Wednesday night I attended a workshop held at the Hillyer Art Space in Dupont Circle. The workshop, organized by James Campbell of InstantDC, a mobile photography collective, was aimed at introducing the art of making images with your iPhone.
Unfortunately, James had to leave town due to a family emergency, so the class was taught instead by local photographers Michael Andrade and Greg Schmigel. Both Michael and Greg are prolific iPhone shooters who have been doing so religiously for the last few years. Coincidentally, Schmigel has an exhibit of his mobile street photography at the Hillyer Art Space up until the end of the month (hint: go see it, its really great stuff!).
The night began with Michael showing us his progression as an iPhone shooter. He showed a slideshow of both his work and works of mobile photographers that have inspired him over the years. Michael also briefly spoke of his processing methods and the apps he uses when editing his photos.
After Michael, Greg Schmigel spoke about his work. Greg is a street photographer who chooses to use his iPhone exclusively. He has a keen eye at capturing everyday moments and making them transcend their mundane existence. Greg shared how he shoots, what apps he uses for his processing (very minimal for his style) and who he looks to for inspiration.
Despite both Michael and Greg being primarily street photographers, they were able to make the class more than just about street photography. I think this was an important point to make since not everyone in the class were street photographers. Some were more interested in architecture or landscapes rather than candid moments of city life. But both speakers were able to help speak to how you can use the iPhone for all of those types of shooting.
After the two speakers finished, we all went for a photo walk together in Dupont Circle. We spent about 45 minutes shooting both together and alone and met back up at the gallery afterwards. While we shot, we were encouraged to upload our best shots to the Tumblr that was set up for the workshop. Once we were done shooting we gathered back to share each other’s photos.
The photo review at the end turned into more of a circle jerk than a critiquing session, but that’s ok. Not everyone was there to have their work critiqued. What was nice about the review was that we were all sharing how we shot and edited our various photos. It was nice to learn how some shoot differently and how some edit their photos differently. I was able to come away with some new shooting and editing techniques to think about and potentially try in the future.
Overall, I think the workshop was a great success. Greg and Michael did a fantastic job explaining mobile photography and the Hillyer Art Space was a great location for the event. Keep an eye out for more great iPhoneography workshops in the future from both InstantDC and the Hillyer Art Space, I would recommend checking them out.
