The Travel Photographer's Hanoi iPhoneography

Stephen Mayes, a director at the VII photo agency, recently made a splash in the blogosphere with an interesting interview featured on WIRED's Raw File blog, in which he expressed his view that mobile phone photography is a "pure implementation of the digital phenomenon", and that images made with these devices were not documents as such but rather a stream, or waves of visuals.

He also raised the point that the popularity of these images and the apps that make them are about a nostalgia for the past.

Although I am on Instagram, and use it and other apps quite frequently with my iPhone, I have yet to join the streaming aspect of it, preferring to take my time in sharing the images when I choose to, rather than joining the torrent. This will probably change once I figure out how to have two accounts on Instagram; one for my personal stuff and the other for my travel documentary photography.

That said, one needs to be careful with wily-nilly streaming, because the quality (or lack thereof) of the mobile images affects one's branding and reputation.

Whilst I grapple with this thought, you may want to sit back and get a feel of Hanoi's street life via my iPhone photography. 

POV: Much Ado About An Instagram Cover Photo?

"If there was still any debate about whether serious photojournalism can take place in the context of camera phones and cutesy retro filters, it’s over now." - Jeff Bercovici, Forbes

Er, no. Not really. Mr Bercovici's pontification notwithstanding, the debate will still go on....simply because there always will be some photojournalists (plus photo editors and their ilk) who will remain wedded to their ways.

I occasionally use my iPhone's Instagram and Hipstamatic for my travel photography, as well as for my street photography efforts in New York City...and I enjoy snapping (and that's what it really is...snapping) a few pictures here and there using these apps, and having fun applying its various filters to the resultant images. I have Snapseed and Camera+ as well, and use these to apply further filters.

In my opinion TIME magazine used a photographer's Instagram snap for one of its covers not because of its particular aesthetics or its compositional values, but because of expediency. Apert from being a crop, the image itself is mundane and nondescript. The Forbes article refers to the expediency factor in very explicit terms, saying that the magazine's director of photography chose to use the Instagram was motivated by the necessity for speed. After all, Instagram has 'insta" in its name, as did Kodak's Instamatic...both implying simplicity, speed and ease.

Oh, did I mention that it's also cheap? No post processing software to buy...no fiddling with levels and layers...nothing.

And that's the reason why Google has bought Nik Software, and Twitter will introduce photo filters in an effort to bypass Instagram.

As I'm fond of saying to anyone who'll half-listen...what you use to make a photograph is really irrelevant. It could be a DSLR, a medium format Hasselblad,a rangefinder or an iPhone...it doesn't matter. They're just tools. And if the photo buyers/editors accept the images...that's all that matters.

Cao Đài: iPhonegraphy

I thought I'd feature a collection of the portraits of the Cao Đài adherents made with my iPhone during our visit at their temple in Hue.

As I wrote in my post of September 19, I had wanted to witness and photograph a Cao Đài prayer ritual for quite a while, and it was by pure serendipity that I discovered that this new religious tradition had just completed building a temple in Hue.

Cao Đài is a syncretistic, monotheistic religion, officially established in southern Vietnam in 1926. Its Adherents engage in ethical practices such as prayer, veneration of ancestors, nonviolence, and vegetarianism. Its opposition to communism until 1975 was a factor in their repression, and its practice was forbidden until 1997 when it was granted legal recognition.

Caodism (as it's called) draws upon ethical precepts from Confucianism, occult practices from Taoism, theories of karma and rebirth from Buddhism, and a hierarchical organization (including a pope) from Roman Catholicism. Its pantheon of saints includes such diverse figures as the Buddha, Confucius, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, Pericles, Julius Caesar, Joan of Arc, Victor Hugo, and Sun Yat-sen.

I can only stress how gracious the Cao Đài congregation was during our visit...despite our many faux pas during their time of prayer, and how receptive and welcoming they were to our photography. 

AikBeng Chia: Mobile Photography

Photo ©AikBeng Chia-All Rights Reserved

Having used my iPhone as a mobile camera quite a lot in Hanoi during the past few weeks, I'd like to feature the work of AikBeng Chia, who describes himself as a mobile photographer.

His photography was exhibited internationally in New York, Berlin, Italy and in the Apple Store in Sydney and San Francisco, along with other venues. He has also been featured as a mobile photographer in many online publications from the United States, Europe and across Asia, and became a member of the Mobile Photo Group with 11 of some of the world's most creative mobile photographers.

Along with many, I used to pooh-pooh the notion that an iPhone (or whatever other mobile phone) could make images that would fulfill my own aesthetic values, but I slowly evolved into joining the other camp...the camp that considers the iPhone as another image-making tool.  I downloaded a bunch of apps, including Instagram and Hipstamatic et al, and enjoyed myself tremendously in the Hanoi streets doing just that...clicking, snapping, and filtering.

I agree with John Stanmeyer who tells us that mobile photography and its accompanying image-modifying apps us are all about communication. He also says this: "Mark these words deep into your conscious — within the next five to tens years (likely less), most professional photographers will be primarily using a camera which is indeed located within something as portable and ubiquitous in our purses/pockets as an iPhone.

Rasha Yousif: Katha'Kali And More

Photo © Rasha Yousif-All Rights Reserved

As a photo expedition-workshop leader,  I very frequently see fantastic photographs by participants that make me wonder (after I stomp my feet in frustration) why I haven't shot them too, but I'm also glad it was these photo workshops that made these possible.

One of these photographs is the one made by Rasha Yousif of the Katha'kali dancer in full regalia, adjusting his belt. It was during The Oracles of Kerala Photo Expedition/Workshop™ this past March, and which saw us spending the better part of half a day with practitioners of this ancient dance form.

Rasha is a photographer from the island nation of Bahrain, and is a portfolio manager at a financial institution and has a Masters in Finance from DePaul University.

As Rasha writes on her blog: "One of the most memorable experiences I ever had in India was watching Kathakali dance performance. We had access to backstage makeup and costume preparations before the show. I came back from India with 6000+ photos I haven’t gone through most of them. I picked these two just to give a sneak peek of the photos that are yet to come!"

This photograph of a fisherman in Kochi is included a section of her iphone photography on the same blog,  and I encourage you to explore it...there are many gems in there.

Photo © Rasha Yousif-All Rights Reserved