Mobile Photojournalism

http://www.benlowy.com/

     Does this picture look familiar?

The photo is one by Ben Lowy, a professional photojournalist who has used his iPhone 4s and an app called Hipstamatic to document several current event stories; this one is from Hurricane Sandy.

Time Magazine cropped this photograph and used it for their cover.
Ben Lowy's work has also had front page appearances in the New York Times for the conflict in Libya and has done work for The New Yorker.

     You have probably read some of the disputes about Lowy and other similar photographers' images. Many people say using the iPhone camera is "gimmicky" and unprofessional, and to add Hipstamatic crosses the line on what is honest photojournalism. What do you as photography students think?

     Let's note that Lowy is already a professional in his field. He's not running around snapping blurry shots and slapping an Instagram filter on them. As an avid user of Hipstamatic, I can say the results are a bit unpredictable. The app doesn't use post-processing, rather you select options like lenses, film, and flash before shooting. It means you actually need to think about what you want your image to look like, just like Lowy would do using an SLR or DSLR.

     But does it blur the line between stylized and genuine? And is it different than what we do with Photoshop beyond maybe exposure adjustments and cropping? I am getting my degree to work towards photojournalism, and it does seem to be an especially gray area.

     What do you as photography students think? We all have opinions so let's share with respect and consideration.

     Here's a link to a good article on the subject.
   
     http://www.tuaw.com/2012/11/06/time-magazine-cover-shot-with-iphone/

    http://hipstography.com/en/hipstographers-2/hipstamatic-too-hip-for-photojournalism.html

Have another great weekend guys,

Friday

Markus Andersen. 2013.