What is indie really?
Is it a trend, something that fads in and out of popularity?
or Maybe it's a genre, a classification?
Even still... maybe it stands for something... maybe, just maybe, it stands for the word independent, or maybe even by a single person? NO. That would be ridiculous!
Let's see what what the dictionary has to say about it:

indie
"independent record company," 1945, shortening of independent; used of film production companies since 1920s, of theaters from 1942; extended by 1984 to a type of pop music by such labels."
_{Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper}

So it's fair to say that anything within the genre of "indie" is produced independently, by a small group of people. No? Now that we've laid the ground work for a definition of "indie" let's investigate it's root word:

independent
"1. Not governed by a foreign power; self-governing.
2. Free from the influence, guidance, or control of another or others; self-reliant: an independent mind.
3. Not determined or influenced by someone or something else; not contingent: a decision independent of the outcome of the study.
4. often Independent Affiliated with or loyal to no one political party or organization.
5. Not dependent on or affiliated with a larger or controlling entity: an independent food store; an independent film.
6.
a. Not relying on others for support, care, or funds; self-supporting.
b. Providing or being sufficient income to enable one to live without working: a person of independent means.
c. Not dependent on other variables.
d. Of or relating to a system of equations no one of which can be derived from another equation in the system.
..."
_{The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.}

Based on the above quotes we can conclude that:
for a piece of art to be considered "indie" or independent it would need to be free of influence from a current trend or outside source. In addition, for an artist to be considered "indie" they would have to be self-governing in their artistic direction, as well as unaffiliated with major group of genre-based artists. Association seems to be what destroys an artists status as far as being indie goes.

Recently a club full for indie artists was formed here on DA [link] This club seek to challenge the photography community to change, to put raw emotion and real meaning into their art. Not a bad thing at all, in fact if anything putting a solid concept and communicating real emotions with your is a great thing! The bad comes in here:

"What has happened to photography[?] Its become more technical than artistic. People have taken every bit of emotion, every bit of beauty, of fun, of everything that makes photography an art and replaced it with rules, headache, stress and an utter lack of what I thought the whole purpose of [photography] really was... I have searched deviant art for artists who are sick of boring, emotionless portraits and cliché run of the mill, unimaginative landscapes and still lives. Who ever said that holgas and polariods arent legitimate photographic mediums? ..."
_{indiephotoclub 2007, written by [link]}

There are soooooo many different kinds of great photography on DA it is irrational to assume that just because a photo involves a lot of skill and technique to capture that it is unable to convey emotion or be beautiful. There are plenty of photos on DA that do use technique as a backbone and don't communicate anything, but to discredit entire genres (ex: "emotionless portraits and cliché run of the mill, unimaginative landscapes and still lives")is completely unjustified. Indie shouldn't be (and isn't) about coming together to patronize our fellow artist.

Indie is about creating art from our souls. Art that speak volumes and doesn't follow trends. Something that is both innovative and beautiful at the same time. Using a Holga, giving your photos a vintage feel, or breaking every photography "rule" ever written will not make you indie; it'll make you trendy and not much else. Although, making art that is truly unique, independent of influence, and remarkable fresh feeling will.

So i challenge my fellow photographers and other artists alike, challenge the preconceived notices of what "indie" is and create what indie will be. Let us embrace all mediums, digital and analog, paint and crayon, and so many others, and create art that is more than just trendy or beautiful or technically adept... Let us create art with meaning.