Who needs a high-priced, fancy camera with all those adjustments and lenses to make a gallery-worthy picture?
That's the idea behind a new exhibit in Silicon Valley, where Knox Bronson and Rae Douglass are showcasing snapshots caught by iPhone.
Bronson and Douglass, both artists, are the minds behind Pixels at an Exhibition, a Web site and exhibit featuring pictures from iPhoneographers from around the world -- professionals and amateurs alike.
With so many photography apps available for the iPhone, making a simple picture look like a high-class piece of art is easy, Bronson and Douglass say. Their site invites iPhone users to submit pictures and even promises a way for iPhoneographers to sell them as prints. There's also a spot featuring links to iPhone photo sites.
Bronson sees the iPhone's low megapixel, non-zooming, no flash camera as an asset to photographers because the the weak features make the one tapping the capture button really use their artistic eye to really see what's picture-worthy.
"There are no iPhone professionals yet that I know of. Everyone is an amateur." Bronson, 59, told the Contra Costa Times. "If somebody gets into making pictures (on the iPhone), their personality begins to emerge. They have a style."
The gallery's site explains their mission:
With this show, we are not looking for seductive images loaded with technique, but images that are alive with the ephemeral spirit of reality.
This month, there will be 200 of the pictures from the Web site on display at Giorgi Gallery in Berkeley, which is run by Douglass. They both believe their creation is the world's first exhibit devoted to iPhoneography. Knox and Douglass are also planning to publish a book of the art, featuring the names and bios of each iPhoneographer.
