Instagram is…
A collective scrapbook. It is this wonderful visual resource and language we have, particularly for people who are creative, who need inspiration, look for inspiration or get off on inspiration… It’s like a new way of conversing — though certainly not to replace conversations.

I started Instagramming because…
My son introduced me to it. He said, “Mom, you’d love this; get on there.” The best advice he gave me — which is still the most amazing advice for everything — is to be completely honest and organic and never to do it to achieve something. Do it from your heart. The ones that are done with a marketing plan — you can tell.

My very first post…
Was a wonderful vintage rose that we had on our dining table.

And my all-time favorite…
It’s hard to pick. I have favorites because they’re sentimental, they’re my home or they’re beautiful moments… [Some are here, here and here.] The ones that people seem to love are the ones where I set the table, probably because it’s something they can hope to repeat; it influences their own lives.

What I can’t resist Instagramming…
Well, when there’s beauty, you want to record it, you want to savor it, and this is a tool that helps you do that. Is there something that I specifically shoot all the time? I shoot flowers, details on a chair, artwork, the light reflecting on something — anything beautiful.

Instagram dos…
You need to remember that your experience of what you’re viewing — let’s say it’s a sunset — is very different in person than it is through a lens. So you have to look through your lens, think of the object of your image and think of the subject who’s going to enjoy it. You have to literally think, What is the best way to show that moment? Because you’re experiencing this wonderful moment — the skies are lit with hot pink and yellow and who knows what else — and yet people are going to get this tiny little square. So how do you give that to them in the best way? But, you know, if you start thinking too much, it’s gone.

And don’ts…
Share, don’t brag. You have to be sensitive to the people who are reading your Instagram.

A good Instagram account…
Brings you into a world that inspires you unlike anything else.

And the photos I find most interesting…
Are the ones that capture the serendipity of a moment. Or the beauty.

When you first begin…
It’s like learning to drive. You start to drive and you have to figure out how to not go too fast, not go too slow, how to handle certain things… It’s no different than any other skill or talent. Your initial process is a learning process and, eventually, if you go with your heart and you’ve learned it well, you start to travel this great visual highway freely. You go off the road, you start looking…

On filters…
I don’t do as many filters. I play with light within. I used to have to do it on the outside with another app called Camera Plus — which I still use — but you have to have taken a decent image to start with. Sometimes, people use a filter to mask a bad image. But sometimes, it’s also their visual language, like their branding. You can tell their images because they’re very consistent and, in terms of branding, that’s important for people.

People I follow…
I have stylists, fashion guys at Central St. Martins, fashion designers, accessories designers, lots of editors, foodies, stylists for food and chefs, art historians and curators, art dealers, designers and, obviously, my whole industry — we’re all very connected. It’s very interesting to see who influences me and how I might influence others — but it’s not done to influence. I know that sounds crazy, but that’s so important because the minute you go out and do something with a purpose, it loses its freshness and happenstance.

And aside from the above, other favorites…
Charlotte Anne Fidler — she’s a creative director in beauty. She’ll shoot the exact same view outside her window in the countryside in England, and it is a joy. You see it on different days, in different seasons, different lights; I love the repetition of that pattern. I love to follow Ashley Hicks — he does the same thing with his garden. India Hicks. Both are good friends. Also, Donald Drawbertson, Charlotte di Carcaci, Ngoc Minh Ngo, Oberto Gili, The Silver Pen’s Hollye Jacobs, Marella Caracciolo, Sciascia Gambaccini, Nick Wooster, Claiborne Swanson Frank, Piero Pazzi, Francesco Venturi, Dovima Paris’ Jane Pendry, Douglas Friedman, Fabien Baron and Design Miami. My mother, Anna Chiara Branca. And Jean Pierre.

I read my Instagram feed…
Mostly when I’m in between [things] or going in a cab someplace. I don’t put my phone next to me all day long — I’m actually making a concerted effort not to. It should be like your mailbox. Once upon a time, one did not go to his or her mailbox every 15 minutes, and I think that’s the way Instagram should be treated. It should be something you do, the way you pick up your knitting. You might capture the shot whenever you experience it, but you don’t have to read other people’s Instagrams until you’re ready. It’s also more fun that way. It’s like the surprise of going to your mailbox and seeing something cool. If you’re doing it all day, you’re going to get sick of it.