How Many Photos Are Uploaded To Instagram Every Day

Due west hen photographs appeared final calendar week of a faux fur-clad Liz Truss in Moscow'south Carmine Square, information technology was impossible not to draw a comparison to an almost identical motion-picture show of Margaret Thatcher in Soviet Russia 35 years agone. However the absorbing prototype was only the latest in a torrent of official pictures of the foreign secretary'due south exploits.

There are, in fact, very few moments in Truss's v-calendar month stint at the Foreign Office that have not been defenseless for posterity by publicly funded official photographers. A review of the regime's official account on the photo-sharing platform Flickr reveals that since the day she took up the mail service, more than 700 pictures accept been uploaded featuring Truss – an average of more than four-and-a-half a day, or almost one photograph for every five hours in the task.

While there are brief interludes depicting Steve Barclay at Ikea, Priti Patel visiting Boots or Rishi Sunak stroking a parrot, the official stream of photographs is dominated by Truss, now seen by many Tories as the frontrunner to replace Johnson should he be forced from office before the next election. Sydney, Moscow, Mexico City and Mumbai are just some of the locations forming the backdrops for Truss, with each visit documented in item.

Truss and Jens Stoltenberg on 24 January this year. Photograph: No 10 Downing Street

Some of the nigh notable shots include fist-bumping with Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg, driving a tank in military gear in Estonia, chatting with Henry Kissinger in New York (her run beyond the Brooklyn Bridge was as well captured), sitting in a F35B fighter jet on the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier, and staring down her formidable Russian analogue, Sergei Lavrov. Worryingly for potential leadership rival Sunak, she was also photographed on the chancellor'south dwelling turf – opening the London Stock Exchange.

When at dwelling house, she is captured in the grandeur of Chevening, her grace-and-favour country mansion. Zoom calls are besides included. At that place is even a picture of Truss meeting ane of her own ministers.

Truss during a morning jog over Brooklyn Bridge in September. Photograph: Simon Dawson/No ten Downing Street

The foreign secretary's new-institute life through a lens has non gone unnoticed by her ministerial colleagues. Information technology has likewise raised criticisms about the prolific employ of official government photographers. Critics say their skills are now helping Tory leadership hopefuls testify their best sides. While Truss dominates the regime's official photostream, Sunak actually has his ain Treasury Flickr account, though it has only managed about 340 photographs of the chancellor since the September reshuffle that saw Truss arrive at the Strange Office.

Information technology is not unusual for foreign secretaries to find themselves in front of the camera. Nevertheless some Tories regard her very public outings as a direct-forward attempt to curry favour with party members before a possible leadership ballot. One government minister put it frankly: "It is an ignorant mode to carry."

Truss visits British troops on deployment to Estonia last November. — Truss rides in a tank while visiting British troops on deployment to Estonia last November. Photo: Simon Dawson/No 10 Downing Street

Her odyssey as well contrasts strongly with some of her more photo-shy colleagues. Surroundings secretary George Eustice, for example, appears to take featured in just 3 photographs on the official Flickr account since September – and 1 of those is his official cabinet portrait. The other 2 were taken as he entered Downing Street for a cabinet coming together in November.

The prime government minister has too been making use of his own official photographer, Andrew Parsons, and has fabricated visits to hospitals and vaccine centres as pressure has grown over alleged lockdown parties in Downing Street. Twelve such trips take appeared on No 10's Flickr business relationship since the start of November.

Alan Sparrow, chair of the UK Flick Editors' Lodge, said that while independent photographers were still invited on ministerial trips, the increasing apply of the government's ain snappers raised potential pitfalls. "My initial reaction to the staff photographers was that I feared that the other puddle positions would be close down and that we would be obliged to use just the handouts," he said. "And then far that has not happened. Even so, there are no guarantees – it only needs a change of staff or attitudes and we would discover ourselves in a position where the merely images available are those given out by No x."

Political opponents are more scathing about the official portraits, given that they are a potentially powerful chemical element of a party leadership entrada. "At a moment when Europe faces its biggest security crisis in decades, Liz Truss seems more interested in Instagram diplomacy than working with our allies," said Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson. "These serious times deserve serious leaders. We need a foreign secretary focused on the task at mitt, non using a taxpayer-funded photographer to further her leadership ambitions."

The Strange, Commonwealth and Development Office said: "It is vital that the government and its ministers communicate to the public and other audiences what they are doing for the United kingdom. Pictures help tell that story. Social media and digital appointment are critical communications tools, and our photographers play a leading office in supporting the government's digital communications activity."