WINNIPEG – Every year there are more than 380 billion photos taken worldwide, many of them on smartphones. While more photos are being taken and shared than ever before, Winnipeg photographer Alexandra Morrison wonders how many of them will actually be around to look at in decades to come.
“One hundred years from now people aren’t going to have photographs of us, because they’re all digital and they’re not going to be able to open them on the technology of the day,” says Morrison. “I don’t think I’ve created anything if its still in my phone. Its still a bunch of electrons.”
But that doesn’t mean Morrison isn’t a fan of her smartphone; she takes photos on hers every day. One of her favourite iPhone prints, an image of an old abandoned home in a ghost town in Saskatchewan, now hangs on her walls.
“It puts the photography in the hands of everybody,” said Morrison.
Now Morrison wants to put the tools she uses to turn her smart phone pictures into printable art, into the hands of everybody. Just last month about a dozen budding photographers gathered in her home to learn the tricks of the digital trade.
Morrision says she uses a lot of apps like Camera Phone. It has a macro tool which allows users to get much closer to the subject without it being blurry.
“It’s like looking through a magnifying glass,” says Morrison.
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She also says many common mistakes, like dim lighting or framing, can be fixed through different apps after they’ve already been snapped.
Over the years Morrison has won many awards for her work, including those for photos taken on her iPhone.
While the technology is in almost every back pocket, she has no concerns it will put her out of a job.
“I’ve got a hammer at home that doesn’t make me a carpenter, it doesn’t mean I can build a house,” said Morrison. “I think there is always going to be a need for professionals who know their craft really well.”
Morrison and smartphone photographer are featured this week on Focus Manitoba, Saturdays and Sundays at 6:30.
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