Video interview: iSHOW participants David Leeson, Ryan Hartsell, and Burt Finger at Dallas’ PDNB Gallery

by Mike Bullock, John P. Meyer

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Who knew the iPhone would become a popular platform for serious artistic photography?

When Sarah Blaskovich wrote about iPhone photography classes a couple of months back, I thought to myself: Well, here's a novelty that will soon fade away. (Hey, I own thousands of dollars worth of high-end digital photo gear, purchased with the understanding that those are the tools I need to keep me on the cutting edge of photo art.)

Apparently, I was wrong.

Ryan Hartsell, a talented local cinematographer (The Other Side of Paradise), has been using the iPhone as a photography tool for some time now. He also owns a Canon 5D Mark II, which begs the question: Why bother with a wimpy cell phone snap when you've got a digital camera that records razor sharp images at 21.1 megapixels?

Ryan proceeded to tell me. He's the creator and organizer of an upcoming exhibit at Photographs Do Not Bend (PDNB) gallery in Dallas called iSHOW 2010.

Backing up Ryan during the interview were Burt Finger, owner of PDNB; and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer David Leeson, some of whose iPhone photographs are included in the iSHOW exhibit.

(Other photographers whose work is featured in the exhibit are Fredrik Broden, Justin Clemons, Brian Green, Robert Hannant, Matt Hawthorne, Scott Slusher, Allison V Smith, and Bart Weiss.)

Ryan and David made it clear that, with the iPhone, it's all about the "i" of the photographer — but it's also about the app. Two of these get mentioned pretty frequently during our discussion: Hipstamatic and CameraBag.

The opening night reception for iSHOW 2010 (Friday, September 24) will feature live performance art pieces by each of the showcased photographers.

Bring your iPhone and get creative!

Story: John P. Meyer; videography/edit: Mike Bullock

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