A Day In The Life Of Hans Borghorst – An iPhone Photographer With Natural Born Talent
Welcome to our very exciting new column on theappwhisperer.com. This section entitled ‘A day in the life of …’ and this is where we’ll be taking a look at some hugely influential, interesting and accomplished individuals in the mobile photography world. People that we think you will love to learn more about.
This is the thirty-fourth installment of the series, you can read the others here if you have missed them so far. Today, we are featuring Hans Broghorst. Hans’ work caught our eye when he joined our Flickr group, each week we are literally astounded by his contributions. Hans was born in 1961 in a small town in Germany where he lived with his parents in their public house. In 1981Hans went to Berlin and lived in a punk apartment-sharing community. Then in 1983 when his parents died he moved back to the countryside.
Hans has had a lot of different jobs including garden landscaper, worker in a Coca Cola-factory, staff member in a call center, mortician, DJ in an alternative club and so on. He also studied for a vocational diploma in graphic-design. During the early 1990’s, whilst unemployed, he had the idea to start writing. So far he has published several humor books. Hans also creates humor postcards for the German speaking market. He also works as an editor for the Lappan Verlag, a publishing company (the biggest cartoon book publisher in Germany, Austria and Switzerland). Hans specializes in comedy/satirical style books. He reads manuscripts, creates new book ideas, meets authors and so on. Also for the past five years he also works as an author for the German comedian Kurt Krömer from Berlin.
Hans’ work has been included in the following exhibitions:
“P1xels”, 22 September-30 October 2011, Giorgi Gallery, Berkeley, California
“iPhoneography”, December 2011, Soho Gallery For Digital Art, New York
“WiAM (Worldwide iPhoneography Art Movement) first exhibition”, 24-26 February 2012, Naples, Italy
”Depixtions” March 2012, The Orange Studio, Orlando, Florida
„iPhoneography: Updated Visual Dialogs“, 8 March-7 May, „Lunch Box Gallery“ in Miami
“Mobile P1xels”, 12 April-5 May, Los Angeles Center For Digital Art
“Hipstamatic International“, 5 May-25 May 2012 in Porto, Portugal
“Diverging Mediums Photography VS. iPhoneography”, 10 May-31 May 2012, Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria
and will soon be included in: “Strawberry Fields”, July 2012, Fotoloft Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Check out the full interview below…
We have included the app or apps that were used to create the final image, and as many of the images were cross processed we have listed the apps in the sequential order they were used in the editing process. We have also provided links for each app to the iTunes App Store, just in case you’re inspired enough to try them out for yourself as well as accessories used.
You can find all the links at the end of this article.
(If you would like to be interviewed for our new ‘A day in the life of …’ section, just send an email to [email protected], and we’ll get it set up.)
First Things First…
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘A Better Place’ – Apps Used – iPhone default camera, Photowizard, Camera Plus Pro, Pixlromatic
JC – Let’s start at the beginning of the day, how does your day start?
HB – With an app. Alarm clock wakes me up. Then I drive my wife to her working place (she’s the head of a sheltered workshop, where autistic people are working), take a walk with our two dogs and maybe shoot some pics. After that I drive home and start my work.
Magic Hour…
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘A Million Hidden Creatures’ – Apps Used – iPhone default camera, Camera+, CameraAwesome
JC – Do you like to head out and take photographs early on?
HB – I’m always up and about around 8.00 A.M. because of the dogs. Most of the time I like it, especially when I find some good motifs.
Photographer vs Mobile Photographer…
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘She. Following. Him’ – Apps Used – iPhone default camera, Camera Awesome
JC – How did the transition from traditional photographer to mobile photographer develop?
HB – There was no transition. I didn’t take photos before. I got my first iPhone in December 2010 although I had not planned to take photos with it, I only wanted to use it for my work. But in the beginning of 2011 I discovered an app called Hipstamatic and so I started to make photos. To be honest, I’m a little ashamed giving an interview since I’m some kind of freshman in photography but you asked me to do it.
JC – We’re very pleased you agreed Hans, we love your work and we’re sure our readers will too.
New Apps…
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘Awaiting The Wrecker’s Ball’ – Apps Used – iPhone default camera, Color, Blur FX, TouchRetouch, Lo-Mob
JC – Do you like to download new mobile photography apps regularly?
HB – I do but I also often delete some, because not every app is useful to me.
Updates…
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘Pogo At The Pier’ – Apps Used – iPhone default camera, PhotoWizard, Camera Plus Pro, BlendMaster, TouchRetouch, LensLight
JC – How often do you update your existing apps?
HB – Nearly every day. I do my work on the PC and the iPhone is always connected for loading and then I also do the updates.
Location, Location, Location…
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘Hanging Around’ – Apps Used – iPhone default camera, Iris Photo Suite, Toy SLR, ScratchCam
JC – Where’s your favorite place in the world for a shoot?
HB – The place I’ve never been before. The place where I can discover something new. It doesn’t have to be a big thing there that inspires me, maybe it’s only a piece of plastic hanging in a barbwire.
Tools Of The Trade…
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘Blue & Red’ – Apps Used – iPhone default camera, Blur, Juxtaposer, Iris Photo Suite
JC – Do you also use mobile photography tool apps, such as The Photographer’s Ephemeris?
HB – No and I guess I never will.
Favorite Apps…
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘Bottle (Without A Message)’ – Apps Used – iPhone default camera, Magic Hour
JC – What are your favorite mobile photography apps currently?
HB – Pixlromatic, Iris, Camera Awesome, ScratchCam, Snapseed, Picfx, ProCamera, Camera+, CP Pro, PhotoWizard, A-HDR, Retouch, BlendMaster, Lo-Mob, Modern Grunge, Blur FX, SlowShutter, Juxtaposer, AntiCrop, XnView FX, FotoMuse.
Sharing…
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘The Companion’ – Apps Used – Tapshot, Snapseed, TouchRetouch, Pixlromatic
JC – Where do you like to upload your photographs? Flickr, Instagram?
HB – Facebook, iPhoneArt, Flickr and EyeEm. And some of my pics you may find at Knox Bronson’s great side P1xels.
Frequency…
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘Footpads View’ – Apps Used – iPhone default camera, Photoshop Express, Snapseed
JC – Do you take photographs with your iPhone everyday?
HB – Yes. Even if I try to force myself not to look for motifs and concentrate on thinking about my work.. at the end of the day I have some new pics.
Favorite Subjects…
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘Full Many A Glorious Morning (William Shakespeare)’ – Apps Used – iPhone default camera, ProCamera, TouchRetouch, Photoshop Express, Toy SLR
JC – What are your favorite subjects?
HB – I live in the countryside in a town with 35.000 citizens and I think we have a fantastic and diversified nature here. So I do a lot of nature shots, I like nature as a subject but it is not necessarily my favorite. I like to alternate. What I like to do more is take pictures of people and I have tried to start this project, but it’s difficult because here in Germany you are not allowed to publish photos of people if you don’t have an undersigned permission, a model release. But asking people, if I can take pictures of them, explaining, why I want to do that and what I plan to do with the results and finally get a signing from them is not easy. People are very afraid what might happen to their pictures once they have been published in the internet and I can understand that.
Top Five Tips…
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘Going Nowhere Fast’ – Apps Used – Slowshutter, Snapseed, ProCamera, BeFunkyPro, TouchRetouch, Genius Scan
JC – What are you top five tips for mobile photography?
HB – Always take your iPhone with you and have it always fully loaded. But since I’m a novice in Photography/iPhoneography I should not give any further tips to other people. Please ask again in 20 years. But ask loud. I’ll be 70 then and probably deaf.
Teaching…
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘Home Of The Nerds’ – Apps Used – iPhone default camera, Iris Photo Suite, Camera Plus Pro, Pixlromatic, ScratchCam
JC – How did the teaching side come along?
HB – I’m an autodidact, it’s only learning by doing, self-directed learning. And the doing is easy, since the handling of the iPhone and the apps is very intuitive. But I have been drawing for 10 years and made a vocational diploma in graphic design earlier in my life. So I have a bit of experience in creating art. And since iPhoneography for me is sort of the “missing link” between Photography and Drawing/Painting I felt familiar with it very fast.
Editing…
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘Home, Sweet Home’ – Apps Used – iPhone default camera, Iris Photo Suite, Toy SLR, Camera Plus Pro, PicGrunger
JC – Do you edit images on your iPhone or do you prefer to do that on a desktop/laptop?
HB – I always use the iPhone.
Videography…
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘Knabstrupper’ – Apps Used – Hipstamatic, AntiCrop, Snapseed, Lo-Mob
JC – Do you enjoy videography with your iPhone?
HB – No.
The Future Of Mobile Photography…
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘Leftovers’ – Apps Used – iPhone default camera, Photoshop Express, Toy SLR, PhotoWizard, tadaa, Bad-Camera
JC – Where do you see the future of mobile photography heading?
HB – Hard to say. It very much depends on the apps (and app updates) that will be published in the future. More than that though, it depends on what will happen to the iPhone/iPad now after the visionary Steve Jobs has died.
Popularity…
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘Master And Servant’ – Apps Used – iPhone default camera, Photoshop Express, BlendMaster, Infinicam
JC – What do you think is the most popular area of mobile photography?
HB – At the moment I guess street photography and nature.
Where In The World…?
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘Me, Myself & I (dotted version)’ – Apps Used – iPhone default camera, BlendMaster, TouchRetouch, PhotoWizard
JC – Do you think it is country specific, are some nations more “clued up”?
HB – The rich nations certainly are most clued up. Nations, where people can afford iPhones.
iPhone 5….
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘No Rest’ – Apps Used – Slowshutter, Photoshop Express, PhotoWizard, ScratchCam
JC – What do you hope for in the iPhone 5?
HB – A better camera. There was a big step forward from iPhone 4 to 4s, but I still would like to get more quality and speed. Too often I see motifs, that I can’t catch. One that I really want to shoot one day with my iPhone: there is an area here at our Autobahn, where they installed a fence to keep deer from running across the street. And on the stakes there are often sitting a lot of different birds of prey waiting to pick up road killed animals, rabbits and so on. These birds are relatively close but not close enough for the iPhone camera. And in that area you can’t stop your car or drive slowly. So you need a pretty good camera and luck to photograph them.
TheAppWhisperer.com…
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘On The Sunny Side’ – Apps Used – iPhone default camera, Camera+, Modern Grunge
JC – What do you think of Joanne and theappwhisperer.com
HB – Joanne and me only swapped two short e-mails, so I can’t say very much about her. But I’ve no doubt that she is highly intelligent, absolutely competent, overall charming and a breathtaking beauty. theappwhisperer.com I think is a very useful, interesting and commendable designed site. Especially this A Day In The Life and Extensions Of The I series is awesome.
JC – Wow Hans, you’re spot on there! 😉
Links To All Apps Used And Mentioned In This Article…
Copyright Image – Hans Borghorst – ‘One Of Those Moments’ – Apps Used – iPhone default camera, Photoshop Express, Pixlromatic, PhotoWizard
A-HDR
AntiCrop
Befunky
BlendMaster
BlurFX
Camera Awesome
Camera Plus Pro
Camera+
Color!
Genius Scan
Hipstamatic
Iris Photo Suite
Juxtaposer
Lo-Mob
Magic Hour
Photoshop Express
PhotoWizard
Pixlromatic
ProCamera
Snapseed
Tadaa
TouchRetouch
Toy SLR
XnView
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: [email protected]
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9 Comments
Ale
One of the most exciting features I have ever stumbled upon about iPhonographers.
And definitely the most exciting “new” (to me at least) iPhonographers around.
Chapeau and thankyou.
Egmont van Dyck
Greeting Joanne,
I truly love this series. Every time you post one, I have learned something more. We live in a wonderful, witnessing a revolution in photography that feels like the birth of photography. I just wish I was much younger to be able to appreciate it to the fullest, especially when mobile photography matures in 10-12 years.
Joanne Carter
Hi Egmont, thank you so much for your comment. I do know exactly how you feel, it is very much like the beginnings of photography and all the better for it. It’s very positive, creative and comes with a tremendous caring and supportive community. I totally understand what you mean and we must all embrace it and enjoy it for as long as we all can. Joanne x
David
Another great interview! Wonderful images….thanks for sharing these with us!!
Hans Borghorst
Thank you all!!
Gerry Coe
Great set of images. Well done. G
Hans Borghorst
Thanks, Gerry!
Mark Daniels
Your work has always been inspiring to me
Hans Borghorst
Thank you so much, Mark!! (sorry, I’m late..)