Andrew Caldwell: Around the World in 80 Days (or 12 Instagram Filters)

An iPhone photo a day, shot, edited & published from around the world

By Andrew Caldwell

Back in June, I got an email from iPhoneographer Andrew Caldwell that started off something like this:

“My name’s Andrew and this year I’ve been traveling the world, shooting/editing/publishing an iPhone photo project.”

Once I saw his images, I realized that this was no ordinary 365 project. Andrew’s travels have taken him all around the world. He’s decided to document and share them on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and on his own website. For those of us who are stuck at home and even those of us who tackle more modest 365s, Andrew’s is a huge project and his iPhone photography from the corners of the globe is awesome.

The first half of this journey is complete. Click past the jump for highlights from Andrew’s travels, as well as Andrew Caldwell in his own words.  =M=  >>>

 

2012 was to be the year of travel. India was at the top of the list, but the options on how to get there was the fun part. Coming from Perth, Western Australia is really a hop, skip and a jump via South East Asia to Calcutta or across to New Delhi. There’s no fun in that.

Having pined over so many Instagram photos of the Brooklyn Bridge, I thought it’d be more of an adventure to fly west and meet some friends in the U.S. The flight path from the States to New Delhi via London flew directly over Turkey, which had always interested me, so Turkey was added to the list.

Prior to hatching this ridiculous plan, a friend on Twitter who’d introduced me to the iPhone’s Photosynth app (funnily enough a Microsoft app that works superbly. Go figure…) suggested I join him and a few others in a 365 photo project. The premise? A photo a day shot on your iPhone, posted via Instagram. easy enough. I thought this would be a cool way to document the year of travel.

I didn’t appreciate it until I was in the thick of it, but landing in a foreign country my new priorities became visa, cash, and local SIM card. I could take photos, edit them on the fly, and post them to Flickr, Twitter and Facebook via instagram as I saw the world… live.

This really kicked things up a gear when you’re walking around Soho, NYC, snapping a few photos while other Instagram users are doing the same, and then meeting up for a coffee with them afterwards. Ahhh, technology.

I like to keep things simple, keep the edits simple and try my best to enhance the photos. The age-old framing, rule of thirds, shooting something interesting or obscure, all still form the basis of the photos. Lluckily for me each photo can be of a different part of the world, which helps a lot.

The highlights of the trip so far (besides snapping on an olloclip and feeling like a kid at Christmas) would have to be being able to photograph the Golden Gate Bridge with the iPhone while singing the theme song to Full House. Or choosing Instagram’s Lo-fi filter for the month of March because I knew at least one of the shots would have to be of New York’s taxis. Another — a fantastic sunset on day 100 behind the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.

The biggest challenges faced but most fun things to photograph were during a four-day visit to the centre of Turkey, Goreme (Kapadokya). The wind gods smiled on us and had a rest for the day, allowing the hot air balloon tours to take flight. Being able to photograph, edit, post & tweet photos of the hot air balloon ride as it happened and have people on social media commenting at the time demonstrated the speed and potential of social media.

Whilst trekking in the Himalayas in Nepal, the biggest challenge was finding cell phone reception. It was nice to find a corner of the world where I could disconnect, to the detriment of being able to post a photo per day! The sunrises over the mountains on the Himalaya trek looked like they were designed for iPhone. Using ProHDR and Camera+ the photos really shine out as some of the best of the year.

Traveling and using the iPhone as my primary camera has been eye-opening. Locals going about their business in their native towns don’t see an iPhone as intrusive as a big DSLR lens being pointed at them. You have the benefit of being able to edit the shots and show them to other people who haven’t been lucky enough to experience other parts of their own country.

I couldn’t have imagined being able to carry a camera, processing and editing studio and communication centre in my pocket.

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Andrew Caldwell is from Perth, Western Australia. iPhone photography enthusiast, Civil Engineer & keen traveller. Currently in Northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The remainder of the 365 photo project will see him return home for a short while before heading to Europe.

Facebook/a365photoproject
Website: a365photoproject.com
Twitter/@andrew__C

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