the original social media

“The primary question has to be what stories can you tell with what tools... Let’s move the conversation forward to that point, and dispense with the angst and anxiety.”

— photo critic David Campbell on the "legitimate vs illegitimate" photography debate

I first laid my hands on an iPhone in August of 2007; it was a graduation gift from my mom. When I started college 11 years earlier (that's a whole other story), cell phones weren't ubiquitous, email was a novelty, Google was still two years from making it's debut and I carried a Pentax K1000 everywhere I went. A lot about the world has changed in the last 17 years, but nothing has been more seismic for me personally than that day in 2007 when I first held the iPhone.

early iPhone photos from Sudan, 2009, processed w/ Best Camera

Photography grabbed me at a very early age and the fascination was never about the technical, but the social aspects of the art. Photography, in my opinion, is the first social media. It was born from our desire as humans to contextualize and record the world around us and to share our perspective. The share has evolved over the years - from those first images etched onto glass plates, to slideshows on living room walls to Instagram - but the point has always been to share.

So, in that spirit, I want to share thoughts, ideas and some of what I'm trying in mobile photography. I want to share because I love sharing things I am passionate about and, if mobile photography has done nothing else in the last five and half years, it's elevated my passion for imaging making.

palm trees outside a taxi window, Havana, Cuba, 2013

Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to share the apps I use most & why I love them, share how you can make your own #panogramtastic images in Instagram & let some of my favorite mobile photographers share their thoughts on mobile photography. In the meantime, feel free to follow me on Instagram and Flickr, which is where I share the majority of my mobile photography.

Part II is coming on Thursday, so stay tuned.

Soho, NYC // Chicago on Lake Michigan (my 2 most 'liked' Instagrams of 2012)

Part I: The Original Social Media

Part II: Mobile Photography Apps

Part III: #panogramtastic

Part IV: Kyle Steed