MAXS iPHOTOS

The death of photography?

An interesting discussion regarding Photography/iPhoneography.

Man Ray, Tears, 1932

I’ve been tossing up whether to post this essay I wrote the other week for my ‘studies in photography’ course.

There are a couple of things that have been holding me back.

1) It’s probably not as ‘easy-reading’ (a la 4KQ easy listening radio) as most of my stuff. I don’t crack any lame jokes or exhibit my affinity for puns. But hey, I think you people are pretty smart so you can probably hack it and/or read your own jokes and puns in where you feel it is appropriate.

2) I was a little worried it would cause offence among certain sectors of the community, namely hipsters, people with iPhones, and/or hipsters with iPhones. But again, I think you can hack it. I’m just trying to fuel the debate, man…

Let me preface with a couple of comments though.

Firstly…

It is my personal belief that iPhone photography can be art. It can be art in circumstances where there is a degree of artistic decision-making involved in the taking of photographs. In particular, Henri Cartier-Bresson’s concept of ‘the decisive moment’ is, I believe, an essential element in the creation of art photography. What do I mean by this? The best photographs are those that capture a scene at a precise moment that best conveys a particular feeling or an idea, and the best photographers are those that are capable of identifying that precise, decisive moment.

Secondly…

Yes, it does irk me (to say the least) that there is an overwhelming number of people around these days, who, owing to the increased accessibility of ‘expensive’ cameras, consider themselves artists. I’m sorry, but you are not an artist. You are a hobby photographer. Different.

There is indeed nothing wrong with this, so long as you accept that you fall into the ‘hobby’ category, and don’t skulk around in clubs being ‘cool’, taking photos of other people being ‘cool’ for no apparent reason other than to make people think you’re ‘cool’ and make the subjects of your photos, usually your friends, think that they’re ‘cool’ too.

You know who you are.

Photography as a hobby is amongst the greatest hobbies, in my opinion. Sometimes I wish I could be a hobby photographer.

Having said this, there is an extra special something that is present in art photography that is not present in hobby photography. Fact.

Okay are we ready? Deep breath.

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