Last night I was discussing some of the greats of 20th century American photography with a friend. As we talked he started to find the powerful images from this period on his MacBook and then it struck me; Many of the images these greats produced in the 20th century are the core of the modern iPhoneography movement.
I have been thinking about the pivotal position of the iPhone in the development of photography for a while now and the one concept that keeps coming back again and again – immediacy. The point was reinforced as I went to leave my friend’s house. I stepped out of the front door and this image presented itself – I just had to capture it. The reaction of my friend was interesting. He is one of those rare creatures these days, a successful professional photographer, who spends many hours each week making photographs yet he never considers his iPhone as a camera but rather something to conduct business through. He did not see the potential in his pocket.
22 Pictures That Prove We’re Living In The Damn Future – Buzzfeed 6th August 2014: http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/future-fuuuuuture-fuuuuuuture
Now I am not claiming to be a better photograph than my friend, far from it, but it does demonstrate, I feel, the appeal and mindset needed to work with an iPhone. You need to be always aware of the possibly of an image. It also means that you have to accept that most of the images you create aren’t that good but just occasionally something comes along that is worthwhile – a bit life as a whole.
The best Camera is the one you have with you – Anon
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