In the "How I Built This" podcast for Instagram, Kevin Systrom specifically says the filters were created to take the relatively low-quality photos early smartp

In the "How I Built This" podcast for Instagram, Kevin Systrom specifically says the filters were created to take the relatively low-quality photos early smartphone cameras were capable of and making them look like photographer-quality photos. Filters were about taking average photos and making them "pop" but not necessarily by virtue of having deep domain knowledge of color.