Cell Phone Photography Contest II Juried by Dan Burkholder

Congratulations to the 31 photographers whose work was accepted for this competition. We had 77 photographers submit 646 images.

View the Member's Online Gallery Exhibit. A blurb publication will be available for purchase shortly.

Dan Burkholder's Post-Jurying Comments:
What makes a good photograph? What makes a good cell phone photograph? Should the answers be different for these two questions? If not, why have a contest just for cell phones? TPS honors this expanding photographic niche with a competition that attempts to decipher what is special, beautiful and intriguing about images made with our cell phones. Here’s what I found. The images submitted for this contest tell a story about where the medium has been — just look at the abundance of “old photo” effects — and where it’s going, with spur-of-the-moment grab shots, a comfortable casualness, and rich textures. There’s also what I like to call “the new intimacy” that a small, unassuming cell phone can bring to the image capture table. Look over the selected images and you’ll see what I mean.

There is no, one “cell phone look” that I was favoring in this contest. Things like a delightful visual ambiguity, a photo that made the eye linger, a willingness to make the “I have a camera with me!” revelation obvious — these all counted in a big way. Sometimes an image was selected because of the spontaneity, sometimes because the maker used a creative (and appropriate) selection of apps to modify the original capture. And sometimes it was an inviting photo of a dog or cat. As you can see, there isn’t a solid formula in cell phone photography any more than there is in generic photography. As Ansel once said, “there are no rules for good photographs; there are only good photographs.” Thanks to all who entered. Thanks for your eye, your talent, and your sense of exploration. You’re the new Lewises and Clarks of the medium.

About the Juror:
Dan Burkholder has a long history of looking over the photographic horizon to see, explore and teach the next great thing in imaging. His newest book, iPhone Artistry (Pixiq Press, 2011), is the definitive how-to for creative iPhone photographers. His first book, Making Digital Negatives for Contact Printing (Bladed Iris Press, 1995) became a seminal manual for photographers wanting to blend the power of digital imaging with the charm of the handmade print.

Dan received his B.A. and Master’s degrees from Brooks Institute of Photography, in Santa Barbara, CA. Dan has taught digital imaging workshops for 16 years on three continents and several island countries. His platinum/palladium and pigmented ink prints are included in private and public collections internationally.

About the Contest:
Camera phones are ubiquitous and photographers are taking full advantage of recent technological advances. Texas Photographic Society is now accepting images taken with the cameras in cell phones for its first Members’ Online Gallery. This international competition is open to all professional and amateur photographers. Images must be taken with a cell phone camera and may only be manipulated with a cell phone application. No Photoshop. Please submit by Friday, June 1, 2011. The exhibition catalog of accepted entries will be created using Blurb software and the catalogue will be available for entrants and members to purchase through Blurb.com. All award winners will receive a complimentary printed exhibition catalogue. In addition, photographers whose works are designed as First, Second, and Third place winners may choose a photographic print from a selection of the TPS Print Program. Three Honorable Mention winners will receive a signed copy of Dan Burkholder's new book, iPhone Artistry, to be published in September of 2011.

View PDF of Dan Burkholder's Statement
View PDF of Accepted Entries w/Winners and Honorable Mentions

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