Detroit Instagram star gets tequila billboard deal

Posting Instagram photos of Detroit has paid off in tequila and billboards for a local auto worker.

Tony Majka, known as "tonydetroit" to his 382,000 Instagram followers, received a direct message from people with 1800 Tequila, offering to have his photos posted on 15 billboards across the city.

"I knew it would be a good, positive thing for the city of Detroit," he said, adding that in September he captured the images with taglines to convey "what Detroit meant to me: edgy, strong, smart, tough."

The first of the billboards was posted Monday at East 8 Mile and Charleston Street, according to a news release from Exposure America, representing the tequila company. A company spokesperson declined to specify how he was compensated, but Majka did say he received a couple cases of tequila.

"I have a lot of Christmas presents for family members," he said.

Majka, 43, whose day job involves testing cars off the assembly line for Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles, started posting pictures of Detroit on Instagram a little over five years ago, he said. He was one of the first users to grow a large following on the app and at one point was one of its most popular users.

His training in photography consisted of using his grandfather's darkroom during childhood and a few photography classes while attending Oakland University.

"It went on the back burner," Majka said. "I started taking pictures when I first got my iPhone."

His Instagram efforts have since earned him a visit to Israel, where the country's tourism bureau flew him to shoot photos for its website, and promotional images for Camel cigarettes that can be seen in local party stores.

Majka said the photos he shot for the billboards were on his Canon 5d Mark III camera, along with one iPhone shot.

Spirits of Detroit columnist Robert Allen covers alcohol for the Free Press. He can be reached at rallen@freepress.com or Untappd, raDetroit; Twitter, @rallenMI, Facebook, robertallen.news; and Periscope, @rallenMI.