iPhone Photographers or iPhoneographers

The Brooklyn Bridge

I am responding, well maybe just offering another point of view, to my friend Teri Lou Dantzler's blog this morning about the subject above. And I thank her for pushing me to finally get out what I have been pondering and pontificating on for quite some time.

I believe that first and foremost we are all photographers and the tool we use to capture, make or take a photograph simply does not matter. Also, it simply does not matter how we get to our final image, photograph, composite or whatever you want to call it. IN THE END IT IS SIMPLY ART - NOTHING ELSE NO MORE.....It can make you feel sick, uneasy, happy, sad, jubilant and many other emotions. You might want to burn it, buy it, tell your friends about it or not pay attention at all.  STILL IN THE END IT IS ART.

As for the restrictions of just using the iPad or iPhone to make your art, well, that is a personal choice. I see pages, blogs and contests that have rules for what is entered and once again that is a choice. For me if a tool will get me where I want to go then I will try it and if I like it will add it to the workflow and see where that takes me.  I have been processing old rock and roll concet images from the 60's and forward on the iPad for quite some time and I like the added dimension they give to those old Ektchrome and tri-x images.
 

I guess what I am saying is follow your beliefs and see where they take you no matter what the path is..... Bob Dyan once said, 'Don't Follow Leaders, Watch your Parking Meters'.....he was so right....when he went electric the folkie crowd thought music was over.'How did that work out'. I look at iPhone photography the same way - here to stay.......there will be those putting rules on what you can and can't do....I respect that but don't really choose to do that....nothing good ever comes from being the pack....

I am ending this blog with a quote by Julia Cameron who wrote the Artists Way which was a huge influence on me when I started drifting to the dark side - AN ARTIST....just kidding

“It is all too easy as an artist to allow the shape of our career to be dictated to us by others. We can so easily wait to be chosen. Such passivity invites despair. To remain healthy and vital, artists must stay proactive in their own behalf'..........Julia Cameron

Today's image was shot with a Nikon F Camera, scanned into the digital world using an Imacon/Hasselblad Scanner, processed on the iPad, Photoshop, NIK CFX4 and exported using Lightroom4. Needless to say I am a fan of 'whatever it takes"....

PS: I do understand that using any tools exclusively will help in learning what their limits are -I fully subscribe to that....but all through history when the rules were broken great things happened.....and limits were changed... Also to be clear Teri Lou is a friend of mine and we teach workshops together....