Saturday

This was not the post I had intended


This is not the post I had planned on for today but what I write now is more important, especially in the light of what occurred since my last check-in two days ago.


Last night, I was preparing Saturdays story and when arriving at The iPhone Arts website I was greeted by a warning sign, stating “Visiting this website may harm your computer.” This was followed by “The website you are visiting appears to contain malware. Malware is malicious software that may harm your computer . . .” 



Screen shot of my monitor’s screen last night


I regained my composure, I began to work with Google’s ‘Webmaster Tools,’ trying to resolve the issue, but it was not until Saturday morning when a message at TheiPhoneArts FaceBook fan page suggested what the root cause might be. I followed George M.’s advice and that of my neighbor John O., by removing the offending widget that had been infected. 


I wish to assure my visitors that I do not subscribe or tolerate malware or spam on my website and I wish to apologise to any visitor who came by and was greeted by such a warning message from Google. I am truly sorry.




Tuesday

Weekly Showcase




Here is this week’s, The iPhone Arts ‘Weekly Showcase’ and ‘Curators Choice’ selections for the previous week’s favorite images posted using the hashtag #the_iphone_arts. Selection process is from Monday through Sunday and then posted the following Tuesday.



Curator’s Choice


Shadows
Jesus Egea - France (IG:#jesusege)




This weeks ‘Weekly Showcase’


Restlessness spawns mischief
Kimberlee - USA (IG:#kepperolive)




Untitled
Jean Batiste- France (IG:#_stw)




Untitled
Paulette Traverso - USA (IG:#artverso)




Etudes - Degas 2
Agnès Spaak - Italy (IG:#agnesspaak2011)




Walkin to Chelsea Market for lunch with my cousin
Jackii Sovern - USA (IG:#jsovs)




          Would you like to have your photographic art appear here?

Key requirement is that the image must have been taken with an iPhone/smartphone or iPad/iPod and it must then be tagged with #the_iphone_arts. 

We also urge that you familiarize yourself with previous ‘Weekly Showcase’ winning selections and read the ‘Submission Guidelines,’ where you will also be presented with a slideshow of examples.

Remember the purpose of the ‘Weekly Showcase’ is to present the new digital fine art that is possible with an iPhone/smartphone or iPad/iPod. 


_____

* All images displayed here are copyrighted to the artist and may not be reproduced without the consent from the respective artist.




Saturday

Street Photography


For as long as I can remember, when going out in order to capture street scenes, it has always been with a black and white film in the camera and though I now use an iPhone, this scenario has changed little. Apart from black and white being the preferred and traditional method of street photography, one could say there are technical reasons why it is the desired film.


Street photography is not only unpredictable from its subject matter but equally so from a technical point. Ones exposure is mostly predetermined, based on an average between shadow and highlights of the location and this can result in under or over exposed images as the scene rapidly chances do the camera’s point of view to the direction of the main light source.


So while back in San Francisco’s Chinatown to continue capturing more images for an eBook project, this time I also wanted to play around a little with color, even though the project called for black and white duo-toned images. 


I elected to use Hipstamatic 256 because of its good capabilities to average out the exposure. Still there was the question of selecting the proper film and lens combination, especially since I did not want any apparent grain, light leaks or other "analog" imperfections from either lens or film. 




Choosing DC (Domenica Catelli) film with a Loftus lens, the Foodie SnapPak, only because I recently used it for a food shot and liked the results that were obtained. It would not be until the images were uploaded to the laptop did I have a chance to truly inspect what I had captured.



Original image with no post processing applied


Feeling the colors were to intense, I elected to desaturate the images and go for  a faded late 1960s, early 1970s appearance, thereby giving the photographs a more idealistic and dreamy look of a time past and now a distant memory. Identical post processing settings was applied to all remaining images in this series for a unified appearance.



post processing applied


Between color and a black and white image, there is a distinctive differences in the way our mind process and interprets the photograph, having always believed color evokes an emotional response and black and white an intellectual reply.



post processed with a Pantone black 2C color overlay


And while mobile photography continues the tradition of street photography as a black and white image, one should take a closer look at the option of using color. 


     









     


Color can be an unexpected surprise for both the photographer and the viewer, especially when it is not expected. It is therefore important to plan ahead and decide what one wants to express and have the viewer interpret from ones work.


     



By the same token, reversing the rolls when photographing a scene that is normally captured in color and instead go for black and white or a carefully crafted duo-tone photograph.





Tuesday

Weekly Showcase




Here is this week’s, The iPhone Arts ‘Weekly Showcase’ and ‘Curators Choice’ selections for the previous week’s favorite images posted using the hashtag #the_iphone_arts. Selection process is from Monday through Sunday and then posted the following Tuesday.



Curator’s Choice


Untitled
David - England (IG:#roachspray)




This weeks ‘Weekly Showcase’


Untitled
Jorge Femat Solis - Mexico (IG:#esponjorge)




Im strudel
Andrea Luck - Germany (IG:#gluecksmoment)




Untitled
Jamie Stewart - England (IG:#mineowneye)




Last day for this bouquet
Dianne Poinski - USA (IG:#dpoinskiphoto)




Untitled
Chricel Portela - USA (IG:#bijoucep)




          Would you like to have your photographic art appear here?

Key requirement is that the image must have been taken with an iPhone/smartphone or iPad/iPod and it must then be tagged with #the_iphone_arts. 

We also urge that you familiarize yourself with previous ‘Weekly Showcase’ winning selections and read the ‘Submission Guidelines,’ where you will also be presented with a slideshow of examples.

Remember the purpose of the ‘Weekly Showcase’ is to present the new digital fine art that is possible with an iPhone/smartphone or iPad/iPod. 


_____

* All images displayed here are copyrighted to the artist and may not be reproduced without the consent from the respective artist.




Saturday

What is on your bookshelf


Previously with my first post “What is on your bookshelf?” I covered a number of photography iBooks available at iTunes for the iPad, but this time I will introduce you to a very recent acquisition of photographer Fan Ho’s The Living Theater.



The Living Theater


With a visit to San Francisco’s Chinatown in April of this year, I became very enchanted with the ambiance of the community, that there have since been numerous visits, each producing a decent number of interesting photographs documenting the people living there. So when I came across Fan Ho’s book at a gallery, I just had to have a look.



White Windows, 1962 (cropped)


With just a few turns of a page I was captivated and knew I would want to add The Living Theater to my library of fine art photography books. The photographs lured me into a world that now had changed when first these photographs taken between the late 1940s through the mid 1960s, though I imagine there are still plenty of pockets where time stood still.



Children's Paradise, 1959


Fan Ho born in Shanghai 1931 is now in his early eighties, dividing his time between San Jose, California and that of Hong Kong and Taiwan, where he directs films. In the past fifty years Ho has won over 280 awards for his work, as well as having taught photography and filming at a dozen universities, including being the author of several books. Little is known of Fan Ho's work outside of Asia and yet his rich body of work easily rivals any of the modern Western photographers. Today his photographs resides in the permanent collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.


Art the age of fourteen, Ho's father gave him a Rolleiflex camera with which he explored urban life, roaming the alleys, slums, markets and streets by engaging street vendors and children only a few years younger then himself.



A Sad, Sad Song, 1962 (slightly cropped)


Ho's artistic vision is capturing daily life, while also being true to that vision of dramatic Bauhaus point of view compositions and surreal abstraction, his photographs document the effects of changes in the individual lives and that of the landscape that surround them. His photographs are anything but reflection of realistic scenes, for they also evoke the romantic spirit and the Wanderlust of the viewer.


Mark Pinsukanjana, director of Modernbook Gallery in Palo Alto, CA, which exhibited Fan Ho’s work at photoLA, commented that, ‘These vintage photographs are a document of Fan Ho’s life in search of a beauty sometimes hidden amidst the overcrowded chaos of everyday life and survival in Hong Kong in the 1950s and early 1960s.'*



Journey Mystique, 1960


For me his images are timeless, as figures drift through the streets, engaged in their daily pursuits, they are linked to the environment of light and shadows that surrounds them. The visual humanistic beauty of Ho's blurring nostalgia with documenting the harsh reality, results in lyrical beauty, which is nothing short of poetic grandeur.


His photographs have become part of my memories, influencing future visits of how I view San Francisco's Chinatown and it's foreign culture and how I end up capturing it with my iPhone.




Book seller information

Modernbook Editions
494 University Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94301 USA

ISBN: Regular edition 978-0-9801044-3-1

Regular/Trade Edition: Cloth-bound, 9.5x11 inches, 176 pages, 150 duo-tone plates. 
Edition of 1000 copies. 
(Current Price $75 USD) Signed copy will be available upon request

LINK: Modernbook



* Insight: The Brilliance of Ho Fan's Photography, FOTOGRAPHIQA, January 18, 2012

All images © copyright of the photographer and/or publisher



Tuesday

Weekly Showcase




Here is this week’s, The iPhone Arts ‘Weekly Showcase’ and ‘Curators Choice’ selections for the previous week’s favorite images posted using the hashtag #the_iphone_arts. Selection process is from Monday through Sunday and then posted the following Tuesday.



Curator’s Choice


A great afternoon
Pedro Nunes - Portugal (IG:#pmnunes)




This weeks ‘Weekly Showcase’


Man
Jesus Egea - France (IG:#jesusege)




Falling Down
Andrea - USA (IG:#lochthyme)




Fountain
Arpi Azaryan - Armenia (IG:#zarya_a)




Angst
Jane Burbank - USA (IG:#janeburbank)




The thoughts on his mind
Chad Rankin - USA (IG:#sirreal)




          Would you like to have your photographic art appear here?

Key requirement is that the image must have been taken with an iPhone/smartphone or iPad/iPod and it must then be tagged with #the_iphone_arts. 

We also urge that you familiarize yourself with previous ‘Weekly Showcase’ winning selections and read the ‘Submission Guidelines,’ where you will also be presented with a slideshow of examples.

Remember the purpose of the ‘Weekly Showcase’ is to present the new digital fine art that is possible with an iPhone/smartphone or iPad/iPod. 


_____

* All images displayed here are copyrighted to the artist and may not be reproduced without the consent from the respective artist.




Saturday

A spare battery pack for the iPhone

Ever found yourself in the midst of shooting, when you noticed your iPhone just popped up a message  proclaiming you have less than 20% left or even worst 10%. Well I have encountered this once too often, resulting in frustrations and scrambling for a quick fix.



Entrance to San Francisco’s Chinatown


The last time was during a visit to San Francisco’s Chinatown, when I managed to deplete my iPhone’s battery down to 2% within a matter of a little over three hours, despite having turned off most apps using GPS and notifications. Not having finished covering Chinatown, forced me to head to the nearest Apple Computer store in to recharge the iPhone. 


For the next two hours I stood like a store fixture and though I had a wonderful conversation with Matthew, one of the store employees, I was restless and wanted to get back to the streets and continue shooting.


The next several days I researched various portable battery packs available for the iPhone, but nothing seems suitable for my needs. Too many external battery packs offered only 1-2 hours of power and never addressed the needs of the photographer. Then there was also the issue that the majority of battery packs would not let me continue to use my DIFFcase or any protective case for that matter.


I was determined to find a resolution. So when I met with my friend Monica who was about to travel to New York, was also concerned running out of juice and together we spent the next two hours searching for a solution.




We ordered two different kinds of battery packs, as Monica desired a smaller version and I needed a much larger unit. Monica purchased the Anker, model Astro2 and I got the Anker, model Astro 3. Both units have a number of similarities but the Astro 3 comes with many more attachments than the Astro 2. Anker’s SlimTalk with only 3,2000 mAH and simply too small for the needs of a photographer was not being considered. Now we waited to see if we made the right decision.


Before I had a chance to try out my unit, Monica called me from New York to tell me her’s not only performed great, but saved the day more than once. Now it was my turn to try out my Astro 3 unit.


With the unit fully charged overnight—since it requires about 8 hours to completely charge—I headed along the Pacific Coast for the ultimate test. In less than 3 hours of shooting only still images, I had reached less than 20% power remaining and there was still more than 3 or more hours left of good light, in which I wanted to spend photographing.



my Astro 3 unit next to an iPhone 4


Astro 3, is a powerful unit, 10,000 mAH; two USB port’s 5V/2.1A DC9V/12V 2A; There is also a DC voltage output plug rated for either 9 V or 12 V DC. The device comes with 18 plug port adapters for various types of phones and other devices. Beautifully designed and elegant, the physical dimensions are 4.9 x 2.9 x 0.86 inches and it only weighs 0.67 pounds, making it a very manageable unit for most.


Though the Astro 3 is designed to charge many other devices and even laptops, I am primarily using it for charging the iPhone in the field so that I can continue photographing without any worries and that is exactly how my day went. 


With the Astro 3 in my fly fishing vest and connected to the iPhone, I was able for the first time to go on photographing without any worries and I mean I was completely relaxed and focusing on what was important, taking good pictures.




There is not much one can criticize about Astro 3, though a carrying case would be nice with a pocket or two for some of the extra attachments, but then that would also raise the price which is more than competitive from other units costing almost twice as much for a comparable unit. One also should not forget that the Astro 3 comes with an 18 month warranty. 


The Astro 3 sells for $59.99 which makes it a great deal and certainly is worth your time and money. The added benefits are all the connections when finding one does need to charge something else than one’s own iPhone. The Astro 2 sells for $53.99 US Dollar.


I highly recommend Anker Astro 3 and for those not requiring 10,000 mAh and can do with a little less, the Astro 2 with 8,400 mAh is a perfect alternative.


Post Script: 
Last weekend I had an extended day in Chinatown for 10 hours photographing, taking a little more than 600 images. I was accompanied by my friend Stan Phillippe, who was also using his iPhone to take pictures. When he was down to 6% power, I loaned him Astro 3 to recharge his iPhone. Once it was charged above 70%, I continued to recharge mine until it reached a complete charge. The Astro 3 still had ½ of its charge remaining. With a 25% charge remaining, this means that I had another full day of back-up power remaining on the Astro 3. 



Anker: Website




Thursday

LA-MAF 2012 BodyCodeArt


BODY CODE is a performance art piece by Tiffany Trenda about the toxicity of man-made chemicals and the harmful affects on the human body.  We are creating materials that are simultaneously, destroying our bodies.



Tiffany Trenda performing at the LA-Mobile Arts Festival on August 18, 2012


Body Code is a live performance where viewers are encouraged to scan the artist’s body with their smart phone. The scan would take them to a certain destination found in the “Portal” section of this site. Depending on what body part they scan, the viewer will read numerous Google searches of two key words: man made chemicals and a certain body part (eye, muscle, throat etc.)


During the performance, the artist stands completely still and allows the viewer to ponder weather she is a sculpture or a living breathing human being. The artist wears a latex suit with QR codes printed on the front. These codes link directly to the Body Code Art website. Here, they find information on the effect of man-made materials have on the human body.










          DEUTSCH

BODY CODE is eine live performance von Tiffany Trenda.  Body Code ist eine live performance über die Toxizität von synthetischen Chemikalien und deren gesundheitsschädlichen Wirkungen auf dem menschlichen Körper.  Wir stellen Substanzen her und gleichzeitig vernichten diese uns.


Die Künstlerin lädt den Zuschauern ein, mitzumachen indem sie (mit dem Mobiltelefon) den Körper der Künstlerin absuchen. Um dabei mitzumachen müssen die Zuschauer im voraus ein QR Reader herunterladen. 


   


   





          FRANCAIS

BODY CODE est une live performance par Tiffany Trenda. Body Code est une live performance sur la toxicité des produits chimiques synthétiques et leurs effets néfastes sur le corps humain.  Nous créons des substances tout en nous détruisons par la même occasion.


L’artiste invite le spectateur à participer en scannant (avec son téléphone portable) le corps même de l’artiste. Pour prendre part dans cette représentation, le spectateur doit au préalable avoir téléchargé un lecteur QR.


   








BodayCodeArt website

Text courtesy of Tiffany Trenda, Copyright 2012 Tiffany Trenda. All Rights Reserved
All photographs by Egmont van Dyck, ©2012 Egmont van Dyck, All Rights Reserved





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