Photography is not about if you use a Nikon, Canon, Mamiya or Hasselblad. For me, it’s about the vision of the person who’s pressing the shutter. The combination between the concept, the composition and the coloration can create strong compelling images and the camera is a tool to achieve this. That's where iPhoneography becomes interesting for amateur or professional.
iPhoneography is quite trendy right now and for professional photographers it’s an interesting option when you don’t have your main camera on you. The slight size and weight makes you less intrusive and more agile in natural, documentary settings. You can even shoot with one hand. The multipurposeness and simplicity of the device renders you harmless, making it nearly impossible for your subject to take you too seriously. This breeds spontaneity.
What you lack in fine-tuned shooting control you gain in speed, it helps you to focus on the composition and what’s happening in front of you. Also, it’s great for photojournalist, it’s easier to sneak an iPhone than a Leica or Hasseblad in restricted areas.
With the new iPhone coming out with it’s 8MP and all new Optic I believe this trend will continue to grow. With all the apps available, like the Hipstamatic, the Lomo Filters, Photo FX, Tilt Shift and many more it makes it really appealing and quite creative. One thing to be careful and aware of is not to fall for that cheesy hipster look that is overused right now, if used in new unexpected creative ways this trend will continue to live on.
Chris Buck is a New York city based celebrity photographer who was born
and raised in Toronto and studied photography at Toronto’s Ryerson University. He’s been a professional commercial photographer for more than 23 years.
His clients include Diesel, Xerox, Microsoft, GQ, Esquire, New York and the Guardian Weekend magazine.
He is known to capture a greater truth about the person being photographed than what is obvious to the naked eye. “Different portraits solve the problem in different ways,” says Chris, “Sometimes it’s very visual, like a great location or great lighting. Sometimes it’s something that has an implied meaning, through a prop or a context. Sometimes it’s a simple connection through a facial expression.”
Chris is not a fan of heroic portraits, he finds them boring. He learned early in his career that the urge to become chummy, to seek celebrity approval, could instead invite disdain and loathing. Ever since, he has focused only on making strong photos. If his subject respect him for that effort, good. If they don’t, he’s not bothered
For him nothing is impossible and the more you are enthusiastic about an idea, the more your subject will be eager to do it and will give you what you want. He has been called “damaged”, and separately, “clever” but Donald Trump put it best when he said “Chris, make this quick, I have many important people waiting for me.”
