iSay: Stephen Mayes on smart phones, photography, and the future
March 22, 2012
It’s common to hear people say, “Here are my iPhone images,” but how often do we hear, “please look at these photos that I made with my camera”? What other gadget has become an adjective that’s an almost essential part of the description of the image?
PAST GAME CHANGERS
In 1924, the Leica Rangefinder revolutionized photography with its new mobility and format. The brand name is frequently referenced by its passionate advocates, but other than the “Leica Gallery”, it’s not used as an adjective. In 2008, the Canon 5D MkII integrated video as never before, weaving the term “5D” into discussions of image-making. And of course “Lomography” is a commonly quoted trademark. But there’s no equivalent to the use of “cell phone” and its variants as an essential qualifier of the images we look at. Just compare the results of a keyword search on Corbis using “Hipstamatic” vs. “35mm”.
THE EXPERIENCE OF SHARING IMAGES
We relate to the camera in a smart phone in a completely unprecedented way. No more is a photograph a simple record or description of what we see. There are 100 billion photos on Facebook. Clearly, sharing images has become part of the experience of living. These are not records to be filed in albums, but vibrant, immediate expressions of our current experience quickly washed away by the next upload.
This is true even professionally. I work in photojournalism, where the cell phone image is a powerful experiential phenomenon. Consider the Japanese tsunami and the Syrian crisis—images of these events bring viewers close to the action, not only by intimate proximity (no telephoto lenses), but more importantly through unfiltered connection to the participant combined with immediacy. Images pop up online throughout the action. This is a transformative sharing experience and a very different photographic event.
THE INVISIBLE PHOTOGRAPHER
The smart phone liberates photojournalists to move anywhere quickly (just as the Leica did in 1924), but perhaps more importantly, it makes them invisible. Once separated from the action physically and psychologically by the bulk of their cameras, photojournalists may now disappear, blending with the participants who are themselves wielding camera phones. As distinguished photojournalist Ron Haviv told me, it can be hard to separate the roles of participant and observer — raising new practical and ethical questions. In a profession where digital retouching has been strictly forbidden, what does it mean to produce images that rely on digital filters and postproduction manipulations? In the commercial world, the pursuit of technical perfection is suddenly trumped by enjoyment of the cell phone’s rough qualities. In the art world, fascination with process continues to be integral to the appreciation of the image. How long before we have a $100,000 cell phone image (if David Hockney’s not already there)?
NOT JUST ANOTHER CAMERA
I hear some photographers say, “It’s just another camera.” But really it’s not. I’ve seen those same photographers behaving and producing in very different ways, not comparable with simply changing format. The “smart phone” adjective has a justified place in our vocabulary — but for reasons that we are only just beginning to understand.
See a gallery of smart phone images at Corbis.
By Stephen Mayes
STEPHEN MAYES is Director of VII Photo Agency in New York, representing 23 of the world’s leading photojournalists (www.viiphoto.com). He has worked at the top levels of photography for 25 years, in the areas of journalism, art, commercial and fashion – working as manager of Network Photographers; Chair of World Press Photo competition (and seven years as Secretary); SVP at eyestorm.com; SVP at Getty Images; and Director of Image Archive at Art + Commerce. Stephen regularly writes and broadcasts on the ethics and realities of photographic practice.
By
Corbis
Tags: cell phone photography, Hipstamatic, iPhone camera, iPhone photography, photojournalism, smart phone photography, Stephen Mayes
I think when other (good) photographers say something like, “it’s just another camera,” it is implied that they are not just making the commentary about the format, but also the way they use the camera and the situation in which it is most effective. I was puzzled by the statement, as if you are not giving enough credit to the people who make this statement you. And, the next question becomes: why base any argument on non-credible photographers’ words? Unless your target audience was these people, or amateur photographers. Right?
I would love to hear your thoughts on that.
I also love to use my iPhone for take pictures, for many of the reasons you assume here in this article, and probably other reasons that you might suggest in the right context as a photographer with 25 years of work behind you. Thanks for inspiring my commentary. I always love these ideas.
David
I think the real danger is in the neo-pictorialist movement that I see taking place where mobile photographers are adding cheap after-effects to make them more like “fine art” in the hopes of gaining acceptance. Stick to straight photography. Compose in the viewfinder, with little to no post processing. And then compare yourself to the great photography out there. I think you will find that mobile photography is just another camera when used in this way and stands up as an emerging genre of serious photography in its own right. Or in the parlance of our times, haters gonna hate. Of course this is just my opinion, and I would be among the lot of the f65′rs doing straight photography and not pictorialism if given the choice.
In my oppinion, the comparrison between Leicas rangefinder and the Iphone doesnt hold. I know, back then it was a new tool, it simplified things and made the photographer more mobile etc. I also can see that to a certain extend with the Iphone and there where a couple of occasions where i know that its easier to be concealed.
But… the IPhone is a one-button-shot-stop . Its so heavily automatized that there is actually not much creative or technical buffer. The tools to make your pictureses look “individual” are widely used and in the end, all the shots are going to look very similar. Sure, there is composition and other elements where you can get your “signiture” but lets be honest, the last 10 photo essays shot on a iphone that i saw in magazines i couldnt make a difference who shot it.
On the otherside it maybe takes the techinical aspect totally out of the equation and therefore photographers are going to try to go more into the story, more into details and trying to make a personal connection with their subjects, rather then just snapping away and then playing around in photoshop until the image looks “modern” or “cool”.
I just cant see that yet… maybe we still have to move down the road a little bit.
I totally agree. Smartphones are not only a new camera they’re an open door to the future of photography. And it’s not only about how many people use them and the incredible amount of pictures done, it’s about the idea of immediacy. A camera easy to use, less intrusive than any other camera around, and always ready to share your images.
I also feel that this is only the beginning. Mobile photography is still seen as something pictorialistic or overfiltered by many. And that’s because there’s a lot of those kind of work out there, lots of selfnamed mobile artists. That’s obviously because it’s easy and cheap to use new software (apps) to obtain a “nice looking” result. But if we keep looking only to those kinds of works and define mobile photography only because those images we will surely miss what is happening.
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That is a great point about phone being good for reportage photography. When I am in London working and take a shot with my iPhone nobody cares- but as soon as I get my D3 out with the long lens then I can feel the pressure with people wanting to know what I am doing.
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Smart phones are less intrusive and ready to post online in a short and quick action.
i totally agree, i think this neo pictorialist craze that we are seeing where all these images are vignetted with blurry vibrant colours, like lomo etc, i feel these images are more about the takers emotions then the content of the image as such. for example if i wake up i might take a picture of my girl friend next to me, i might add a red cross processed filter to emphasize my happiness and love fro that person, and if my dog died i might take a picture of its grave side and add a blue filter to show my sorrow for that day. These are by no means images to hold close to you, they are visual statues for face book, witch i feel is amazing! from a photographers point of view the world is now communicating in images, where a few years ago you might have to explain an image to some one, but now because people are subconsciously looking at more images every day, they now understand us more as photographers, and instead of questioning our meanings behind our images more people understand and relate to us. And isn’t that our aim as photographers to communicate though images?? we have been so caught up on ripping people apart for the quality of there images and the effects used he have missed the hole point why people are doing it, visual communication. in stead of feeling threatened by more people taking images on smart phones, we should embraces it, we are in a time where in all honesty, the photographer used to be a bit of an out sider, but we are now more excepted. people like Dian Arbus to a person that is no in the photographic field is looked upon like a weirdo, its only because that we as photographers can understand where she was coming from (maybe a poor example) but now as photographic apps have changed how people look at the world they now look at photographers in a different way. the way people look at the world with a smart phones though a vignette cross processed filter to extract there emotions from the world at a given time, and do you know what i love the fact people say “hey your a photographer, look at what iv taken on my phone” you can now connect with some one and have a understanding of that person with out even really exchanging that many worlds. you mobile phone is and extension of your personality and reflex on how you look at the world. this takes nothing away from us as photographers we are skilled and still valued for those skill, but if any thing we are at the peek of are creative careers, its how we chose to use these technologies witch is going to shape the future of photography!! just a few thoughts
sorry about a few spelling mistakes* i’m doing a dissertation on how film photography is used today and has digital made 35mm obsolete, thought i would add a comment quickly*
Which smart phone makes the best photos? It would be nice to have a dedicated hard shutter release button on a smart phone, maybe a sports finder.
as a professional photographer, i find myself unable to ‘work’ with my smartphone. and believe me i’ve tried. the feeling of being sneaking into people’s lives and moments without their unspoken permission makes me feel i am not a photographer anymore but kind of an intruder.
there’s something about smiles, sights and/or words that open doors when with a SLR camera in my hands. something that makes no sense while shooting with phones.
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I strongly agree with you Steve, nowadays people often relate an image to a smartphone… But the images taken on a smartphone does not quality to compete with an image taken on a professional camera, for example images taken on Canon EOS….
nice picture , support it.
An image taken by a smartphone is not surely qualified compared to a DLSR camera like that of CANON EOS Power Shot , or whatever DLSR camera there is. It’s quality alone is less more than that of the canon power shot.. It’s more alive when taken with the professional camera.
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