iPhoneography: not just for Facebooking
I found a fascinating article in the British Journal of Photography about mobile photography. These guys are serious big-camera togs, so it’s interesting to have them taking notice of our little world. The article is called From Memory to Experience by Stephen Mayes.To summarise its message: iphoneography is about streaming rather than documenting. In other words, people use mobile cameras to take and publish photos about stuff happening now. Traditional photographers take photos of things and then put them in a book or a magazine or frame them and put them on the wall. Mobile is about the present, big-camera is about the past. Mayes gives the example of some big-camera photographers fooling around with their phone cameras and posting photos to Facebook. In line with this idea, he makes the point that mobile cameras are great for photojournalism. And he’s absoluutely right as many photojournalists have proved. I mentioned it in a blog a while back.
Mayes seems very positive about mobile photography. None of the cynicism of many big-camera photographers. Which is great. And he’s right. Mobile photography is great for photojournalism and lots of people do use it for Facebooking. I’d also say we’re doing some fantastic work in candid street photography (check out Daniel Arnold). But there are many mobile photographers who are occupying the same space as traditional photographers. Many are taking arty photos and creating stunningly beautiful images to put in books or print out and hang on walls. Check out iphoneart.com or Juxt. And I’d say we’re doing more of it, more often and in more creative ways (thanks to the apps) than the average big-camera enthusiast.
And many mobile photographers are behaving like serious photographers in other ways. I’m curating an exhibition, Apped to the Max, at the moment and exhibiting in another one, Iconic London 2012, very soon. So, Stephen, you’re right, we’re taking photography into new spaces, but we’re also doing loads of good stuff in some of the old ones too. Come to the private view?
Yes, but is it photography?
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