Chapter 9. For Inspiration

Why would professional photographers, with all of their equipment and expertise, opt to use the iPhone camera? Is it just about convenience, or is there more to it? After all, using the iPhone camera means giving up so many of the tools used by the pros: manual controls for the aperture and shutter speed, interchangeable lenses, and more. And yet even with those limitations, professional photographers have come to view the iPhone as a liberating tool for photographic creativity and experimentation. It’s always with you, it provides instant gratification, and you can blast into the photographic past with a wildly innovative coterie of apps intended to bring back darkroom processes, obsolete films, and a host of tools and techniques from the era of film. What’s more, you don’t need to carry a boatload of equipment or hire an assistant or two when you’re working with your iPhone. Sound familiar? Yes, professionals love the iPhone camera for many of the same reasons others love it.

A deserted bus stop, a kid careening down the street on his skateboard, a barren tree silhouetted by the sky—all of this, and so much more, can be material when you have a camera handy right in your pocket. There’s nothing new about photographers finding inspiration in the world around them, but iPhone photography enthusiasts are taking this to another level by using their iPhone cameras, in tandem with a virtual camera bag of apps, to test the boundaries of photographic creativity. The following gallery of iPhone photography demonstrates the possibilities of iPhoneography from an international mix of photographers whose works have been exhibited in New York, Madrid, and other cities around the world.