{Today's guest post is by Jesse Freidin, a San Francisco based fine art dog photographer, I met two years ago at Mutt Lynch Winery. Since then, I have been a big fan of his work and his advice. — Moira McLaughlin}
I am a photographer who uses film. I am committed to that, so I would never give my clients a digital image. But, when no one is looking, I have a secret affair with my iPhone. Actually it is one single app that I have fallen in love with. It’s called ShakeitPhoto. And just like a person might fall for a younger, newer "version" of a longtime companion, I've become smitten with ShakeItPhoto because it simulates an old Polaroid 600 camera, an instant camera that I’ve been collecting (dating) for the past 15 years.
What I like about ShakeItPhoto is that it automatically saturates the image by deepening the colors. It darkens the edges to create a vignette. And it crops it into a square with a neat fake Polaroid frame. The real version of the Polaroid 600 produces these effects with a small, deep-set lens and chemistry in the film. Here are examples of real Polaroid images of my dog Pancake beside fake ShakeItPhoto images of him…
The magic of analog photography is that there is so much room for human error, so the photographer is forced to create the image by controlling the light and the endless possibilities of results. There is a very physical interaction with both camera and film in the analog world, and that physicality is an integral part of the medium. Once taken away,the error-free ShakItPhoto replicas feel a bit hollow.
That being said, what makes my guilty iPhone soirees so exciting is that they are informed by my years of analog experience. When I pick up my digital camera and us the ShakeItPhoto app, I imagine it is a Polaroid 600 and interact with my camera and my subjects in much the same way. This, then, allows me to enhance my film work and experiment, virtually cost-free (the app is $1.99). Using my iPhone as a tool for my primary medium has allowed me to hone my style. And I have to confess that cheating feels good, but never as good as true analog love
To learn more about my work visit Jesse Freidin Photography
To purchase the ShakeItPhoto iPhone app visit the Apple Store.
