iPhone as Inspiration
Wednesday May 26th, 2010
Each creative person goes to different places for inspiration, and I was impressed with Evan Sklar’s “source” for keeping things fresh: his iPhone. It’s interesting to see what this New York photographer, who’s shot for GQ, Martha Stewart Living, Target, Macy’s, etc., comes up with on his cell phone:
"Lamb"
Evan took these first three images with nothing but his iPhone and a tape measure. I asked him to tell me how/why he uses his phone to take pictures:
Iphone = iFun. It’s a tiny portable camera and lab in one. I make way too many pictures with my phone. I make pictures with it every day. Videos also. I have 1,739 pictures on it. I’ve had it for a year. There’s a kind of nice thing about using it which says that I know that this is just a kind of fun and silly one-off picture, not “serious” or “significant” enough to break out the “real” camera so using the phone is a way of having your cake and eating it too.
"Pigeon"
"Gull"
I certainly understand the “guilt” (obsession?) of not having a camera when you’re out doing groceries and see some unusual person/color scheme/quality of light that probably should be photographed. In essence, a camera phone can be almost be a therapeutic alternative to beating yourself up for not having brought your real camera.
"Mr. Sushi"
Sklar says that he’s also used his iPhone as a “sketch pad” for an idea, and has even returned to shoot something again with his “real” camera. The examples below are the original iPhone shot at left, then the professional version at right. Ironically, especially with the ice cream trucks, both takes look pretty good to me! Evan even uses the Photoshop app (I had no idea that existed) on his iPhone to make the occasional tweak.
And just to give you an idea of his commissioned work (not shot with his iPhone):
I guess this gives new meaning to the term, “phoning it in.”
- Neil Binkley
