Introducing Circles: a simple way to share with groups

Sharing is personal. Some photos are for everyone. Some are for no one but you. And many sit somewhere in between — meant for a handful of people who deserve more than a link but less than a public post.

Today, we’re introducing Circles: a lightweight, human-first way to share photos with named groups of people you trust.

The Idea Behind Circles

Every photographer, from hobbyists to professionals, develops their own circles of trust. There are the friends who see works in progress, the clients who receive polished galleries, the peers whose feedback helps refine a project before it goes public. Until now, sharing within these small, recurring groups meant awkward workarounds — private messages, unlisted links, or duplicating uploads.

Circles replaces that patchwork with something direct: named groups that reflect how you already share. Create a few Circles — “Friends,” “Clients,” “Collaborators,” “Portfolio Review” — and then choose one or more when publishing a photo. No account-based invites, no complex role hierarchies, no spreadsheet of permissions. Just a few simple groups, under your control.

Why We Built It

Our existing visibility model — Public, Unlisted, and Private — is intentionally small. It’s simple enough to reason about and powerful enough for most workflows. But in practice, we saw an emerging gap.

Photographers often wanted to share repeatedly with the same people: clients, editors, or a trusted inner circle. Unlisted links worked, but they were brittle — forwardable, forgettable, and disconnected from the idea of a relationship. Making things Public, meanwhile, meant losing control entirely.

Circles fill that middle space. They provide a repeatable, relationship-based form of privacy. You can:

• Share a client gallery visible only to your “Clients” Circle.
• Send early drafts to a handful of peers for critique.
• Keep a private, invite-only portfolio that’s hidden from search and feeds.

And you can do all of that without thinking like an administrator or juggling endless permission toggles.

How It Works

When you upload or edit a photo, the familiar visibility control remains front and center: Private, Unlisted, Public. Now, there’s a fourth option: Circles (or “Custom”).

Selecting Circles lets you pick one or more groups you’ve already defined. The interface is deliberately compact:

Visibility: Private | Unlisted | Public | Circles → [ ] Friends [ ] Clients [ ] Collaborators

A few principles guided the design:

1. Obvious visibility. It should always be clear who can see a photo. You can review the audience before saving, and defaults remain conservative.
2. Minimal cognitive load. Circles are few in number and easy to name. This isn’t enterprise access control; it’s personal sharing.
3. Safety first. The default visibility remains Private (or your last selection), ensuring nothing is exposed accidentally.

You don’t need to understand ACLs or inheritance rules. The experience is intentionally human, not technical.

Common Uses

Client Galleries — Create a “Clients” Circle and share finished projects directly. Your clients see what they need, and no one else does.

Portfolio Reviews — A “Portfolio Review” Circle allows you to share works in progress with mentors or peers. It’s private by design, encouraging candid feedback.

Friends & Family — Keep personal photos in a “Friends” Circle for moments that don’t belong on public feeds.

These aren’t theoretical examples — they mirror how photographers already collaborate and share. Circles simply make those relationships first-class citizens in the platform.

Privacy and Predictability

We designed Circles with a few clear rules to maintain privacy and clarity:

• Circles-only items are private to those members. They won’t appear in public feeds, search results, or public collections unless you change their visibility to Public.
• Unlisted and Circles are mutually exclusive. An image can be one or the other, not both. This prevents confusion and accidental leaks.
• Public remains the only discoverable mode. Only Public photos appear in RSS/Atom feeds, public collections, or API endpoints meant for open access.

The goal is not just to give you more control, but to make that control easy to reason about. You shouldn’t have to guess who can see your work.

Managing Circles

You can create and edit Circles from your profile. The management tools are intentionally minimal: create a Circle, name it, and add or remove people.

We’ve limited the number of Circles per account to keep the UI clean and avoid the entropy that comes from too many overlapping groups. You can always rename or reorganize them, but the model favors clarity over infinite flexibility.

Circles should feel like contact lists, not configuration files.

Looking Ahead

Circles is our first step toward a richer, more expressive model of sharing that still feels effortless. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be:

• Gathering feedback from early users to refine real-world workflows.
• Streamlining the interface for faster Circle selection during uploads.
• Expanding documentation and adding short videos to illustrate use cases.

As with every feature we build, Circles will evolve through use. The goal is to remain grounded in simplicity, even as we add power.

If you have a specific workflow that Circles could make easier — or if you find friction we haven’t addressed — we’d love to hear from you. Exposera grows through the feedback of working photographers, not abstract theory.

A Middle Ground for Sharing

Privacy isn’t about hiding; it’s about control. Confidence in what you share, and with whom. Circles gives you that middle ground: small, intentional groups that reflect the real social texture of photography.

They make it possible to share work confidently, without overthinking, over-engineering, or over-exposing.

Try creating your first Circle today — and see how it changes the way you share.