How I fell in love with iPhotography

For award-winning Irish Timesphotographer BRYAN O'BRIEN, the latest generation of camera phones has changed the way he sees photography

I’VE WORKED as a press photographer for more than 20 years. I’ve recorded many ordinary and extraordinary things, and loved every minute of it. I have also experienced many changes in photography in that period. I’ve gone from black and white to colour negative, film to digital, PC to Mac and back again, Pentax to Nikon to Canon and even duffle coat to Gore-Tex jacket.

Despite feeling nostalgic about the darkroom and the thrill of seeing a black-and-white print emerge from the chemicals, all of these changes in photography have been hugely beneficial and each has made me look at things differently.

The smartphone is no different. The iPhone is the “snapshot camera of today”, says the American photographer Annie Leibovitz. And who am I to disagree? It has revolutionised my take on personal photography. I’m lazy at photographing family occasions, but since becoming an iPhone owner a few months ago I have used the device to create a visual diary of daily life.

The phone has allowed me to chronicle family life easily and unobtrusively (though I still haven’t managed to get prints). It has allowed me to get candid photos of family occasions, but has also reawakened my instinct to record and frame snapshots of everyday moments with family and friends: my daughter Evie dancing at an art exhibition; my mum smiling at me from her hospital bed following a hip operation; a man in a tiny red car who catches my attention on a Dublin street.

The most ordinary experience has become something to be treasured, and the phone has allowed me to create a record of such moments.

One of the images above is of my youngest daughter Neasa walking to the shops. It is a simple picture of a little girl determined to carry an umbrella that’s far too big for her. It’s a photo I never would have made with a conventional camera: a special moment that would never have been recorded.

And then there’s all the apps to play with when you want to style your images. My current favourite is Hipstamatic. Once your image is made, it’s sent or uploaded online within seconds. This still amazes me. It also allows you to shoot video, edit it and upload it to the web. Here’s one I made earlier: vimeo.com/29140416

The smartphone isn’t going to replace the digital single-lens reflex anytime soon. Press photographers still need robust cameras with a range of lenses, specialist accessories and huge file sizes.

It may, however, replace the compact or sureshot camera. Friends and family often ask for advice when buying a camera. Now I tell them: “Don’t buy a camera, buy a phone”.

View more of Bryan O’Brien’s smartphone images and listen to his audio slideshow on irishtimes.com/slideshows

Follow him on twitter @bryanjobrien