---
url: 'https://dri.es/a-photo-stream-for-my-site'
title: 'A photo stream for my site'
author:
  name: 'Dries Buytaert'
  url: 'https://dri.es/about'
date: '2022-11-06T11:35:54-05:00'
license: 'https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/'
type: blog
summary: 'I built a privacy respecting photo stream with RSS and email so friends can follow my adventures without surveillance platforms.'
tags:
  - POSSE
  - 'My site'
  - Photography
  - 'Photo stream'
image: miscellaneous-2022/train-1
published: true
featured: true
id: 5381
---

# A photo stream for my site

[image miscellaneous-2022/train-1 caption=false]

It's no secret that I don't like using Facebook, Instagram or Twitter as my primary platform for sharing photos and status updates. I don't trust these platforms with my data, and I don't like that they track my friends and family each time I post something.

For those reasons, I set a personal challenge in 2018 to [take back control over my social media, photos and more](https://dri.es/taking-control-of-my-data-and-social-media). As a result, [I quit Facebook](https://dri.es/pulling-the-plug-on-facebook) and stopped using [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Dries) for personal status updates. I still use Twitter for [Drupal](https://www.drupal.org/)-related updates.

To this date, I still occasionally post on Instagram. The main reason I still post on Instagram is that it's simply the easiest way for friends and family to follow me. But every time I post a photo on Instagram, [I cringe](https://dri.es/state-of-drupal-presentation-september-2022). I don't like that I cause friends and family to be tracked.

My workflow is to upload photos to my website first. After uploading photos to my website, I occasionally [POSSE](https://indieweb.org/POSSE) a photo to [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/dries.buytaert/). I have used this workflow for many years. As a result, I have over 10,000 photos on my website, and only 300 photos on Instagram. By all means, my website is my primary platform for sharing photos.

I decided it was time to make it a bit easier for people to follow my photography and adventures from my website. Last month I silently added [a photo stream](https://dri.es/photos), complete with [an RSS feed](https://dri.es/photos.xml) and [mailing list](https://buttondown.com/dries-buytaert-photos). Now there is a page that shows my newest photos and an easy way to subscribe to them.

While an RSS feed doesn't have the same convenience factor as Instagram, it *is* better than Instagram in the following ways: more photos, no tracking, no algorithmic filtering, no account required, and no advertising.

<p class="pullquote">My photo stream and photo galleries aspire to the privacy of a printed photo album.</p>

I encourage you to subscribe to my photo stream and to unfollow me on Instagram.

Step by step, I will continue to build my audience here, on my blog, on the edge of the [Open Web](https://dri.es/tag/open-web), on my own terms.

From a technical point of view, my photo stream uses [responsive images](https://dri.es/responsive-images-for-dri-es) that are [lazy loaded](https://dri.es/optimizing-site-performance-by-lazy-loading-images) – it should be pretty fast. And it uses the [Open Graph Protocol](https://ogp.me/) for improved link sharing.

PS: The photo at the top is the subway in Boston. Taken on my way home from work.

<p>
  <a href="https://news.indieweb.org/en" class="u-syndication">Also posted on IndieNews</a>.</p>
