5 Responses to “The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You: iPhone Photography by Chase Jarvis”

1. Craig Dickson says:

   August 25, 2010 at 12:28 am

   This book is a brilliant demonstration of what a talented and creative artist can do with the most basic tools. Chase Jarvis gives us 200+ photos taken with his iPhone and processed only using iPhone-based tools (no Photoshop!). In a way, this is comparable to the kinds of exercises that are sometimes done in other artistic fields, such as painting a picture using only two primary colors or writing a novel without the letter E (both of which have been done) — a conscious device to spur experimentation to discover ways of working with or around the limitation one has chosen to adopt. But there is a crucial difference here: the use of the iPhone is itself a solution to the problem of not always having a camera in hand and ready to shoot whenever a photographic opportunity presents itself. And this is the point of the book: that there are always such opportunities around us, and that you don’t necessarily need an expensive camera rig to catch them. Jarvis writes, “There are at least ten great pictures waiting to be taken within ten meters of where you are standing right now.” This book is his proof.

   Another inspiring aspect of the book is the way Jarvis sometimes takes advantage of the iPhone’s limitations. It is not a high-resolution camera, nor are its optics any match for the better compact point-and-shoots on the market today (let alone any SLR), but Jarvis shows that this can be useful. Some of his pictures actually benefit from imperfect focus, digital noise, and limited dynamic range. In a few cases, I found solutions in his work to failed pictures that I have taken. I can see now that those pictures failed, at least in part, because the images were technically too precise. I played by the usual rules of photography (correct focus and exposure, etc.) when I should have broken them. “Louvers” on page 206 is one example of this. I shot a picture once very like this one, but it was too clear and too detailed; anyone looking at it would have said, “Okay, a picture of louver blinds, so what?” Jarvis’ picture of the same subject is more mysterious, and therefore more interesting, due to blur and “incorrect” exposure. It becomes an abstract graphic design (and a good one) rather than just a shot of vertical blinds.

   I think anyone interested in photography should buy this book. You may not “get” it right away, and it may be best not to rush through the whole thing in one sitting; but over time, I think it will help your mental and creative gears to turn in new ways, and the pictures really are great in their own low-tech way.
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2. Joseph M. Mcnally says:

   August 25, 2010 at 1:07 am

   chase is the walking embodiment of the digital tsunami we are in the midst of. cool thing is he blends traditional ink on paper with an app that extends the reach and enjoyment of all this to lots and lots of folks, more than would just get a book, or just get an app. he puts himself at the middle of the wonderfully frenetic intersection where imagery meets and is augmented by technology with his talents and his generous nature….this book is just like chase…cool, in the moment, and visually smart.
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3. David duChemin says:

   August 25, 2010 at 2:37 am

   Chase has done it again. The Best Camera is like visual proof that Jarvis’ manifesto (the best camera is the one that’s with you, and it doesn’t have to be fancy) is right on the money. His images, and the way they’ve been curated into this mini-exhibit, are inspiring. It’s not a how-to book, in fact it claims to be nothing more than what it is – a collection of images that re-examine the intersection of art and pop-culture. If you’re looking for technique, move along. If you’re looking for inspiration, this is a great reminder that the brand wars (Canon vs. Nikon) are irrelevant and that the camera really has so little to do with this art. I love this book and will pick it up time and time again just to stir the paint and poke the muse a little. Well done, Chase.
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4. Sacramento Book Review says:

   August 25, 2010 at 3:43 am

   Who could have imagined that, when Apple CEO Steve Jobs officially unveiled the iPhone on January 9, 2007, it would turn out to be a mobile device so imaginative that it would eventually challenge numerous notions of what pocketable gear is and what it can do? As we know now, it ended up revolutionizing the mobile phone industry and the computer industry, among others. And then, as people got into the habit of using the iPhone for any number of reasons (you know, there’s an app for that!), that it would also, in no small measure, somewhat “revolutionize” photography as well. We see an example of such “minor” revolution in Chase Jarvis’ mini photo book, //The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You//.

   This book is a collection of Jarvis’ artful and artsy pictures taken with the iPhone’s puny 2- and 3-megapixel camera over a period of about a year, all edited to its final visual construct from within the iPhone itself using nothing more than a number of 3rd-party applications (or apps) such as Photogene, CameraBag, TiltShift, among others, and then uploaded to the Internet directly from the iPhone. One way of looking at it is that, in a Photoshop-crazy world, Photoshop was actually “not harmed in any way” in the making of any one of the photos in this book. And in a sense, Jarvis somehow legitimizes the idea that great images can come from any camera, even that of a mobile phone.

   The subjects of the pictures in the book are varied–airports, beverages, bodies of water, cars, chickens, humans, road signs, school buses, shoes, traffic cones, and words–serving as a “sketchbook” of a visual world revealing in some ways how Jarvis as a photographer absorbs and process the visual information that’s all around him.

   But you don’t have to just pick up and admire Jarvis’ photographs. You can participate in the creative process. This book simply is a part of an “ecosystem” that feeds upon a multimedia/multi-platform advantage: a new app with the same name as the book that iPhone users can buy from iTunes, and which they can then share through an online community (again, with the same name). All in all, this book, whether a part or not of an “ecosystem,” is a very clever idea.

   Reviewed by Dominque James
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5. Lawrence Ripsher says:

   August 25, 2010 at 4:24 am

   I reviewed this book on my blog (and provided a few samples with permission from the author). Here’s what I wrote:

   Chase Jarvis is an award winning, internationally renowned photographer based in Seattle, WA. While Chase is well known for his innovative commercial work, he has also gained a large following through online forums due to his willingness to share advice / tips on his blog, his inspiring collection of personal photography and his advocacy of social networking.

   “The Best Camera is the one that’s with you” is his latest initiative, a 256 page photography book featuring only images taken with his iPhone. The book was released in 2009, and also coincides with his online iPhone photo ecosystem via the website [...]. I purchased my copy through Amazon a couple of weeks ago and just managed to get around to reviewing it.

   The book itself comes in a minimalist, small format (6 x 6 x 0.7 inches). There is little in the way of written work, consisting mostly of images and titles, with a few of Chase’s personal inspirational quotes scattered throughout. The photos are clearly the focus of the book, with each one attempting to underscore the statement that it’s “the photographer that matters”. Chase cover a wide range of both subjects and locations with images shot from plane windows, around the streets of Seattle, in bars and restaurants and by hotel pools. It’s clear that Jarvis’ iPhone goes pretty much everywhere he does. Many get a heavy dose of post processing, using a variety of filters. Several shots are black and white, others highly saturated mimicking a Holga or Lomo like effect. Others receive a lensbaby like finishing. The effects are wide and varied and it keeps things fresh. The quality of the shots themselves vary. A couple rank among my favourite images I’ve seen this year (irrespective of the camera used). Others are more slivers of insight into Jarvis’ daily life – immensely meaningful to the subjects and the photographer and inspirational examples to anyone else.

   Chase’s work in “The Best Camera…” reminds me somewhat of the groundbreaking photos from Hiromix (real name Hiromi Toshikawa), a female Japanese photographer who rocketed to fame in the mid 1990′s when she won a high profile Canon competition in Japan at age 19. Her original work could be characterised as the simple photo diary, and spawned a generation of female photographers who started seeing their every day lives around them a little differently. Chase’s promotion of the camera phone as a meaningful photographic tool could potentially do the same.

   In addition to the images, the quotations found within are of particular interest. “Each photograph is a tiny invention” and “No longer do I tire of the lounge or the crappy food or the painfully lines at airports” are both statements that have lived with me long after my first reading. Chase’s quote about the gourmet chef who comes home and makes himself a grilled cheese sandwich is pure class. It’s the perfect example of “strong words, softly spoken” – a case brilliantly argued without a great deal of fuss or words. In doing so, “The Best Camera…” quietly and effectively goes about putting to shame anyone whose ever muttered “there’s nothing to shoot” or “if only I had a more expensive camera”.

   Undoubtedly with work like this, there will be some critiques who will pour scorn on the image quality found on some of the pages. The digital photography industry has given birth to a generation of “pixel peepers” and “The Best Camera…” stares down and challenges that trend. The few who walk away from the book thinking “so what” are the ones who are are missing a bigger point when it comes to photography. Inspiration is often what you make of it.

   While the book benefits from a close association with the iPhone, it’s not about the iPhone as a photographic tool. They key aim of the book is simpler – a demonstration that you don’t need the latest or best equipment to produce great images. However, even with Jarvis’ status, the book will ultimately will live or die by the quality of the work found within. And on that basis, how does it rate? My verdict is that the book absolutely succeeds in what it sets out to do – to challenge, to lead by example and to inspire. While it’s a different experience than flipping through a commercial portfolio, the images are all about inspiring the reader to go out and shoot something different (or shoot something ordinary, but do it differently) and by this measure, “The Best Camera…” triumphs in every way.
   
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