Mobile photography is the art of photography using a smartphone or mobile device.
Defined using the philosophy of ‘the best camera is the one that’s always with you’, mobile photography is the future of the art form. Discreet, intimate and always accessible to capture a moment.
Mobile photography is so influential now that camera manufacturers are bringing phones to cameras rather than cameras to phones.
As a term, mobile photography is wide category in need of some specific definitions.
So, what are the characteristics of mobile photography?
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it is inherently mobile i.e. there is no studio or staged shots
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it is photography made exclusively by a smartphone or mobile device
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it is non exclusive in its choice of subject matter
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camera apps dominate the mobile photography experience
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fast editing on the fly is commonplace, no deliberation here
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editing apps, usually used together, combine to produce and showcase ‘keepers’
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genres can cover: documentary, portraiture, street, citizen journalism, fashion and reportage
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images tend to be instantly shared to a variety of social networks after editing
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or images are shared in specialist photo sharing platforms like Instagram or TaDaa
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mobile photography makes photographic projects and essays easier to produce
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mobile art convergence i.e. when does a photo cease being a photo but a new image in of itself?
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images can be captioned, framed and storyifd
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it encourages a democratic and amateur enthusiasm (which pissed of pros!)
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it has a strong and growing global footprint of users, experts and evangelists
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micro genres are formed frequently e.g #nofilter