With a huge social media brand like Instagram dominating much of the photo-sharing market, you wouldn't expect anyone to go up against it. So why did VSCO launch a social network similar to Instagram?

VSCO, short for Visual Supply Company, was formed in 2011 when Joel Flory and his cofounder Greg Lutze started a business designing WordPress templates for photographers. VSCO Cam's suite of photo filters do a superb job of approximating the color saturation and feel of old-school film cameras, but it initially began as an in-house editing tool.

"I started realizing that I was creating photos that weren't timeless," Flory told Fast Company. "They were very seasonal. Even though I was shooting digital, I still wanted to recreate a film look." The team eventually realized they had something special on their hands.

VSCO is available for Apple and Android devices, and bills itself as by creatives, for creatives. The startup owes much of its success to Instagram, where the overwhelming majority of its sublimely edited photos are shared. This year, VSCO plans to expand.

VSCO Grid in particular is the app's most compelling new feature. It's like a mini, in-app social network that allows VSCO users to follow each other. Grid gathers photos from your follow list and compiles them in an easy-to-browse, reverse chronological stream of images.

At first glance, it looks just like Instagram. But Flory doesn't see VSCO Grid as a direct competitor to Instagram. Rather, he envisions the two photo-sharing platforms coexisting side by side.

"We love Instagram," says Flory. "We're active members of the Instagram community. I think Kevin Systrom is brilliant. But at the core they've built a communication tool, a way for the world to communicate visually."

Unlike regular Instagram photos, Flory envisions Grid becoming a platform for creatives to show off their work. "We like to see VSCO Grid as a museum, where you'll only share your best," says Flory. "We're not really concerned about the numbers. A user might post 100 images to Instagram, but we want them to post their five best photos to VSCO Grid."

In some ways, VSCO Grid is the anti-social social network. You can't leave comments, and you can't "like" something. All you can do (for now) is follow photographers you admire, and check out their photographs. VSCO's team handpicks and recommends other photographers for you to follow. Flory stresses that images will always be attributed to the original creator wherever they are posted. And the only written information attached to the photo caption is the stuff like F-stop, ISO, and filter used.

"When you walk into a museum, you wouldn't see someone writing next to a piece of art or adding stickers next to it," says Flory. "Our goal is to evoke a connection, but not in a way that's like, 'I love this photo. Awesome! Great! LOL. Art.'"

"We want the focus to be on the photographs and the photographer," adds Flory. "Quality will forever be in style."

Image: Erika Pham on VSCO