Damon Winter - Hipstamatic War Photos Win

Congratulations to NYTimes photographer, Damon Winter, for winning 3rd place from Pictures of the Year International with his iPhone images, using the Hipstamatic app, to make photos of soldiers in northern Afghanistan. Lens Blog covers the flare up on the web about whether or not images made with an iPhone hipster photo app are worthy of such a prestigious award.

I think they are and love what Damon has to say about it, here are some choice tidbits:

At the heart of all of these photos is a moment or a detail or an expression that tells the story of these soldiers’ day-to-day lives while on a combat mission. Nothing can change that. No content has been added, taken away, obscured or altered. These are remarkably straightforward and simple images.

...

We are being naïve if we think aesthetics do not play an important role in the way photojournalists tell a story. We are not walking photocopiers. We are storytellers.  We observe, we chose moments, we frame little slices of our world with our viewfinders, we even decide how much or how little light will illuminate our subjects, and — yes — we choose what equipment to use. Through all of these decisions, we shape the way a story is told.

...

Using the phone is discreet and casual and unintimidating.

Go read the whole article and chase the links. It is a conversation worth having about photography. I especially like when he talks about how people respond differently to different types of cameras - a conversation I have with students every semester. I have always loved Damon Winter's photographs and think he absolutely deserves this award whatever his equipment. Reading his reasoning behind using this camera makes me like him even more.

Towards the end of the post he mentions David Burnett which is interesting considering Burnett won a White House News Photographers Association Award in 2001 for his Holga photo of Al Gore. Which just goes to show there ain't nothin new. (BTW Nice article on David Burnett's use of Holga in WaPo.)

FWIW I think that what photo-journalist do is amazing. Damon was risking his life in a war zone to bring pictures home from the front lines. Oftentimes people can't even be bothered to look at them when they come across the wire. So if using the Hipstamatic app gets people to not only look at the images but also discuss them. How can that be a bad thing?

Photo Credits: (Top image) Damon Winter, NYTimes (screen shot)

(Bottom image) David Burnett/Contact Press Images 2001