The iPhone Snapper
As a photographer it can very easy to take yourself too seriously, galleries too often seem overstocked with viewers earnestly stroking their chins whilst contemplating the photographer's choice of substrate and ink. As a breed we can discourse at length about making images, recording and documenting and expressing our world view through the lens. (I once overheard a photographer describing his experimental approach of shooting landscapes blindfold in an attempt to 'connect his inner creativity to his photography by using instinct'.
Sometimes we forget that we first picked up a camera because it was fun. When I was a kid I would have loved the iPhone, the idea that a photograph could appear instantly, and seemingly inexhaustibly, from a tiny device that fits in your pocket would have been a revelation compared to my cast-off 35mm, occasionally affordable film and money saving instructions to Boots to just develop, not print. But, that was in the 1970s when a 'phone was something that sat on a purpose made stand in the hall and the genius idea of a portable 'phone attached to a camera was yet to emerge. I still marvel at the mobile, it gives me license to play, I can be a kid again, I can take silly pictures of silly things, it's almost like having an effortless sketch pad and note book, ever ready in my pocket. I can be my own version of the Caravan Gallery snapping away at the things I find that make me smile, from graffiti to people doing funny things, the cat being cute even cartoons in Private Eye that I can snap and share to Facebook. Mostly though, these 'snaps' stay private, or occasionally shown to others onscreen, but never in public. Until now. Stop me if I start getting serious. |