While there are plenty of people out there using Instagram to share funny photos or simply group shots from their nights out in clubs, there are others who are making serious money on the social media platform. It's worth it for any celebrity or artist to publicise their work via Instagram, but some make more than enough money to get by on a single post.
Selena Gomez, on top of her work in music and acting, makes an incredible $550,000 per post, apparently. It turns out that the real power of having 134 million followers is that you don't have to do any more than post a decent photo to get far more than most earn in a year.
Modeling has definitely found a new home on Instagram, with fashion adverts, magazine shoots and other personal posts from models raking in the cash. On top of this, some have managed to use the platform to spread messages of body positivity or other critical statements about the industry.
The latest model on the scene has captured the attention of a lot of people. In fact, Shudu has already amassed over 40,000 followers on her Instagram, even though she has only posted 18 photos so far. However, there was something not quite right about the images.
Once Rihanna's beauty line Fenty reposted a photograph of her wearing their makeup, users started to speculate whether Shudu was actually real. As it turns out, they were right to be skeptical. Shudu isn't a real person at all, but a computer-generated image.
For 28-year-old Cameron-James Wilson, a self-taught British photographer, it was a passion project. After spending 10 years in the fashion industry, he created Shudu, eventually revealing to the world that she was actually the 'world's first digital supermodel'.
Speaking to Harper's Bazaar, Wilson explained the origins of Shudu:
"Basically Shudu is my creation, she’s my art piece that I am working on at moment. She is not a real model unfortunately, but she represents a lot of the real models of today. There’s a big kind of movement with dark skin models, so she represents them and is inspired by them."
However, rather than a prank on the world, the photographer insists that the intent was to inspire creativity and beauty in the world:
"At the end of the day, it's a way for me to express my creativity—it’s not trying to replace anyone. It's only trying to add to the kind of movement that's out there. It's meant to be beautiful art which empowers people. It’s not trying to take away an opportunity from anyone or replace anyone. She’s trying to complement those people."
As you can imagine, his work has attracted a fair amount of criticism and praise. Some have pointed out that it is a little ridiculous to see Shudu become so big, when real women of color are severely unrepresented in the industry.
And then, there are those who still haven't figured out she's not real at all...
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