Photography at its best takes you to another place. There’s some kind of fantasy in any successful photograph-people can look at an image and see their own thoughts, their own dreams, their own selves in it, and that, that sort of universal appeal is what gives it an emotional connection. Photos don’t have to be pretty, no, but they do have to take us to another place, another time, another space, even if just for a little while.
So, how to capture all of this with the iPhone?
It can be done, I think. I think we can generate images that take us to another little world, even if we can’t blow them up to billboard sized images. I think we can take lasting images with the iPhone, even if it does not have a “real” lens. I think it’s just a question of the photographer working within the confines of the point and shoot space, of working with the apps, of clarifying the vision to the point that the camera gear becomes irrelevant. I think it can be done but it requires the ego to be put aside, it requires the “I need an expensive camera” mentality to be tucked away, it requires a thought, an idea, a vision of some kind. While it sounds easy, that’s not always the easiest of things to do. We tend to get caught up in wanting, needing, having expensive camera gear. We like it and we tend to hide behind it, don’t we?
The iPhone is here to stay. There are a lot of iPhone photos, the quality of the cameras are always improving, and there are now even rumors that Apple is going to launch a camera line. The iPhone is here to stay, the only question is will established photographers embrace it? I think they already have, to some extend, and they are starting to in others. The iPhone has a lot of nice features, but it’s not the perfect camera. Then again, nothing is, right? The best of photographers will learn how to work it to their best advantage. They’ll learn what it’s good for, what it can’t do very well, and they’ll work within its limitations to make the best pictures. Isn’t that true for any kind of camera though?
Of course, we can help it along too. The next time you go to fantasy land, don’t stop to think about what kind of camera got you there, just enjoy the view.
Until next time…
