‘Every monkey with a camera thinks he is a photographer,’ goes a joke on Facebook. As long as you have a phone with a camera of decent resolution, you don’t really need an SLR to show off your photography skills. The key to mobile photography is simple: click, edit, share.
Pros of phone photography say newer phones with good cameras make it possible to capture moments that one often wished could be captured but could not, for the lack of equipment — all that one has to do now is whip out one’s phone. Improving pictures instantly is easier with editing apps such as VSCO and Instagram, which have aesthetic filters.
They are not only fun to play around with, but if used well, can turn ordinary pictures into works of art. And for those for whom photography is a profession, the hash tag (#) does the trick of taking care of his/her portfolio of work. “Mobile photography has become popular in the recent past. Editing apps allow the blurring of lines between novice and professional, though I am in no way taking away from the extraordinary skill and training it takes to be a professional photographer. Facebook albums are passé. Uploading single pictures at a time has become the trend,” says Shreya Ramnath, who teaches child rights.
As her work takes her to different towns, she says her phone comes handy to capture a moment to be dealt with later.
She explains: “These fora are a great way to look at what other people across the world are doing — how they take their pictures and what they take photos of. I draw inspiration from pictures I see and love, or imitate something I admire. Instagram’s reach is incredible. I follow users from Turkey, Pakistan and Eastern Europe, apart from users across the country.”
While some wonder about the deal with Instagram and VSCO, some say all it takes is to take the plunge. Says Madhuvanti Senthil Kumar, “I use my iPhone a lot for photography. It has become my greatest preoccupation. I am no trained photographer — I have no idea how to work a camera nor do I understand settings and lenses and other equipment. I simply love capturing beautiful scenes, and my phone allows me to do it and display it for appreciation/criticism. I have learnt a great deal from watching others and following their work.”
According to American venture capitalist and former Wall Street securities analyst Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends 2013 report, ‘People now share over 500 million photos each day worldwide.’ Madhuvnati adds, “Mobile photography allows for immediate and real-time sharing. It also gives the option of being exclusive in terms of audience.”
Professional photographers say Instagram allows them to see pictures from a particular place or by a particular person, by only the tab on the relevant hashtag. “It opens up a wider range of audience and also other photographers to get inspired by. I might be shooting a bird at #gandipet, but when I tap on the #gandipet tag, I get to see what other people are shooting from the same area. The same goes with your audience, and hence, it is important to hashtag your pictures appropriately and creatively,” says Ismail Sheriff.
