A Day In The Life Of ...,  News

A Day In The Life Of Karen Divine – Simply Divine Mobile Photography

Welcome to our very exciting column on theappwhisperer.com. This section entitled ‘A day in the life of …’ and this is where we take 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 our fifty eighth installment of the series, you can read the others here, if you have missed them so far. Today, we are featuring the incredibly talented and inspirational, Karen Divine. Karen explains that she ‘views the world in layers, stacking, colors, textures, forms and stories onto each other as if one were walking through their day with blurred vision, not taking in specifics but piecing together various parts and overlapping them. Boundaries then become suggestions and interconnectedness forms the expression’.

We absolutely adore Karens images and we are sure you will too. Karen does not specify in this interview which apps she uses for each image. What she does say, is that the apps she uses collectively are Hipstamatic, Camera+, ScratchCam, Juxtaposer and Image Blender and just occasionally Snapseed and Lo-Mob.

You can find all the links to the apps mentioned 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

divine

© Karen Divine – ‘Nude_30’

 

Joanne – Let’s start at the beginning of the day, how does your day start?

Karen – I open my eyes and remind myself that I am lucky to be alive and am grateful. It’s usually around 5:40 am and my dogs have no problem reminding me. I begin to work, reviewing emails, catching up on assignments, etc. but never longer than two hours. A hike in the foothills is generally in order and helps tremendously with my sanity and mood.

Magic Hour

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© Karen Divine – ‘Nude_42a’

 

Joanne – Do you like to head out and take photographs early on?

Karen – I do not head out in the mornings to shoot. I use to take images called “Daily Walk” but I haven’t done that in a while, however should I come across something new I would certainly shoot it. I am both a random shooter and a scheduled shooter. Spontaneity is crucial as well as an occasional scheduled shoot.

Photographer vs Mobile Photographer

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© Karen Divine – ‘Graduation2’

 

Joanne – How did the transition from traditional photographer to iPhoneographer develop? (pardon the pun).

Karen – I have been a photographer for 40 years and in 2001 I first studied Photoshop. It was my pandora’s box, opening up a whole world of compositing and filled my need to “paint” and create stories and images from my imagination. In the early spring of 2011, I took several images with hipstamatic (the only app I had) and then composited them in Photoshop, posted it and a friend asked if I had created that on my phone. I had no idea that was possible and immediately began researching. I joined iphoneart.com and became obsessed at that moment. I simply transferred my composite skills to the phone.

New Apps

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© Karen Divine – ‘Brothers’

 

Joanne – Do you like to download new iPhoneography apps regularly?

Karen – No, I don’t download apps on a regular basis, I can barely keep up with what I have and still need to understand all their unique possibilities. On occasion someone will post one that is free and if it looks interesting I may get it.

Updates

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© Karen Divine – ‘Remi 2’

 

Joanne – How often do you update your existing apps?

Karen – I update often, why not.

Location, Location, Location

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© Karen Divine – ‘Sarah’

 

Joanne – Where’s your favorite place in the world for a shoot?

Karen – A favorite place for me would be any exotic country, the markets in the Middle East in particular fascinate me and, with that said, I strongly believe we can capture intrigue right in front of us on a daily basis.

Tools Of The Trade

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© Karen Divine – ‘Tyler’

 

Joanne – Do you also use iPhone photography tool apps, such as The Photographer’s Ephemeris and if so do you use it to plan your shoots?

Karen – Well just to show you how ungeeky I am, I had to just look up the Photographers Ephemeris…hmmm so nope, guess I don’t use tool apps.

Favorite Apps

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© Karen Divine – ‘Holdingtheball’

 

Joanne – What are your favorite, at the moment, iPhoneography apps?

Karen – I shoot with Hipstamatic and Camera+ for now, I use scratchcam for textures and also at the end to pull a composited piece together. I also use Image Blender and Juxtaposer, photocopier, occasionally snapseed and lo-mob.

Sharing

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© Karen Divine – ‘Sarah 2’

 

Joanne – Where do you like to upload your photographs? Flickr, Instagram?

Karen – . I don’t use Flickr or Instagram…not sure why I’ve never done that. I have been shooting for so long that I simply upload all my work to the desktop and have that habit under my belt. I do post to FB and have a group called Your Parts and Process, which is designed for those who want to share their process both technically and emotionally. I share on iphoneart and a few other sites.

Frequency

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© Karen Divine – ‘Making Connections 2’ (put together in Photoshop)

 

Joanne – Do you take photographs with your iPhone everyday?

Karen – Yes, I shoot or edit or something related to my art every day.

Favorite Subjects

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© Karen Divine – ‘It’s A Party’

 

Joanne – What are your favorite subjects to photograph?

Karen – Forms, shapes, textures are my favorite subjects so I think in those terms when I shoot. I shoot nudes often primarily for the above reasons and give myself assignments and goals. I’ll do a scheduled shoot just to play with particular apps and hipsta combo’s using various lighting. The last shoot, I used the new telephoto lens the entire time. I am not drawn to landscapes, but living here it’s hard to miss a beautiful image.

Top Five Tips

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© Karen Divine – ‘Journey’ (put together in Photoshop)

 

Joanne – What are your top five tips for iPhone photography?

Karen –

– Shoot every day

– Experiment with everything you have on your phone, find the apps that speak to you

– For those who want to composite, put together random images in blender and see what appears, it’s magic and then take that magic and keep on pushing until you fall off the cliff then go back and try again, discovering another boundary with more images…

– Learn to use your intuition to make decisions

– While processing, pay attention to the stories you are telling yourself, is that voice supportive or critical…one can make great strides in mental health being an artist

Teaching

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© Karen Divine – ‘Dancing Shoes2’

Joanne – How did the teaching side come along?

Karen – While applying to take a class at the Santa Fe Workshops I had to submit a portfolio. The director discovered my work, called me and asked me to teach. I now have several other jobs in Denver coming up. It wasn’t my goal to teach but I am quite comfortable in that area and have taught compositing in Photoshop in the past. I want to teach about the creative process and how to find your sense of style and what turns you on as an artist. These are important conversations and a great exercise towards self-development and that is the aspect of teaching that I want to do. How can you free yourself up to let the process happen and allow the magic to unfold?

Editing

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© Karen Divine – ‘Strange Birthdays2’

 

Joanne – Do you edit images on your iPhone or do you prefer to do that on a desktop/laptop?

Karen – I always edit on my iPhone.

Videography

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© Karen Divine – ‘Finding Her Parts’

 

Joanne – Do you enjoy videography with your iPhone?

Karen – Just started using the video and recently documented my process of creating collages on paper using my iPhone work…haven’t yet done anything with it but I will.

The Future Of Mobile Photography

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© Karen Divine – ‘The Circus’

 

Joanne – Where do you see the future of iPhone photography?

Karen – I think it will become quite mainstream and at some point down the line, not so fashionable as a new medium. I remember the SX70 in the 70’s and then all the wonderful alternative processes, transfers, even Photoshop was controversial. It’s all just photography and art for me and I will always jump on the bandwagon when something new and exciting comes along…why not. So far the iPhone is the most freeing.

Popularity

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© Karen Divine – ‘Watchful’

Joanne – What do you think is the most popular area of iPhone photography?

Karen – Street photography and landscapes I think because it’s always there and available.

Worldwide Phenomena?

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© Karen Divine – ‘You Knew Where This Is Heading’

 

Joanne – Do you think it’s country specific, are some nations more clued up?

Karen – Apparently not, considering all the international contingencies represented on FB groups.

iPhone 5

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© Karen Divine – ‘iPhone Image Using Cut-Outs of iPhone Images’

JC – What did you hope for in the iPhone 5?

Karen – Well it’s here, and I’ve purchased it…we shall see.

TheAppWhisperer.com

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© Karen Divine – ‘Tree of Life’

 

Joanne – What do you think of Joanne and theappwhisperer.com?

Karen – . Pure awesomeness of course, hard working, creative, smart, sexy…hmmm and I am certain when we meet, I’ll be using the same words to describe you.

Joanne – Thanks Karen, hope I don’t disappoint you 😉

Links To All Apps Used Or Mentioned In This Article

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© Karen Divine – ‘When Life Becomes Your Art’

 

Hipstamatic
Camera+
ScratchCam
Juxtaposer
Image Blender
Snapseed
Lo-Mob

Contact Details

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© Karen Divine – ‘Presenting’

 

Email – [email protected]
Website – Karendivinephotography.com
Blog – Karendivineblog.com
Facebook

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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]

8 Comments

  • David

    I have enjoyed and admired Karen’s imagery for quite some time. Great interview and images, Karen. Thanks to you and to the AppWhisperer for sharing these with us!!

  • Robert

    Thanks for sharing your work and thoughts. I particularly appreciated your work in b&w!

  • Tommy Vohs

    I had the great privilege of meeting Karen at the Los Angeles Mobile Art Festival in Santa Monica in August. Very inspiring interview and equally inspiring to meet her in the flesh.

  • Glenda Hubbard

    Fantastic inspirational work. Loved reading about you processes and background.

  • costa gina

    Always been a huge admirer of Karen’s work. Her vision and process is inspirational. Thank you Joanne for this wonderful series!