(OT) Martin Parr uses a cameraphone

[oceanphysics]

<i>They tend to lag a little with the technology, but they are way ahead of another well known company........yeah, the big "V"......in the area of customer service.</i>

<p>

You've got to be joking. Aside from Sprint's <i>pathetic</i> network, it's impossible to imagine worse customer service. The only "customer service" person I ever actually came close to physically assaulting was a Sprint rep in their store in Duport Circle, DC. The ones on the phone weren't any better -- just a little harder to get to.

<p>

I'm not sure what Verizon's customer service is like, actually, because things just work.

[blowingsky]

Many of the pictures posted are not very good. They lack a viewpoint, just like toursit snapshots lack viewpoint.

 

Perhaps this photographer has an excellent body of work, but I looked through those weeks of using his cell phone and blech! Flat. There were a few good ones in there, but he should have taken his own advice and hit the delete button a lot more than he did.

 

I suspect it is all a marketing campaign and he is showing pictures that consumers feel is within their reach without having to commit anything of themselves to the effort.

[matt_chamberlain]

<i>"They lack a viewpoint, just like toursit snapshots lack viewpoint."</i><br><br>They have a viewpoint, every photo has a viewpoint. Touristy type photos represent perfectly the viewpoint of the photographer -- a glossed-over quick glance that seldom searches out any deeper meaning beyond what's seen at the surface.

[andrew robertson]

If they gave me half a million dollars I'd fawn all over the new Sony Ericsson phone too.

[nels]

Dear Martin - It pays to put the cameraphone on vibrate mode and turn the ringtones off for some types of shots. It can be rather embarrassing if someone finds their butt playing the latest polyphonic ringtones. <br><br>

<center><img src="http://i.pbase.com/o4/35/596435/1/62732569.KuklhhOB.IMAGE_00302_small.jpg"></center>

[nels]

I've witnessed an equal number of shots that look worse than candid "grabola" shots done under carefully constructed - often very elaborate - settings and expensive lights, using very expensive equipment.

[Brad_]

Nels' phonecam pix are MUCH more interesting...

[thomas_sullivan]

OP....I guess we each have different experiences with Sprint. But, Verizon still sucks. Yes, their hardware appears to work well. But, god help you when you have to start dealing with their people, service, financial, or customer service. They treat you like dirt.

 

again, sorry for the rant. But I have had a very bad experience with Verizon.....and usually I am a very patient and forgiving person, but that company drove me over the edge. And I constantly see them pulling the same crap with things they are doing now.

 

sorry.......i'm done now....not really, but I'll stop.

[roland_schmid]

I like Parr's work very much. But these mobile-photographs are really mediocre. I'm shure

it depends on the camera and how you can hold it in your hands and in front of your eyes.

[jon_noble]

Hmm, ineteresting, but it lacks that "Leica Glow" :P

[blowingsky]

1. Trevor actually used the term "traditional DSLR". Remember this, because years from now, many will be claiming to have coined the term, but we heard it here first.

2. Camera/telephones may become the norm if the image download is made simpler and cheap and it will only become a norm in the Fat & Bored countries. Other places contain inhabitants who are still trying to stay alive.

3. Martin Parr mentions repeatedly on his website about the joy of just deleting anything you don't want and urges taking a whole bunch of pictures because if you don't like what you see...delete it! I think this works against developing skill as a photographer and the integration of intent and tech. But perhaps "the new photography" is only laughable in its embryonic stage and will become a synergistically synaptic revelation in decades to come. If so, they will probably not need the phone part of the phone cam anymore.

4. As a photographer's vision increases, his need for gear decreases, until he doesn't need a camera of any kind. He can just post comments and critiques on photo forums.