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A Day in the Life of Cedric Blanchon – A Mobile Photographer Who Packs A Punch!

Welcome to our very exciting column on theappwhisperer.com. This section entitled “A Day in the Life of…” 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 eighty eighth installment of the series. If you have missed our previous interviews, please go here.

Today we are featuring Cedric Blanchon, he was born on 12 January 1980, at Troyes in France (about 200 km from Paris). After studying as a painter decorator, he joined his current company, where he still works. He was a Champion of English Amateur Boxing of Champagne Ardennes (the area where he lives) in 2009 and he participated in the championship of France. Then he got his first iPhone and his life changed! (loll) I like to define myself as an autodidact, I contribute to the tribegram site, a site dedicated to iphoneographie, I published an ebook (macadam chroniques) to the tribegram editions and available on iBookstore, I have two children, a wife and an ex-wife but no dog!

You can find all the links to the apps used or 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 Joanne@theappwhisperer.com, and we’ll get it set up.)

First Things First

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Fashion Victim” – Apps: Noir, Blender, Snapseed

 

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

Cedric – After visiting the toilet, I make a good coffee, I drink it in front of the tv and I check my mail and my notifications, I also look and see what has happened on Facebook, after that I go to work and that is the hardest part!

Golden Hour

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Wake Up” – Apps: Spacepaint, Blender, MagicHour

 

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

Cedric – Yes, recently, it was foggy outside, I went out specifically to take pictures in the street, I think i’ve done a very beautiful picture, generally, I like to take photos in the morning because I think people are much more relaxed, not too wake, me too !

Photographer vs Mobile Photographer

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Smoking Will Kill Me” – Apps: Hipstamatic (Starmatic filter)

 

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

Cedric – I am a pure iphoneographer since this is really the first camera with which I make pictures, I already had digital cameras just for leisure but let’s say, my regular practice of Photomobile opened my eyes enormously to things that I did not see, a detail, a texture, or pure creation.

New Apps

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Chaos of Myself” – Apps: Blender, Snapseed, Flowpaper, Touch/Retouch

 

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

Cedric – I try to keep abreast of any new apps, and if they interest me I download , but I try a lot of things.

Updates

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© Cedric Blanchon – “The Strange Smoker” – Apps: Hipstamatic, Noir, Spacepaint, Blender, SquareReady, Snapseed

 

Joanne – How often do you update your existing apps?

Cedric – oh yes! Once, I forgot to update, and the update brought many great things for the app, since then I do it regularly.

Location, Location, Location

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© Cedric Blanchon – “I Tried The Mask” – Apps: Hipstamatic, Snapseed

 

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

Cedric – All parts of the world are fantastic to photograph, just open your eyes, but I do not see everything, I would say Paris, I love this town, but if I lived here, I would be a little scared, I found that over the city is great and many people are crazy, but for photography it is very good!

Tools Of The Trade

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© Cedric Blanchon – “And We Go Leave In Smoke Our Past Memories” – Apps: Blender, Snapseed, SpacePaint

 

Joanne – Do you also use iPhoneography tool apps, such as The Photographer’s Ephemeris?

Cedric – I do not know this application but I’ll check it out.

Favorite Apps

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Cyber Soul” – Apps: Blender, Spacepaint, Glaze, Tangler, Snapseed

 

Joanne – What are your favorite, at the moment, iPhone photography apps? My favorite app?

Cedric – Difficult to choose, I give you my trio, Snapseed, noir, blender

Sharing

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Poladream” – Apps: ShakeItPhoto, Blender, Colorsplash

 

Joanne – Where do you like to upload your photographs?

Cedric – Flickr, Instagram? there are many mobile photographer that I admire, I would not offend anyone (haha), so I love to IG David Ingraham, Malcome, Aylin Argun, Ade Santora, Sebgordon, Lee Thatcher, Naprosvet but I could go on and on flickr Roger Clay, Lola Mitchell, Roger Guetta, Jarsharn,Sarah Jarret, Gusbano, asleepundercolumnsolight and plenty of others, hard to choose!

Frequency

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Meet the Headlessman” – Apps: Blender, Noir, ShakeItPhoto, ScratchCam

 

Joanne – Do you take photographs with your iPhone everyday?

Cedric – Yes, everywhere, all the time, I have become an addict, it’s become a sort of reflex, I think I have grafted my iPhone to my hand!

Favorite Subjects

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Enter The Darkness” – Apps: Cam+, Noir

 

Joanne – What are your favorite subjects?

Cedric – My favorite subject? If I had to keep one it would be the people, their lives, all that matters is inexhaustible, that’s why I love Robert Doisneau, his photos are an invaluable source for humanity.

Top Five Tips

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Woman Is The Future of Man” – Apps: Hipstamatic, Snapseed, Blender, Picfx

 

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

Cedric – The most important thing is to do what you love and follow your instincts, watch what others are doing, do not hesitate to ask for advice, and open your eyes. I am not a specialist but the more we do things and more we acquire a technique, and more if you have the eye or imagination, I think you can do great things.

Editing

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Human After All” – Apps: Blender, Snapseed, Glaze, Afterglow

 

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

Cedric – I edit mostly on my iPhone and sometime on my iPad , but never on my computer, i have not a logical mind for this!

Videography

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© Cedric Blanchon – “I Dream Of Adventure” – Apps: Vfxstudio, Blender, Snapseed, Lenslight

 

Joanne – Do you enjoy videography with your iPhone?

Cedric – So I started making small videos, I love cut , I think video and picture are the same thing, it is the image after all, Stanley Kubrick made the picture before the movies, but I do not take after him of course!

The Future of Mobile Photography

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Black Horse” – Apps: Noir

 

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

Cedric – I think mobile photography has a bright future ahead of him, this is only the beginning, Europe with eyeem in France with sites like tribegram, it is developing in the right direction, on instagram there are many meetings in France with photowalks, more exposure around it and the success is there, the mobile photography is an art like any other and it is not the camera that makes the photographer.

Popularity

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Children’s Game” – Apps: Noir

 

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

Cedric – Rich countries are unfortunately those who can afford this kind of device, America, Europe, Asia, I see pictures taken in all corners of the world, the Internet and sharing sites photos have made that possible, it is really great to be able to talk to people who live in Russia or in China, iPhoneography pulls together, it is still one of the strengths of this art!

Where In The World?

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Macadam Chroniques” – Apps: Noir, Snapseed

 

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

Cedric – I think America is ahead.

iPhone 5

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© Cedric Blanchon – “I See You iPhoneographer” – Apps: vsco, Fingerfocus, Phototoaster, Snapseed

 

Joanne – What are your first impressions of the iPhone 5?

Cedric – I do not own the iPhone 5, but I have the latest iPad, every year a new iPhone is here, it is the competition of smartphones, it’s good for us with the improvement of photos and the power of the device, but it is not good for our wallets.

The App Whisperer

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© Cedric Blanchon – “The New Videodrome, Do Scream janet” – Apps: Blender, Snapseed

 

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

Cedric – Haha, I love, sites like yours, it is really good for mobile photography, your selection of photos every week, in the Flickr Group Showcase, is just wonderful. Vive theappwhisperer!

Joanne – Merci, Cedric x

day

© Cedric Blanchon – “Don’t Tell Me, My Love” – Apps: FBlender, ColorSplash, Pixlr-o-matic, Iris

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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: joanne@theappwhisperer.com

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