POV: Hipstamatic...OMG! It Looks So Retro!

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved (Pseudo Hipstamatic LR Preset)

I've been scratching my head at the sudden flurry of Hipstamatic and/or Instagram "photography". I've seen well-traveled photojournalists and conflict photographers featuring images made with iPhones, and simultaneously processed using Hipstamatic or Instagram apps. Images from the Yemen uprising, the Egypt's Revolution, the Afghanistan conflict and Libya's rebellion are virtually flooding photo sites and blogs.

To me, these apps spice up photographers' standard fare...that's all. Certainly, the images do represent what photographers see and what's in front of their tiny phone lenses, but unless these images are able to be presented to form coherent documentary story-telling, I view them as a fad...a sort of fashion statement...or cute postcards without the scribbled messages in their back.

While the photos made using iPhones capture the instantaneous immediacy of events, let's smile at the retro, cool and Holga-ish look...but focus on how the photographer using an iPhone is able to present compelling content for viewers...or not. That's the litmus test.

In the long run, that's what viewers of photojournalism care about...content...not whether an image looks retro or not. And so should photographers. Pretending that using an iPhone loaded with these apps is the next new "photo thing" is silly...because it's not.

The above image was processed in Lightroom using a Holgalike-preset. The original is in the post below this one.

New York: Hip Hop In Washington Square

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- Leica M9-1/250 sec f2.8 iso 160 Elmarit 28mm

New York City's Washington Square Park has always something going on, especially when the weather cooperates. This time, it was a group of youngsters from the Academy of Urban Planning (Brooklyn) who provided impromptu entertainment. Hip hop moves were frequently shown off, and they overshadowed many of the regular buskers. Click to enlarge the photograph.

Once again, I was approached by a "peddlar" who asked me if I was "shoppin"...getting a scowl instead of an answer, he clarified his question by asking if I needed a "smoke". I guess I must look like someone who needs one. He's the fellow who asked me the same question last week...he'll probably ask me again next week.

Auto de Fe: Yatra-Pilgrims of India

Photo Courtesy Auto de Fe Magazine

Auto de Fe is a rather unusual name for a digital photo magazine, but one which the publishers seem to have chosen with definite purpose. It defines itself as a digital magazine of inquisitive journalism, and uses a platform called Publisha.

By the way,'Auto de fe' in medieval Spanish and 'auto da fé' in Portuguese mean "act of faith", but in popular use, an auto-da-fé has come to refer to burning at the stake for heresy.

The story that caught my eye is Yatra-The Pilgrims of India which is authored by Jack Laurenson. The photographs that make the essay do not carry a by-line.

For eight months a year, millions of Hindu pilgrims visit thousands of sacred sites and temples in India during the yatra season. Yatra is pilgrimage to holy places such as confluences of sacred rivers, places associated with the Mahabharata and Ramayana, and other sacred pilgrimage sites.

There are various types of pilgrimages, and some involve fetching water from the Ganges river, such as visits to Haridwar, Gangotri, Badrinath amongst others.  Some involve far flung places such as Dwarka in Gujarat, Puri in Orissa and Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu.