Graphic designer Jorge Martinez and Phil Gonzales have created a free, online virtual space where users can share and exchange Instagram images with anyone in the world, without the need to follow, add friends or connect in any other way than a shared enjoyment of the images.

Appropriately dubbed the Instagramers Gallery, the network comprises of Instagram fans from 60 different countries, in more than 300 local communities, who can promote their images through the platform. Not only will their work be appreciated by others in the network, they’re also in contention for a $1000 daily photo prize, and a $100,000 grand prize, chosen and judged by a discerning panel of well-known personalities in the art world.

The platform has also opened a physical location in Wynwood, Miami, allowing the network to expand beyond social media, and connecting lovers of photography, Instragram users and art enthusiasts by allowing them to attend discussions, forums and events in the gallery space, hung with the most outstanding and valued photos from the platform.

It's interesting to see a relatively disposable piece of social media given such precedence, and being treated more like art. The #Untamed Mercedes-Benz campaign from last year is a good example of a brand recognising the potential of the platform.