My Journey Into "Phonography"

It was a random fluke. I bought a new Sony Ericsson Z310A flip phone back in the day and started taking pictures. Granted, I had never used a cell phone beyond talking at this point, and really wasn't interested in other features. Somehow, I started messing with the camera thinking,"this will be crap". To my surprise, it wasn't.

Now, after almost 10 years, and over 1,000 shots later, I have a collection of flip phone photographs, entitled "Phonography". My passion does lean towards photography and art, but I never imagined I would be the one making it. My focus has always been on composing music, singing and the occasional acting gig.

I enjoyed the challenge of using this archaic phone with limited features. Giving my photos a macro look, making the things we notice everyday, look magnified and spinning the perspective on the ordinary.

There are no apps to put these works though, no retouching. I literally have 5 settings to choose from, no bells and whistles, no zoom. What you see, is what I see. Even now, my friends ask, "don't you want a real camera" ? I politely decline. For me, it's about using equipment with limitations, that I can break. Sure, anyone can take a beautiful picture with all the tools we have available, and believe me, I take selfies, etc on my iPhone like everyone else. Still, that's cheating in my book. I like the challenge of limitations, I feel more of a reward when someone is shocked that THIS came from THAT.

So, I continue my journey, get excited to have my work featured in literary magazines and sometimes a cover. I even bought myself a backup flip phone, "just in case". Eventually, I would like to do gallery showings of the collection, in hopes of obtaining my own monograph. It's funny what you can do when you aren't thinking about it. I wasn't thinking at all. I just got lucky I guess. Now, I have a few more goals to hopefully one day, cross off my bucket list. Honestly, that is perfectly alright, in my book. Let's hope it happens.