The smartphone photography revolution is over, and the smartphone has clearly won. Almost everyone owns one, and the majority of photos these days are being captured with them. Much has been written about smartphone photography, it’s art or lack thereof, and I admit that I don’t have much to add to the conversation. All I can really say is that I purchased an iPhone 5c over a year ago and have been shooting photos and videos with it ever since, and I really like it.
I like to tell people that filmmaking is my career and photography is my hobby. I shoot the majority of my photos on 35mm and 120 film with vintage cameras from my collection, but I also use my digital SLR frequently. Adding my iPhone to the mix hasn’t taken away from either type of photography, it’s just given me a third option. I like how the iPhone sits somewhere between high resolution digital and lo-fi film photography. It creates a digital image shot through a fairly lo-fi lens, and the processing power of the device allows the user to add any sort of color, texture or distortion that takes their fancy. Purists in both the digital and film camps will argue that this ruins the image, but I’d like them to explain why they use certain Lightroom settings or film types. That’s not to say there’s no such thing as over-processing an image, but all photographers face this temptation, not just smartphone shooters.
There’s always been a huge divide between film and digital shooters, but I don’t think I fall into either camp. I consider myself an entirely hybrid camera user–if it can capture a still image, I’m in. I’ve captured images with a $10 key-chain digital camera, a 4×5 press camera, and everything in between, and my iPhone is just one more imaging tool at my disposal. It’s a bit alarming when I catch flack for my film cameras on digital photography forums, or when I get reprimanded for not shooting film when I talk about my digital work in film communities. I don’t understand why a photographer wouldn’t want to take advantage of both kinds of photography these days. This is a great time for film and digital alike–film and film cameras are making a comeback thanks to the internet, hipster culture and companies like Lomography, and digital photography is making huge leaps and bounds in quality and technology every day. Nowadays you can use a lens adapter to shoot digital images with film lenses, digitize and edit your film photography on your computer or smartphone, and even print negatives of your digital shots and make traditional prints in a darkroom. It’s a great time to be a photographer!
Everyone owns a smartphone today just like they owned a digital point and shoot in the 2000’s, just like they owned a 35mm camera in the 90s and 80’s, just like they owned a 110 camera in the 70’s, just like they owned an Instamatic camera in the 60’s, just like they owned a Kodak Brownie in the 50’s and 40’s, just like they owned a box camera in the 30’s and 20’s. The same people who condemn smartphone photography today faun over vintage Kodak Brownies and the photos shot with them. Sure, there’s been a dip in the quality and resolution of images shot with smartphones when compared to film cameras of the past, but that issue is quickly fading as smartphone camera technology advances. Someday we’ll look back at our Hipstamatic and Instagram photos with the same awed reverence we view tintypes and old family photos with. In the mean time, I’m going to enjoy shooting with cameras and photographic mediums of all types.
