A Day In The Life Of ...,  News

A Day In The Life Of … Cat Morris – The Most Amazing And Talented Mobile Photographer

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 our fiftieth installment of the series, you can read the others here if you have missed them so far. Cat Morris has followed an unconventional path when it comes to art and photography and work and everything else. Cat started her professional life in the commercial photography field as a photo assistant, then to Interior Stylist. From there she worked in many different industries: fashion, advertising, film, food, back to photography, then back again to food, advertising, food, teaching, technology, finally back to photography and now her next chapter is starting to unfold.

Cat has always been a bit of a workaholic but has loved nearly every minute of her journey. She’s been searching all these years to find her medium. Picking up her iPhone and giving herself the challenge to shoot and process with nothing else this year has finally landed her in a creative place that feels right. She’s not sure what that means except to say she feels challenged daily in a positive way. Cat is looking at the world around her in new terms and trying to find a way to express what she sees and feels.

The joys of her life are pottering about in her garden, making meals for friends, teaching folks to find their inner creative voice and sharing her home with two pups that are her heart and soul.

Read more about Cat in our exclusive interview below…

Each image is titled with the apps used to create it in sequential order. You can find all the links the 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 Joanne@theappwhisperer.com, and we’ll get it set up).

 

First Things First…

mobile

©Cat Morris – ‘Stairway To Heaven’ – Apps Used – SnapSeed, Decim8, Blender

 

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

CM – Well – I’m a very early riser. Most of the time I’m up between 4 and 4:30 am. I commute into NYC and start my work day at 8am. I MUST drink a few cups of coffee before I can focus on anything.

Magic Hour…

photographer

©Cat Morris – ‘Faded Glory’ – Apps Used – Snapseed

 

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

CM – I like to check my FaceBook photo groups, Instagram & P1xels while I’m on the bus. Sometimes play with an image although a bumpy bus ride makes that sort of difficult. I tend to take photos at all kinds of random times.

 

Photographer vs Mobile Photographer…

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©Cat Morris – ‘From The Ground UP’ – Apps Used – Photo Wizard, AddLib, Rollage

 

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

CM – I started my career many years ago in the commercial photography field. First as an assistant and then as an interior stylist. When photography became work for me it stopped feeling like a creative outlet and I moved into graphic design. Flash forward to this past January. This was the first time in ages that I picked up a camera iPhone. I got an iPad around the holidays and found the App Flipboard which lead me to P1xels and I was blown away by the kind of work that was being created with iDevices! I had to jump in and try it out!

 

New Apps…

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©Cat Morris – ‘Frenzy’ – Apps Used – Camera+, Modern Grunge, SnapSeed

 

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

CM – It’s embarrassing. I’m completely addicted to trying new Apps. At one point I had close to 300 on my phone. I’ve been getting rid of some lately because I have no room left. But every time I see a review (thanks Joanne!) my finger gets itchy to click the App Store button!

 

Location, Location, Location…

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©Cat Morris – ‘Poppy’ – Apps Used – Vintage Scene, ShockMyPic, Iris, ScratchCam

 

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

CM – I’ll shoot anywhere. From hours in my garden with my Olloclip to walking the streets of New York City. The absolute beauty of working on my iPhone is that I’m always ready for anything that catches my eye.

 

Tools Of The Trade…

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©Cat Morris – ‘Aging Beauty’ – Apps Used – Vintage Scene, ShockMyPic, Image Blender, SnapSeed

 

JC – 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?

CM – I’m afraid I didn’t know what that App was – had to look it up. I don’t really plan my shoots because I have so little time in my schedule. That’s about to change and maybe I’ll get better at planning shoots in the future. I’m also going to try and give myself new weekly challenges to help me stretch my creative muscles!

The FaceBook photo groups have been great for that too! There is an amazing community of phenomenally talented artists sharing their work and ideas and creating challenges there. Their support over the past few months has helped me grow immeasurably!

 

Sharing…

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©Cat Morris – ‘Bathing Beauty’ – Apps Used – Stripe Cam, Tiny Planet, Diptic, Texture+

 

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

CM – I upload to FaceBook first, then Instagram. Instagram feeds my Flickr & Tumbler accounts. I also love iPhoneArt.com and when I’m feeling particularly bold I send my image(s) to Pixels. I have a WordPress site as well as my own site but I don’t update them as often as the others.

 

Updates…

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©Cat Morris – ‘Rugosa’ – Apps Used – Vintage Scene, ShockMyPic, Iris Photo Suite

 

JC – How often do you update your existing apps?

CM – I check for updates every morning. You just never know what new little surprise will be waiting for you in an updated App! It helps with the craving to buy new apps.

 

Favorite Apps…

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©Cat Morris – ‘Poppy Wheel’ – Apps Used – iColorama S, Iris, SnapSeed

 

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

CM – This is such a hard question!! right now I’ve been working on a series of abstracts so I guess these are the apps that I’m experimenting with now: Addlib, Tiny Planets, Diptic, Photo Wizard, Snapseed & Iris. But I love so many more! Been playing with Part this week for a challenge on MobiTog and finding it really interesting.

 

Frequency…

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©Cat Morris – ‘Pearl Diving’ – Apps Used – StripeCam, PicFrame, Tiny Planets, Texture+, Image Blender, Pro HDR

 

JC – Do you take photographs with your iPhone everyday?

CM – I absolutely shoot every day. Most of the images no one will ever see but they become the raw materials for blending and layering to contribute to lots of pieces I’m working on.

 

Favorite Subjects…

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©Cat Morris – ‘Hurtling Into The Unknown’ – Apps Used – StripeCam, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Rollage

 

JC – What are your favorite subjects?

CM – I find that I shoot nature most of the time. Flowers especially. I also like to shoot architecture, animals and lots of textures.

 

Top Five Tips…

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©Cat Morris – ‘Sea Nettle’ – Apps Used – AddLib, SnapSeed, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Photo Wizard, Image Blender

 

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

CM – 1. Have fun! 2. Don’t take it all too seriously. 3. Experiment     with both your     shooting style and your App’ing. 4. Don’t be     afraid to share your work.     5. Back up everything!!

 

Editing…

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©Cat Morris – ‘Man-O-War’ – Apps Used – AddLib, SnapSeed, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Photo Wizard, Image Blender

 

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

CM – I do everything on my iPhone 4s. I’ve tried working on my iPad but it feels overwhelming when I do. I decided on Jan. 1st that I wasn’t going to use my computer for photo work at all this year. So far I’m sticking to that.

 

Videography…

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©Cat Morris – ‘Lion’s Mane Jelly’ – Apps Used – AddLib, SnapSeed, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Photo Wizard, Image Blender

 

JC – Do you enjoy videography with your iPhone?

CM – I do. I’ve done a couple little abstract films for a group challenge on FB and would like to explore more. Link: CatMorris on YouTube I particularly liked creating the music on my iPhone too. I’m not a musician so that was terrifying!

 

The Future Of Mobile Photography…

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©Cat Morris – ‘Nautilus’ – Apps Used – AddLib, SnapSeed, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Photo Wizard, Image Blender

 

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

CM – I think iPhoneography is only going to become more interesting and creatively challenging. I still have heated discussions with photographer friends who don’t think it has any merit, but with gallery showings like the Los Angeles Mobile Arts Festival kicking off his weekend the press and the general public are really going to see what this whole movement is all about!

 

Popularity…

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©Cat Morris – ‘How Do You Like My Pearls?’ – Apps Used – AddLib, SnapSeed, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Photo Wizard, Image Blender

 

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

CM – Currently I think street photography is probably the most popular form of iPhoneography. I think it feels the most accessible to most people but there is so much interesting work being done in the areas of portraiture, landscape/urbanscape, abstraction right now. I don’t think we can say where this whole thing is going. It’s so exciting!!

 

Teaching…

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©Cat Morris – ‘Cul-De-Sac’ – Apps Used – AddLib, SnapSeed, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Photo Wizard, Image Blender

 

JC – How did the teaching side come along?

CM – I’ve been teaching for Apple Inc. for nearly five years. I specialized in photography, film making and web design. Before that I taught cooking. I love to share my passions and help folks connect with their creative sides in different ways too.

 

Where In The World…?

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©Cat Morris – ‘Meteor Shower’ – Apps Used – AddLib, SnapSeed, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Photo Wizard, Image Blender

 

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

CM – iPhoneography is worldwide! I’m meeting people from practically every continent and country. This is where I think technology has the ability to unite people in unbelievably positive ways. Creativity is the common language across cultures, ages and sexes.

 

iPhone 5…

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©Cat Morris – ‘Cymbidium’ – Apps Used – AddLib, SnapSeed, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Photo Wizard, Image Blender

 

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

CM – Naturally I hope it will have a better camera, more storage space and maybe not so easy to shatter when dropped 😉 I hope the shape doesn’t change too much because I sprung for the Olloclip lens and a Mophie battery case and I’d like to get more use out of them both in the future.

 

TheAppWhisperer.com…

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©Cat Morris – ‘Sleepy’ – Apps Used – AddLib, SnapSeed, Diptic, Tiny Planets, Photo Wizard, Image Blender

 

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

CM – I think that Joanne and theappwhisperer are an unbelievable resource for the iPhoneography community. I’ve learned so much through all the different articles, interviews & tutorials on the site. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t spend timing reading and even rereading the information you’re sharing.

JC – Thank you so much Cat, that really means a lot to me.

Links To All Apps Used And Mentioned In This Interview

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©Cat Morris – ‘I’m Watching You’ – Apps Used – Meta, Glaze, Decim8, SnapSeed

 

AddLib
Camera+
Glaze
Tiny Planets
Decim8
Diptic
Photo Wizard
PicFrame
Pro HDR
Rollage
ShockMyPic
ScratchCam
StripeCam
Snapseed
Meta
Texture+
iColorama S
Iris Photo Suite
Image Blender

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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

22 Comments

  • Adrion

    Greath interview and amazing pieces of art! What Facebook photo groups are you following?

    • Cat Morris

      Thanks so much! I’m glad you like my work. I follow a number of groups WIAM (Worldwide Iphoneography Art Movement) is one of the main ones. If do a search for groups for Art and Photography you’ll see lots that are interesting.

  • CatMorris

    WIAM (worldwide iPhone art movement) was
    My first FB group. It’s a great place to see what people are doing and share yourself!

  • David

    Great interview, Cat! Your images are always awe-inspiring! I’m off to check out StripeCam….I don’t have this one…if you can believe it!

  • Sid Cohen

    Cat, I never realized what an amazing photographer you are. Those pictures are nothing less than amazing. My respect for your talent and creativity has never been greater. I am truly a fan….

    • Cat Morris

      Thank you sooo much Sid! I’ve been enjoying this process! Looking forward to seeing you.

  • Lynette Sheppard

    I’m a big fan of Cat’s work on WIAM. iPhoneography has caused my big girl cameras to sit gathering dust – this is just such an amazing new art form. Can’t wait to see where it goes. the iPhone Diva

    • Cat Morris

      Thanks very much Lynette! I’m a HUGE fan of your work too! Absolutely love the “mid-century” feel to some of your recent pieces!

  • Rudy Vogel

    Glad to see your work get the attention it deserves, Cat! Great interview!!! 😀

    • Cat Morris

      Thank you Rudy! That means so much to me – I’m a little bit of a “Rudy Groupie”. I love your work!!

  • Robert Lancaster

    Great interview with a great artist!
    Once again theappwhisperer has delivered cool content for us.
    I am a huge fan of Cat;s abstracts and am wondering if there would be a way for me to contact her to ask her some questions … if she does not mind that is. 🙂
    Thanks again for all your great work Joanne.
    And Cat, I am also really glad to see that you are now a contributong MobiTog member too.

    • Cat Morris

      Hi Robert – thanks so much! I’m finally able to spend time with Mobitog and loving it!

  • Janine Graf

    Great interview Cat! I’m in awe of your abstracts! I’m very abstract challenged so I can really appreciate yours! 🙂

    • Cat Morris

      Thank very much Janine! Sometimes I find making my little creatures & worlds a nice escape from shooting the world around me. I just love color!!

  • Cara Gallardo Weil

    Great interview Cat! I’m so behind with everything – so much work at the moment. Wonderful to read more about you… and you know I LOVE your appstracts! 🙂

  • Cat Morris

    Thanks so much Cara! I’m really behind on everything my self. I’m loving playing with so much color these days too!

  • kachouro

    Cat (by the way: great name), Joanne: Planets of inspriation. Thank you so much for publishing this.