Hipstamatic and Photojournalism

PhotoDavid78

An interesting read on the iphone and photojournalism

http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news/2193262/hipstamatic-plans-launch-of-foundation-for-photojournalism?WT.rss_f=All+the+latest+articles+from+BJP

PhotoDavid78

and here is another that includes the use of filters and other apps in photojournalism

http://mobilephotogroup.com/blog/opinion/its-not-about-the-filters-context-photojournalism-and-instagram/

bdcolen

If I may sort of hijack this thread:
This is an extemely important subject, and I am grateful to David for posting this. I would like to suggest that we declare a 24 hour moratorium on posting comments, let's say until 7 a.m. US Eastern time tomorrow. Meantime, let's think seriously about this question, and the materials linked to. Let's consider, among other things:
* Whether using Hipstamatic, or similar filters and tools, is the equivalent of using different films;
* Whether it is legitimate for photojournalists to use Hipstamtic tools to capture news images, and if it is not, why it is not;
* Whether there are, and/or should be certain immutable standards in journalism;
* Whether doing photojournalism requires more than having a camera phone;
* Whether accepting Hipstamatic as a legitimate tool for photojournalism advances, or degrades, photography in general, and journalism specifically;
* Anything else that occurs to you.

PhotoDavid78

the hipstamatic lens used was designed by the journalist and will be available later this year to the public. It is a non "filtered" look and therefor more exeptable to journalistic standards. The iphone will be a camera being used more and more in photojournalism as it is easy to carry around a war zone or other area where speed and mobility is important, the ability to edit and send to a publisher instantly, etc.

michswiss

I'd reckon there will be another evolution to the "hipstamatic" phase finally leading to a next gen Leica. It's not an iPhone, it'll be a camera first. But it will be as fast and intuitive with optics to die for.

But frankly, the equipment still doesn't matter. It's the willingness to be there.

PhotoDavid78

michswiss wrote: »

I'd reckon there will be another evolution to the "hipstamatic" phase finally leading to a next gen Leica. It's not an iPhone, it'll be a camera first. But it will be as fast and intuitive with optics to die for.

But frankly, the equipment still doesn't matter. It's the willingness to be there.

That would be nice but quite expensive!

Your right about the equipment and that was part of the article. When it all comes down to it, the photographer on the ground in the line of fire makes the shot.

PhotoDavid78

Here is another link where a photojournalist uses an iphone.

http://www.petapixel.com/2012/08/03/photojournalist-uses-iphone-to-cover-olympics/

RyanS

There are two concerns that are flexible enough to cover every single image ever created.

How You Take It
- What gear did you use?
- What relationship did you have to the subject or location?
- Where did you take it?
- When? ... and so on.

What You Do With It
- Attach words to it to make a political statement.
- Pick a title on an Internet forum.
- Include an audio interview.
- Put it in Hustler, The New York Times, the White House Website, NatGeo ... and so on.

Isn't it interesting how groups of image creators tend to circle the wagons with like-minded people? They create agencies, etc, and then define ethical codes to govern those agencies to keep the group in check. It almost becomes a kind of church, or visual religion.

There are, however, a few areas in which we all agree. Those agreements are written in to our laws. Like not taking pictures of people when they have a reasonable expectation of privacy, for example.