Photography: Smartphones are not a device that they would use to shoot for a client or to create the kind of art that they’d expect to see in an exhibition or hang in a gallery. For other photographers though, an iPhone or Android is more than a telephone with some basic imaging capabilities; it’s their main tool, their go-to device for capturing landscapes, people and scenes… and the device they use to create the kinds of pictures that end up on gallery walls and win cash prizes in prestigious competitions.
Star Rush was inspired by her desire to see what a simple, utilitarian device would do for her photography, to discover what she could create and capture with a fixed lens, fixed aperture and limited exposure meter. The basic editing and sharing functions built into the device were also an attraction, allowing her to shoot, process and publish her imagery quickly and easily.
Star listed nine benefits that included accessibility; integrated capture, edit and share functions; simplicity; access to the work of other photographers; reduced clutter; the focus on composition; and fun. All of them, she argues, change not just the way the picture is made but the picture that the photographer produces.
One of the biggest questions has been what will prevail in the end, mobile photography or traditional? Or can they live in harmony, one has something to offer that the other can not.