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Cedric Blanchon – Extension of the I – Mobile Photography Interview – A Truly Fabulous Photographer With Incredible Imagination

Welcome to another new series of interviews and insights that we are running on theappwhisperer.com. This section, entitled, “Extension of the I,” goes deeper into the photographic aspects of mobile photography. It delves into the lives, thoughts and influences that our artists experience from their photography. No other mobile photography website reaches the depths and emotions of the mobile photographers as we do in this series of interviews. If you’ve missed our previous interviews of this series, you can read them here.

We think you’re going to enjoy this, a lot. today we are featuring Cedric Blanchon an incredibly talented mobile photographer. We previously interviewed Cedric in our Day In The Life Series of interviews, if you missed that, please go here. Cedric 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. He likes to define himself as an autodidact, he contributes to the tribegram site, a site dedicated to iphone photography. He has published an ebook (macadam chroniques) to the tribegram editions and it is also available on the iBookstore. He has 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 [email protected], and we’ll get it set up.

Cedric Blanchon

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© Cedric Blanchon –

First Things First

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Have you a light please?” – Apps: Shakeltphoto, Blender, Color Splash, Collage Pro

 

Joanne – How did you get started in photography?

Cedric – I started photography two years ago, with my iPhone! Previously, I practiced boxing as an amateur, and this sport took up an enormous amount of my time.

Influences

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© Cedric Blanchon – “i want your face” – Apps: Noir, Shakeltphoto, Blender

 

Joanne – Who and what are your influences?

Cedric – In street photography I am an admirer of Doisneau, for the rest, I do not know, I’m very cinephile for a long time, I imagine in my head, a mix of all his movies, I’m talking about aesthetics, I’ve read a lot of books on photography too, William Klein, Cartier Bresson, Jean loup Sieff, the surrealists, all certainly influenced me.

Subjects

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Polamoon” – Apps: Blender, Lens Light, Shakeltphoto

 

Joanne – What draws you to the subjects you seek?

Cedric – A face, a situation, attracts me and I think we need to be attentive to all, for my creations I love surrealism, an incongruous detail, a bizarre situation, in my youth I adored the monty python sketches. I try to add humor, not always but often.

Communication

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© Cedric Blanchon – “The Boy” – Apps: Blend Image

 

Joanne – What is it about these subjects that you want to capture/communicate and ultimately convey in your images?

Cedric – eg for street photography, if you can feel the street through the photo it is that it is successful, I think we should have some fun, first of all.

Decisions

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Autumn Melancholy” – Apps: Filterstorm, Color Splash, Noir, Blender

 

Joanne – How did you ‘settle’ on this subject?

Cedric – I do not know, it is through a feeling.

Exploration

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Childs Drawing” – Apps: Blender, Color Splash, Noir, Filterstorm

 

Joanne – Is there another are/subject that you would like to explore, if so, what and why?

Cedric – Oh yes, I’d love to do some kind of reportage, I almost followed a boxer and to take pictures before, during and after the fight, unfortunately he is now hurt and the fight was canceled. But to do these photos with a iPhone in this very closed universe would have been perfect, re-transmit emotions, tension and I hope joy ,it would be perfect!

Influences

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Solitude” – Apps: MPro, AfterlLght

 

Joanne – Which photographers (not necessarily mobile photographers) do you most admire and why?

Cedric – I think without a doubt Robert Doisneau, every time I see a picture of him I am in awe, it was free, passionate, and then the time at which he made his pictures was not the same as now, I think it would be much more difficult to take pictures in the street now for a variety of reasons.

Street Photography

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© Cedric Blanchon – “i remember” – Apps: Snapseed, Noir, Blender

 

Joanne – Henri Cartier-Bresson is in many ways, the Godfather of street photography, even in the 1930’s he enjoyed using a small camera for discretion in order to capture people and tell a story – do you feel this way regarding mobile photography?

Cedric – Of course, this is not the camera that makes the photographer, but for street photography , more camera is more discreet and more people are natural , the reporting of the image has changed, before Doisneau and Cartier Bresson, people mocked you taking these pictures, now people are scared. I feel we take the pictures, the screens are everywhere now, even 5 year old children have their tablets, I have seen recently that reporters in Iraq took pictures in the street with their iPhone and Hipstamatic, to be as unobtrusive as possible, this is a concrete example, the Photomobile is beginning in my view to find its legitimacy.

Technique

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Pink velvet” – Apps: Hipstamatic

 

Joanne – Tell us about your photographic technique – do you rely on intuition or do you believe in a more formal/trained approach?

Cedric – I do not know, I am a self-taught, I trust my intuition.

Evolution

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Untitled” – Apps: Snapseed, Pixlormatic

 

Joanne – How has your photography evolved?

Cedric – I think I gained technical and shooting skills.

All For One

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Untitled” – Apps: Snapseed, Blender

 

Joanne – Many of the great photographers, Jacques Henri Lartigue, Robert Frank , Henri Cartier-Bresson described only shooting images for ‘themselves’ – do you see this attitude with mobile photographers?

Cedric – The photos must be first and foremost that we like, so yes, I think if we like the photo, it will appeal to those who already love our style, and taking a picture to please everyone is too politically correct for me, in my eyes it holds no interest!

Risks

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Dream elsewhere rêve d’ailleurs” – Apps: Hipstamatic, Noir, Juxtaposer, AfterLight, Typic Pro

 

Joanne – Do you take risks with photographs, push boundaries? If yes, please give examples, if no, why not, would you like to?

Cedric – One day I took a picture of a homeless person, to try to demonstrate what is happening in our city but I feel i used this person, I am always torn finally, the limit for me would be primarily moral.

Favorite Image

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© Cedric Blanchon – “The Stranger” – Apps: Hipstamatic, Noir, AfterLight, Juxtaposer

 

Joanne – What is your favorite picture, of your own and why?

Cedric – It would be a photo of my children and it is very beautiful and the light is beautiful, simple but very rich picture to me!

Emotional Involvement

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Reservoir Dogs” – Apps: Hipstamatic, Juxtaposer, Typic, LensLight, Fotor

 

Joanne – Do you get emotionally involved with your photography?

Cedric – I think somewhere there is always emotional involvement in what we do.

Entwined

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© Cedric Blanchon – “The Bridge” – Apps: Noir

 

Joanne – Does your life become entwined with your subjects?

Cedric – No, but I still have a photo or photo idea in my head!

Post Production (Processing)

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Hello World” – Apps: Hipstamatic

 

Joanne – Do you have a special post-processing style?

Cedric – yes, I love blender, Snapseed and noir and my process revolves around its applications is a certain style finally! The style that is in your head is most important I think.

Tips for Processing

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Streetphotography” – Apps: Noir, Snapseed

 

Joanne – Do you have any tips for post-processing?

Cedric – Yes it would be that too many effects kills the effect, but simple things are best.

Workflow

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Ashes City Ville Cendres” – Apps: Noir, Rainy Daze, AfterLight, Juxtaposer

 

Joanne – Do you have a digital workflow system to sort your images, if so what is it?

Cedric – Not at all.

Development

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© Cedric Blanchon – “One Day On Earth” – Apps: Juxtaposer, Hipstamatic, Noir

 

Joanne – How do you think photography has changed over the years?

Cedric – I hope that the mobile photography will be at the same level as conventional photography, people will not see any difference between the two, and that the photo ‘the star’ not the camera.

35 mm Film Days

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© Cedric Blanchon – “Atmosphere” – Apps: Rainy Daze, Noir, AfterlLght

 

Joanne – As a mobile photographer you’re at the cutting edge of technology, do you ever hanker for the 35mm film days?

Cedric – I’m young and I do not known 35 mm film apart in from in books, we must live with the times when the cd arrived we predicted the death of vinyl and the latter returns, life is an eternal return .

Links To All Apps Used and Mentioned In This Interview

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© Cedric Blanchon – “The room” – Apps: Dreamcam, Snapseed

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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