A shout out for iPhoneographers with books….
It’s been over a year since Chase Jarvis published the most high-profile book of iPhone photography, The Best Camera is the One That’s With You (September 18, 2009, to be exact). This little gem was shot 2 megapixels at a time on an iPhone 2G and apped solely on Chase’s iPhone. My guess is the app of choice was Best Camera. The novelty of having a high-profile photographer embrace iPhone photography added a lot of credibility from out side the community and brought in a lot of curious eyeballs to this then-emerging photographic art form.
Actually, though, before and since Best Camera…, iPhoneographers have been publishing their own books through services like Blurb and MagCloud. There are many excellent collections out there. All of these books together make an excellent library, full of examples and commentary of the movers and shakers of iPhoneography’s emergence.
Here is a rundown of books from some of iPhoneography’s higher profile iPhoneographers. It’s by no means complete and there are many excellent books that are not represented here.
Click on the titles for links to preview or purchase the books.
The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You: iPhone Photography
by Chase Jarvis
Let’s start with the grandfather of iPhoneography books. Not just a book, but an application, Best Camera, and one of the first online photo sharing communities devoted exclusively to iPhone photography. Over 200 pages of images shot with an iPhone that’s lofi and primitive by today’s standards. I still occasionally use the app, although through sporadic updates it’s gotten a little long in the tooth. This little gem of a book, though, still inspires me and still sits on my coffee table.
Pixels: the Art of the iPhone: KahBANG issue
by Knox Bronson
More of a commemorative program than a bona-fide book. Fifty-six stunning images from the global culture of pioneers in this emergent and rapidly evolving underground art form, iPhoneography…. iPhone only, no computers! This selection of fifty-two images comprises the gallery show at the KahBANG art festival in Bangor Maine, August 6-14, 2010, presented by KahBang and PixelsAtAnExhibition.com. Also available in a special, perfect bound edition.
This Is Art
by EYE’EM
EYEEM.com is a hub for mobile photography. It brings together mobile photographers from all over the world to create a stream of mutual inspiration and creative expression. This is their first book about the new art movement and a catalog of their first Berlin event. It features selected photos exhibited in the Berlin Gallery Schlechtriem Brother. The book is an interactive reference work for anyone interested in photography, creativity and design. It features the award-winning work, interviews and portraits of some of the most talented mobile photographers from all over the world. There’s also a lot of special content for anyone who is into playing with QR codes. They are all over the book — linking to interviews, videos and articles that you can check out on mobile devices.
Books by Dixon Hamby
Seattle’s Dixon Hamby is one of the iPhoneographers who’s been self-publishing his photo books through Blurb.com for quite a while. This year, he’s published two — a collection of his best of iPhone photographs and a book of his ongoing iPhone Street Art series of work. I’m a fan of his street art series in particular and I have his Johnny Cash street photo here in my office. The photographs are subtly apped — usually just contrast and color jacked up — but the composition is often interesting. In his series, Dixon juxtaposes posted flyers with life behind it. The results are often an interesting, thought provoking and sometimes amusing contrast in subjects.
The Mill Pond – a book of iPhoneography
By reservoir_dan
“The images in this book represent a year in the life of my visits to the Mill Pond in my lovely home of Milton, Ontario. I love to walk at the pond alone or with my two boys Eli & Noah. I always bring my iphone to capture pictures – this book is the result of those visits. I hope you enjoy looking at these images as much as I enjoy making them.”
Those of you who know Dan, either in person or online, know of his fondness for the gorgeous wooded areas around his home, and especially one of his favorite subjects to photograph — “The Tree”. The Mill Pond is a collection of Dan’s stunning landscapes.
TWO WORLDS, TWO TREES, ONE VISION
an iphoneography collaboration
By Reservoir_Dan and Robert-Paul Jansen
Two of my favorite landscape iPhoneographers are Canada’s Reservoir_Dan and The Netherlands’ Robert-Paul Jansen. This book is a long distance collaboration which compliments and counterpoints each others’ works.
Each photographer has a favorite tree which is a constant in their landscapes. Both trees and both photographers play off each other excellently in this all-too-short book.
EYE PHONE DREAMS
iPhone images by Jose Chavarry
One of the more intriguing iPhoneographers to emerge from 2010, Jose Chavarry’s book is filled with the colorful dreamlike and often ethereal photos Jose has come to be known for. Many of my favorite images of his are featured in this book, including the haunting “Before She Wakes.” The book is pretty light — only 20 pages, and can be viewed in its entirety online.
Kokovoko
By Jordi V. Pou
About a year ago, I got a very long email from photographer / iPhoneographer Jordi Pou. In it, he told me about his background as a photographer and proceeded to give me advice and critique about my photography. And so began a friendship. I still have the email and share the advice he gave whenever I have the opportunity, in particular this quote from photographer Ansel Adams, “Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.”
I’ve known of Jordi’s Kokovoko Project since the beginning of the blog. The kokovoko mobile photography project is his ongoing iPhoneography project. Here is the book of the first part of the ongoing project. This book includes a selection of the more of 500 images done for the project by the end of 2010.
[snapshots] 1
By matthew burlem
Matthew Burlem is a London-based iPhoneographer who creates predominantly fauxlaroids on his iPhone.
“I found the Polarize app, which basically mimics an instant Polaroid, which sounds terrible but works very well, and I found that it gave such a lovely mood and style to my photographs, I couldn’t stop taking pictures with it after that and I was taking so many pictures I would never have captured with an SLR or even a compact camera, and especially not an actual instant Polaroid camera. ”
His book is a collection of some of his images taken throughout the whole of 2009 and is intended as a visual blog of things that caught his eye throughout the year.
iPhoneography
By Matt Brock
Another Matt from London. Matt Brock’s book features photographs of London, other parts of Britain, and various random odd things, taken on an iPhone. The book is a collection of Matt’s iPhoneography, processed using a variety of apps. Images range from cityscapes in and around London, landscapes, and captured candids. Matt’s London is an interesting sometimes stark, other times personal visual journey.
Between Blinking
Collected iPhoneography.Vol.1
By Benamon Tame
Collected iPhoneography of Banamom Tame.
“Strange how things work out, how it takes a certain mix for things to work, for the connection to be made. One thing and then you are changed in some way, and you see the world around you in a different way.”
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If you’re interested in self-publishing your own works, check out Blurb.com. It seems to be the self-publishing choice for many an iPhoneographer. Creating enough photographs for even a small book is a worthy goal. Even if you only sell a few copies of your book to family and friends, seeing your work in print is an amazingly satisfying experience.
About Blurb®
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