Incredible Iphone imagery

[jky]

Not sure if this has been posted already.

On an iPhone Hipstamatic app... follow the link below.

Michael C. Brown

 

[chrismoret]

Tanks for the link!

Great photos, I think. Although I still sometimes must get my head around the idea such beautiful imagery is shot with a cell-phone. But it also states that it is not the camera but the eye/vision of the photographer what is important.

 

[LeicaFoReVer]

Some photos are disturbing, I would put a warning in the post...

I would bring a rangefinder with film. I agree that I dont like the idea of using a cell phone for such a subject. A rangefinder would not be spotted too much either...

 

[Matus]

Some of the photos are excellent indeed, some are tough, but not enough to get "classified". What actually disturbs me a bit is that the color adjustments make the photos look less "real" or documentary.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

The one of the guy being questioned is amazing.

 

[jky]

I've looked at these images so much the past couple of days.... not because they were made by a phone, but because the series continues to reiterate the following:

"...get in close..."

 

[henry fool]

The images are amazing for sure but what kind of photojournalist goes on assignment to the middle east with one SLR which he drops on the first day???
(I hate those hipstamatic borders though, don't you?)

 

[cee]

Sobering evidence that it's not about the bike.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[sper]

We live in an impressive world of new media. I suspect that the 'hipstimatic' app really only helps us bridge the gap between what we're used to looking at, and what the iPhone can do.

The best photojournalism probably SHOULD be captured on a phone, in 2011. Twitter serviced a revolution, mind you. It's all about the information age maturing.

What about regular photography? Well they still make paintings so I don't think there's much risk for our creative efforts. Stuff like this will probably only INCREASE the status of film photography as a fine art. That's why I think B&W silver photography will be around pretty much forever. Color, I don't know...

 

[huntjump]

The one of the guy being questioned is amazing.

agreed. almost like a scene from a movie. Sadly, it is all too real.

 

[umcelinho]

great images indeed, despite the hipstamatic (d)effects.

 

[Spyro]

meh... I like everything about the photos apart from the iphone look. I find the noise, colour casts and blown lights (not to even mention highlights) are disturbing. Whats the point? To prove that you can take great photos with a toy? Ok we know, we can, we've been brainwashed. But you still shouldnt do it, because you'll miss half of them because of lack of control and the rest of them will not look as good as they could. Take them with a proper camera and if you absolutely need the iphone look I'm sure there is a lightroom preset somewhere called "crappycam effect"...

 

[sper]

meh... I like everything about the photos apart from the iphone look. I find the noise, colour casts and blown lights (not to even mention highlights) are disturbing. Whats the point? To prove that you can take great photos with a toy? Ok we know, we can, we've been brainwashed. But you still shouldnt do it, because you'll miss half of them because of lack of control and the rest of them will not look as good as they could. Take them with a proper camera and if you absolutely need the iphone look I'm sure there is a lightroom preset somewhere called "crappycam effect"...

You're missing the point. People are capturing their reality with these 'crappy cameras' and the ever presentness is what makes these pictures profound. If image quality was the ultimate point of photography we'd all shoot 8x10 cameras all the time and everything would be on a tripod.

Obviously this guy didn't miss any shots, and I'm sure that under his iPhone around his neck was a Canikon D3 Mark IV or something to get the regular stuff.

 

[Spyro]

Sper thats the thing, I dont buy the ever presentness thing. Not when you can have a pocketable, totally silent and practically invisible modern small digital which sacrifices very little in terms of usability and quality (for this type of photography). And I dont buy the argument that he didnt miss any shots while fumbling with his phone. IQ is not the ultimate point of photography, but having a camera that has some basic settings/ergos/abilities to allow you not to miss photos, and gives some sort of realistic representation of reality instead of green/burgundy faces, is.
I think so anyway.

I think it subtracts from photography more than it adds, and I find it a little bit sad for good competent photographers having to resort to such fads to attract some more attention to a genre which (unfortunately) is struggling lately. I honestly dont see any other reason to do it. YMMV of course.

 

[huntjump]

I have a hard time saying anything negative on this considering that this photographer has the guts to be there and show the world what is going on. He arguably has the most dangerous job in the world and I could see the iphone as a VERY competent tool to get photos when a normal camera might stir negative reactions or put him in more danger. The iphone is 100% silent, pocketable and digital. Hipstamatic or not, personally, I can respect the work.

 

[kbb]

The work is good if not great; The actual photos look OK at 5"x5" on my laptop, but I doubt they'd make a decent print at the same size. The color reminds me of Polaroid SX-70, which I always thought looked awful.

 

[archeophoto]

Imagine you take otherwise award winning photos but you can't use them for anything but a blog...
I'm sorry, but what a waste of talent! A Canon S95 is just as small, just as silent, but takes decent quality photos.

It's like somebody has a great voice but you can only record it in 4 bit mono

 

[Ezzie]

Give the S95 the connectivity of an iPhone and you would be talking. I suspect the iPhone wasn't the tool of choice, just what he had to work with at the time.

 

[jky]

The link stated the photog dropping his camera in the initial days... why he didn't have or didn't use a tiny p&s or a spare kit isn't mentioned. It's hard for me to think that on an assignment you'd only bring the one setup - there are people here that'll bring 2-3 systems on a 2 week holiday.

It's not the hipstamatic app I was impressed by, but -along with many of you- the vision the photog had given the limitations of his phone.

 

[archeophoto]

I don't know. It seems the opposite was the case. The article reads:
"He’d bring his iPhone again. “At this point I hesitate using a ‘real’ camera,” Brown said. “Using a phone has brought my attention less to the craft and more to what I am photographing and why. So, the question becomes not where I see the phone taking my work, but where the work will take me.”

So that means to me he was saying that a REAL camera distracts him from what he is photographing and with the Iphone he can concentrate on what's important. Now that's quite the statement for a photo journalist!

Because if that's true that pretty much is the end of the profession. Will future "journalism" be a collection of crappy cell phone shots made more "interesting" by filtering them through some crappy app?

Isn't it sad that photos of the Hindenburg disaster of 1937 were documented in higher quality then historic events in 2011?

Is that how we want to document history for future generations?

Give the S95 the connectivity of an iPhone and you would be talking. I suspect the iPhone wasn't the tool of choice, just what he had to work with at the time.