Treography? Phonography? Mobilography?
july 8, 2005 : steve kong : 8 comment(s)
Mobile phone cameras suck. Yes, things are changing with new phones coming out with 1.3MP cameras and all, but the installed base of mobile phones have bad cameras. The pictures that come from mobile phone cameras are grainy, pixellated and sometimes over (or under) saturated. And since these bad cameras are with us all the time, the pictures taken from them are of normal day-to-day life, or even some shooting by the hip type photography. Most people just point the camera and shoot off a picture. Yeah, composition sometimes matters, but mostly it is about getting a picture of the moment. This all sounds pretty familiar because it describes a film-based phenomenon called Lomography.
Lomography emphasizes shoot-from-the-hip photography. Over-saturated colors, lens artifacts, and exposure defects are used to produce artistic, abstract effects and are prized by practitioners. Others use the technique to document everyday life because the small camera size and ability to shoot in low light encourages candid photography, photo reportage and photo vérité.So, what about people who take pictures with their mobile phone cameras? Phonography? No, that describes something else. Mobilography? Catchy. For me, it will be Treography since my mobile phone camera of choice is the one on my Treo 600 (overly wide angle, overly saturated with color, and grainy as hell). Check out the photos that I take with my Treo here. It is pretty easy to shoot a picture and then send it right away from my phone (moblog style) to Flickr.
Comments
I saw a report this morning on how right after the london attack, images from cell phone cameras' started poping up on the internet. A similar situation exist in Japan where private individuals contribute to news organizations by providing immediate coverage on late breaking news by sending images or low-res movies.
Aaron Figueroa
July 8, 2005 @ 08:48 AM
I was on Flickr shortly after the London attack and there were already pools of mobile phone (and regular digital camera) images popping up there. It is amazing how the Internet and mobile technology is changing the way that we get our news. Instead of it being filtered through some newsroom/agency, we are getting it as it is.
July 8, 2005 @ 10:24 AM
Read "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman.. it is a very good book on the topic of the global economy and globalization. A lot has to do with the internet and how massive a change it is. The reviews are interesting to read since you have diametrically opposed views on the book http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0374292884/ref=bxgy_cc_img_a/103-5550420-1900601?v=glance&s=books
Aaron Figueroa
July 8, 2005 @ 10:48 AM
In the years before CCDs, photographers used to encourage folks to carry 110s (super cheapo instamatics that shot equally bad photos), the idea being that great photos are often a matter of "being in the right place at the right time" more than careful composition or quality equipment. I have to agree that cameraphones are crap for taking a quality picture. They're simply not designed for it. But they are good at conveying enough information that someone else gets an idea. Meanwhile, they'll pry my D70 from my cold, dead hands.
July 8, 2005 @ 11:19 PM
Since you brought up Lomography ... Lomos are just fun cameras, a little bit odd and for some reason, mine smells like kerosene. And, it's an amazing community of users that post on Lomo's Website.
July 9, 2005 @ 10:31 AM
JR: I have a Canon Digital Rebel (not the XT) and I love the freakin' thing. But, unfortunately, I can't carry it around with me everyday :) (I wish I could though.) I got four pieces of glass for it (a 50mm, 18-55mm, 70-300mm, and a 28-200mm). I love using my Tamron 28-200mm since it covers a nice range. The Treo camera, complete crap, but I am finding interesting ways of getting pictures from it. My next experiment will be trying to do a panorama with the Treo camera plus the Photomerge feature of Photoshop Elements :) Jeremy: I found lomography a while back when a friend showed me their SuperSampler (the one that takes four pictures in succession). I never did get one of those though (I found one at Nordstroms !!), could never get myself in that mode to be taking pictures on film.
July 9, 2005 @ 10:45 AM
Mookie, that's one of the two Lomo cameras I have. You take it out when you are going to be stupid, and just have fun. Like street fairs. The photos are pretty cool. Stupid cool, of course.
July 10, 2005 @ 11:47 AM
mobilography.com you'll like it
ENOLA
September 23, 2005 @ 05:42 AM