a reach of just a few hundred.
This tells you precisely where I am going to be focusing my own professional efforts in 2026.
Photography Is Only Part of the Job
One of the biggest misconceptions among emerging photographers is that image quality is the most important aspect to focus on. That you need to only take amazing photos and that’s enough.
It simply isn’t. This is a highly misguided idea.
At a professional level, most photographers are technically capable. What separates those who get hired consistently from those who don’t is pretty much everything else.
Communication style.
Reliability and organisation.
Understanding of a client’s objectives.
Professional conduct.
Ability to integrate into a team environment.
Actually doing photography is maybe 30% of the role of professional photography.
The remaining 70% is business. Building connections, maintaining relationships, marketing, networking and building value in what you offer and can bring to the table.
LinkedIn is designed for achieving exactly this.
Building Value, Not Begging for Work
The most effective use of LinkedIn isn’t sending generic connection requests or pitching immediately. It’s about intentional networking.
That means:
Connecting with people you genuinely want to learn from or collaborate with.
Engaging with posts thoughtfully, not performatively.
Sharing insights, experiences, and perspectives from within the industry.
Demonstrating professionalism long before you ever need to ask for work.
This approach builds reputation, authority and trust over time. When opportunities arise, you’re no longer a stranger asking for a chance - you’re a known authority in the industry. That’s how professionals get hired…and then hired again. Reputation isn’t just about taking great images - it’s about who you are as a person, far beyond actual photography.
Use Each Platform for What It’s Good At
This isn’t an argument for abandoning Instagram entirely. It still has value, somewhere (although I am rapidly struggling to find it nowadays) - just not the value many photographers think, or perhaps hope it does. If you’re serious about building and sustaining a career in motorsport photography, start looking beyond Instagram and start realising the potential of LinkedIn.
Use Instagram for:
Showcasing your images.
Curate your visual identity.
Act as a living portfolio.
Use LinkedIn for:
Building professional relationships.
Developing and building industry credibility.
Position yourself as a professional, not just a photographer.
Creating long-term career momentum.
Throwing images and reels into the Instagram void and hoping the right person sees them is not a strategy. Building a professional network, a reputation and authority in the industry is. Instagram might build you an audience of other photographers, a few teams and drivers, but unless you want to become an influencer, how valuable is that? They aren’t going to hire you long-term. LinkedIn is where you need to build a professional network and then use Instagram to show your portfolio (although a website is still better and far more valuable).
Final Thought
If you want to be treated like a professional, you need to behave like one.
Stop posting desperate calls for work on Instagram.
Stop relying on ‘free’ exposure as a business model.
Start investing time into the platforms where real decisions are made and other professionals live and work.