UPDATE: iPhoneography at Macworld 2013

Many of you may have read my previous post relating to the all-day iPhoneography event being held next year at Macworld 2013, and that I, along with Marty Yawnick from Life in LoFi would be doing a joint presentation about the origins of iPhoneography. Sadly following a number of recent events, which has culminated in a hate campaign against the iPhoneography word/term/brand, which I have taken as a personal attack on me (after all, I created the brand), I have taken the decision to withdraw from the event. I must at this point say, this decision has nothing to do the Dan Marcolina, Marty or the event organisers, as there is a bit more too it. The snide comments and negativity have in part given me some health issues, which in conjunction with other events have lead me to make this decisions.

In addition to withdrawing from the Macworld event, I have also stepped down as one of the judges for this years Mobile Photo Awards, as one of the other judges was at the forefront of this anti "iPhoneography" hate campaign.

From a personal point of view, I am sad at all the negativity I am seeing from some circles in the "mobile photography" community towards iPhoneography, and even sadder, that I don't see an end to this negativity.

Comments

[Mark]

Glyn, you have to realise that people are entitled to their opinions and views and you have to rise above this. The events you describe this seems something very pety and trivial to me that I would find very easy to shrug off. I love iPhone photography or mobile photography and I honestly don't care what it's called. It's just a word to describe a practice. You may have hoped that iphoneography may become the standard word for this practice and that is why you may be upset.. Who knows.. To the average person that is non creative and buys an iPhone 5, iphoneography or mobile photography means nothing to them. These people are too busy making phone calls and checking Facebook. For people in the iphoneography community, they are way too preoccupied with taking photos and being part of a community to actually be bothered by what the word iphoneography actually means. My suggestion to you is to rise above the negativity and hold your head up high.

[JPS]

What could these people possibly have against the term "iPhoneography"? They have nothing better to do with their time. A search for the term on Amazon turns up dozens of books. This is one of my favorite blogs, please don't let them get you down. Thanks for all of the tips, tricks, and reviews!

[davidroccato]

I'm sad and surprised at the same time about reading this Glyn. Look at how many people are supporting you here, you should take this in consideration too when you balance your options. I've founded the main italian blog about Mobile Photography and I often take inspiration about your blog too. We are people that create and not people that destroy, even if the term is going to change to embrace other OS, and even if in the future everything will become included in photography, for now, there is still a distinction in how people approach their work with the device they use. When you created the term, and the blog, you were pioneer of something real and tangible as Knox said but you shouldn't take any other people attack too seriously at this point. The term is an everybody term now, the movement is an everybody movement and things evolve all the time.

If there are people that hated you just for the fun of hate, now you know how many people are supporting you here too. Maybe all this happens around you to helping you clarifying your beliefs and passions, and to see how strong you are in protecting them and fight for them. You have an entire community around you, I don't think it's a little thing, do you? You are not responsible for the hate people have inside them, but it's your choice how you're going to answer to it. The most important thing is that you won't have any regret in your decisions, so, in my opinion, feel free to change your mind and fight back too. In any case, good luck with everything.

[Lanie Heller]

Hello Glyn! I, like Egmont came here because of Knox's heartfelt video post on his site. I'm soooooo saddened by all the hate & lack of support for each other. I see egos, a bunch of nasty egos. I'm an iPhoneartist. I switched my "title" because I manipulate & make some of my images unrecognizable by the time I've finished. This is what I am comfortable with, my zone. Whatever others do....photography, photo shop, iPhone purists, iPhoneographers, that's up to them. What I do disagree with is....is this constant knocking each other down!! Tearing each other apart. We are "artists" we should be holding each other up & REALLY working to get this art form ACCEPTED by the art world. Museums, galleries & other artists..not just cafés & Instagram. Ugh. It's exhausting. I'm so sorry to hear you've pulled out of Macworld. I'll be there & sadly you won't. I'm so sorry. Best, Lanie

[Bob Starr]

First and foremost, I hope your health returns in good order. Second, this site is fantastic and I visit it often for inspiration, knowledge, and how to become better at taking pictures. Third, taking a picture makes you a photographer (alternately, iPhoneographer) not the device you're using to capture life's best moments (we just prefer to use the best and most readily available camera to come out). Get better and keep up the great work : )

[Andy]

Long time listener, first time caller...

As a simple RSS-based follower of this site, I'd like to share my perception as someone who just enjoys the site.

What you do here is cool, helpful, fun, and inspiring...just that simple. I appreciate the site and the things I see here. That may be simplifying anything you're experiencing. But I can bet a lot of people see it this way too.
Stay strong.

[Shane]

I, too, am an avid follower of this blog. I, too, understand that I know next to nothing about what happened to lead to your decision. Because of that, I can't really offer any input of value. However, I will say that from our uninformed perspective, this appears to be a case of "I'm taking my ball and going home".

I would urge you to either provide enough information for us to develop an informed opinion or say nothing at all. Because basically all we know is that someone said something snotty about the term "iPhoneography" – which I don't particularly care for either – and then you decided that you don't want to play anymore. Of course there's more to it than that, I know, but unless you remove all cause for speculation and just tell us the facts, we're left to either blindly take your side and hate the nameless, faceless person(s) for reasons we don't understand or to blindly assume you're being a whiny baby.

In summation, I believe the best way to approach this for your readers' sake is to either take the time to OBJECTIVELY share the full story or adopt the official statement, "I'm not participating in these events for personal reasons."

I appreciate what you do here. Keep up the good work.

[Andy Collins]

Baffling mate, you do a great job... stay strong and keep giving value as you always do.

[Barbara]

As a fellow blogger, I know first-hand how hard it is to be attacked while working to create something you believe in. It's clear from the comments that you have a ton of support from friends and readers. Still, I wanted to add my voice to the crowd. If there is anything I can do to provide positive support for iPhoneography, please don't hesitate to reach out.

[Kate Luong]

It's such a shame that you decided to step down. But since it's your health, I think it's for the best. Still can't imagine that much negativity and hatred toward an artistic movement (that's what iPhoneography is in my mind) though. I love that term, and still remember reading a blog post about it on Life in LoFi.

I'm a great fan of both you and Marty. Wish you all the best!

[Michelle Robinson]

Dear Glyn,

This is the first time that I have a) read a post and b) read every comment - probably because I know a few folks that I have replied.

We all know how and why "iPhoneography" came about. In truth, there are so many terms now that it is confusing; and as Lanie said, it doesn't matter the term, tool etc, there will always be some of us who will be transparent and be 'pure' or not.

I empathise with you, and please accept my sincerest wishes for what sounds like a well-deserved break.

I am a newbie in this field (sort of), and it seems to me that with the advent of the Internet and blogging, everyone is entitled to their opinions, everyone suddenly has a voice, and quite frankly, there is more noise than there is integrity and fairness. Ironic, given that the Internet and social media sharing sites were meant to level the playing field,

It is not easy to remain true to oneself. And I have no doubt you will. I still use the term "iphoneography" because all of my processes from image capture to edits to final product are done on iOS. I also use the term "mobile photography" because in my mind, for my own purposes, it's straight shooting, like using a point-and-shoot.

When all is said and done, they are labels, and no one should knock one over for the other.

Take care of yourself.
Michelle

[MiniBlueDragon]

I think the distinction between 'iPhoneographer' and 'photographer' is entirely dependent on the medium being used. I for example do not own a DSLR or similar camera and despite being perfectly capable I don't enjoy working with photographs on a PC or Mac; I much prefer using my iPhone and working with the images directly on the device itself or my iPad2.

Due to the fact that the iPad is incapable of decent photos and I don't do 'regular' photography I class myself as an iPhoneographer as it's the most succinct description of the techniques and hardware I use for my photos.

If I used a normal camera as my primary medium or indeed multiple devices the most succinct description for myself would be 'photographer'. If I used multiple devices but all are mobile devices I might class myself as a 'mobile photographer'. If I used an Android device I might class myself as an 'Androidographer'.

[carlos]

Hey Glyn,

I was reading a few of these post. Sort of a tennis game going back and forth with thoughts.
My 2 cents are that you have been at this too long to not go. You are a heavyweight of this community and provide a wonderful source of information and sharing.

Come to MACWorld is you can. I would love to meet with you.

Hope to see you there. I got my ticket for entrance and flight.

Carlos