cell phone photographer

All I can add is that although I would rather be using one of my serious cameras, my mobile phone has the clear advantage that it is always with me... and you can get reasonable photos from one:



(photo taken in a pub while having a very decent pint of Harveys Best ;-)
 
Charlie said:
It really doesn't matter what tool is used to create art, as long as the final product is art.

No offense Charlie but by that logic, I would be justified, as long as I'm producing "art" to use whatever materials and tools I deem necessary to create the art.

Human excrement?
Cat blood?
Bones from a dug up grave?

You see what I'm getting at here. The ends do not necessarily justify the means.

I would agree that Holgas and other "toy" cameras have been used effectively - but the medium they are using (medium format or 35mm film) allows itself to be enlarged and printed.

Dave
 
dcsang said:
I would agree that Holgas and other "toy" cameras have been used effectively - but the medium they are using (medium format or 35mm film) allows itself to be enlarged and printed.

Dave

Now you're starting to lose me... I'm hearing minimum resolution requirement for something to be considered as art? Maybe that's not what you meant, but that's what the argument is sounding like..

The argument regarding the cat **** is going down the path of equipment legitimizes the artist argument. I suspect few share that viewpoint.
 
Ah, the old "why's a cell phone gotta have a camera and ****?" discussion. :)

I also simply need a cell phone to make phone calls with. And I loath mp3 players, so I don't need that function. In the days of tape walkmans I used to have one and used it only sparingly, mostly when cycling to work, but I found it too risky in traffic.

I have been considering buying a cell phone + in-built camera but I find them waaaay too expensive when compared with a more-than-decent digital P&S. And my R-D1 or M2 fit perfectly in my tiny backpack.

I also have a PDA, for which I need to buy batteries every time I pick up again (twice a year). I don't even use a paper-based day planner, so no need for a PDA either. :)

I'm not a Luddite but I simply don't need all the electronic gadgets I could lay my grubby paws on.
 
c.poulton said:
Dave

Actually human excrement HAS been used to create art - check out Piero Manzoni http://www.pieromanzoni.org/EN/index_en.htm

And that's the issue.

Because we've decided to label something as "art" that we now feel that whatever it takes to make that item must be "good enough" for everyone else to use as well.

Art is subjective.
What one person likes, another dislikes - there is no consistent "feel" (for the lack of a better word) to it.

So, maybe for some of you cell phone cameras will be your tool to create your art.

Go for it.

I still won't use one to shoot a wedding.

Dave
 
dcsang said:
No offense Charlie but by that logic, I would be justified, as long as I'm producing "art" to use whatever materials and tools I deem necessary to create the art.

Human excrement?
Cat blood?
Bones from a dug up grave?

You see what I'm getting at here. The ends do not necessarily justify the means.

I would agree that Holgas and other "toy" cameras have been used effectively - but the medium they are using (medium format or 35mm film) allows itself to be enlarged and printed.

Dave

No offense taken. I was speaking in the context of cameras, not human crap. :)
 
dcsang said:
So, maybe for some of you cell phone cameras will be your tool to create your art.

Go for it.

I still won't use one to shoot a wedding.

Dave

I don't believe anyone was pushing cell phones to be the tool of choice for a wedding photographer. So all that hoopla over nothing!? ha ! :D

Some more pics off of my Treo's admittedly rather ****ty built-in camera:

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The chosen medium is utterly irrelevant to whether or not something is "art". Art is an expression of the artist, and it is that expression that is central to the definition of the concept.
 
I take a lot of mobile phone pictures... The thing is always in my hand or pocket, and the way mine's set up you can't tell whether I'm reading a text message or taking a picture. This makes it lots of fun.

I never do much with the pictures, but for the sake of this thread I've done something with a couple of months-worth. Also the first time I used Lightroom to create a web gallery; brilliant!

http://tinyurl.com/2q8zd3

Tom
 
tom_f77 said:
I take a lot of mobile phone pictures... The thing is always in my hand or pocket, and the way mine's set up you can't tell whether I'm reading a text message or taking a picture. This makes it lots of fun.

I never do much with the pictures, but for the sake of this thread I've done something with a couple of months-worth. Also the first time I used Lightroom to create a web gallery; brilliant!

http://tinyurl.com/2q8zd3
Tom

Tom, that is one fantastic collection of images!
 
Hey Tom nice gallery. What kind of cell phone do you use?

(Can't believe I just asked that, but this will be the conversation of the future at RFF - "My Leica M11 RF can't make any out going calls.. I've just upgrade the firmware. Dammn it! why can't Leica make a simple phone functionality work right! Everything else was going so good after Canon bought the M-line... Just make the phone work plzz!")
 
One sure can take nice pictures with cellphone. Still doesn't change the fact that taking pictures with them sucks as experience.

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ywenz said:
Hey Tom nice gallery. What kind of cell phone do you use?

(Can't believe I just asked that, but this will be the conversation of the future at RFF - "My Leica M11 RF can't make any out going calls.. I've just upgrade the firmware. Dammn it! why can't Leica make a simple phone functionality work right! Everything else was going so good after Canon bought the M-line... Just make the phone work plzz!")

It's a Samsung SGH-D830. It has a flip-screen and the camera is on the back of that. It's 2mp but I have it turned down a bit because the maximum size they look good is about 800 pixels long.

We have to stop talking about this before we get flung into the outer darkness or something. :)

Tom

http://tinyurl.com/2q8zd3
 
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