Award Winning image made by photojournalist Damon Winter,
using his Iphone's Hipstomatic ap
using his Iphone's Hipstomatic ap
Read the article below carefully and comment on how you feel about the issue.
Where do you stand in this argument?
Should photojournalists be using Iphones and aps to document the news?
Where do you stand in this argument?
Should photojournalists be using Iphones and aps to document the news?
Read this article and look at the other images:
I think it's fair using Iphones and aps to document news. Photography has developed in so many different ways over the years and because its being documented using an Iphone doesn't make it any less truthful. I think there are so many different forms of taking a picture such as a pinhole camera for example. If the camera, no matter what kind is able to capture the moment or take the image that is wanted it should be accepted.
ReplyDeleteThese photos are not about what type of camera they were taken with, they are about the images and the emotions they covey. It's not like the app chooses what to photograph, there's a person behind the camera making a conscious decision of what to photograph and how to do it. Photography has already gone digital, what makes using an iphone different from using any other digital camera?
ReplyDeleteAfter each photo the app processes the image, which according to the article means "a color balance shift, the burning of predetermined areas of the frame and increased contrast." So the app kind of takes it upon itself to do these things to make all of the photos consistent. Does that make these photos any less valid? If thats the problem than people must have really had their panties in a bunch when analog cameras started having the "auto" feature. You can do all this in photoshop.
i agree that these photos are not about what type of camera was used. the iphon actualy has a realy nice camera in it better then alot of shitty point and shoots. also shooting in this format helped him gain access so i think it was the right tool. however i do NOT agree with how the app works. i feel that its giveing eveyones photos a desierd look that is in the moment that that people want to achieve wich instantly makes it seem more interesting. altho his photos have a wonderfull composition i have seen too many of these photos of just stupid things just cuase they now look "cool" becuase of the colors and stuff. but on the other hand since this is so popular at the moment in a few months peopel will get bored and they will not look "cool" anymore so i think that when that does happen if we look at these photos and think that they are as wonderfull as they do now then that are sucessfull.
ReplyDeleteA camera is a camera. No matter what it is on. I stand in this argument that he used the tools he had to in order to convey his message. The side effects of the app don't see to add any more emotion or help the content in my opinion. I believe these images could be just as successful with or with out this hipstomatic app. The iphone definitely helps as a photojournalist because I have had my own experience trying to photograph people with a huge camera in their faces. It is intimidating and most people shy away from it. But the iphone is so regularly seen in every day life that people don't even seem to notice the device anymore. He did what he felt was necessary to take these photographs.
ReplyDelete“We are not walking photocopiers. We are storytellers. We observe, we chose moments, we frame little slices of our world with our viewfinders.” I really enjoy this statement. Even though the use of the cell phone as a camera may be the easiest, and possibly, the most laziest way to capture an image, it really isn't far from the point and shoot cameras. I believe that as long as were able to capture a moment it's fair game. In my opinion, I do not have an issue with what the author points out-- that the altering of the image is done completely electronically, and the photographer has little/no control over the alterations in color, etc. Like Maggie states, the images can be made just as successfully without the effects of an app.
ReplyDeleteWar photographers used the technology that they were presented with at the time, 35mm film, and now modern soldiers are using Iphones. Yes, there is the element of digital manipulation, and as Sean said, "the burning of predetermined areas of the frame and increased contrast," yet I really don't see the problem with using an iphone as a tool for documenting. The 35mm documentarian photographers are obviously up in arms, but times are changing! The iphone is portable, easy to carry in combat, and readily available when the moment presents itself. I don't see these photographs being any less valid than that of a traditional documentary photographer--the point it, these photographs convey the moment, and are framed quite well...
ReplyDeleteI don't think there's anything wrong with using an Iphone to document these images. Just like others have said, it's really just a sign of the times, and what technology has currently developed to. The only thing that would have changed about these images if another camera had been used, would be the colors of the photos, and that's definitely not the most important part. It still takes the same amount of skill to produce a good image, so I don't see why it is such a big deal that's he's using an Iphone, especially because the camera is not as bad as most cell phone cameras, and is probably more comparable to a point and shoot. I think the focus should be more on the subject matter of the images, rather than what kind of camera was used.
ReplyDeleteSo I agree with the majority of our class saying that the app and the fact that the photos are taken with an iphone doesn't matter. It is still documenting the war whether it is with a phone or a holga. This can be related to our cell phone project, my pictures document my day to day and just because it was taken with my phone makes it no less truthful.
ReplyDeleteBut like every photograph the truth is altered, sometimes with an app adding a certain color or format and sometimes just by cutting out someone's eyes or mouth. War photographers have been altering what the rest of the world sees and how they see for centuries, I don't believe it differs from how the photograph is made as long as the photograph was taken.
While I think photography is a very open-ended art, and is amazing and easily shared, there are things like this that don't help our reputation. There are a lot of people who think photography is simple, and isn't an art, and the fact that anyone can do it gives people reason to doubt us. The jaded side of me is thinking that things like professional photographers making work with largely automated iPhone apps gives some people another reason to go "see, anyone can take photos with a phone, and the phone does all the work for you, anyway". I think it's not so much like a holga or other kinds of simple cameras because it's a different set of limitations.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't to say that I don't think this work is beautiful and took skill, but I'm keeping in mind that not everyone will see it that way, and that's hard.