OKDOTHIS – iOS Photography Community App – Temporarily Free
OKDOTHIS caused quite a stir when it was launched on November 25 this year. It has quite a history, World-renowned photographer Jeremy Cowart had an idea for an idea-sharing mobile app several years before OKDOTHIS launched. It took him bringing this idea to an eager and capable group of app developers to make it happen.
“I’ve done a lot of teaching in the past,” explains Cowart. “When I teach, people always say, ‘How do you know what to tell your subjects? How do you know what to do?’” At first, Cowart thought in terms of photography. He then realized the concept of idea-sharing could extend to any community or interest group.
Cowart originally conceived of an app built upon his own name as a brand to share ideas and techniques with other photographers. But as he shared his app idea with other creative people, he began to see the power of opening his app up to more and more users. “I later realized it would be cool if everyone could join in this concept of an idea pool, where we could share and do each other’s ideas. That’s how the concept of OKDOTHIS started.”
Cowart brought the idea that would become OKDOTHIS to Nashville-based Aloompa, the mobile app development company that created FestApp. He says, “They’re an extraordinarily talented team made up of Bryn Bodayle, Nick Sigler, Allie Smith, Andrew Lattis, Drew Burchfield, Tyler Seymour, Kurt Nelson, as well as many others on the Aloompa team. On top of that, they’re easy-going, humble, and efficient. That’s a rare mix.”
In August 2012, Cowart and Aloompa brought web developer Jeremy Pinnix on board to build the the app that would become OKDOTHIS. Pinnix worked with the team for over a year, refining and improving the app through rigorous testing and private beta releases. Eager mobile- device photographers got their hands on these early releases and a small user community began to grow, along with the buzz about the power of OKDOTHIS.
As Aloompa developed OKDOTHIS it became clear that the project would become more than a simple mobile app. “OKDOTHIS grew from an idea into a new company,” says Cowart. “We all have a burning passion for OKDOTHIS, and we won’t stop anytime soon. More exciting things are coming in the future.
It’s an exciting app and if you haven’t downloaded yet, then you must do this today. It’s free, it usually retails for anywhere between $1.99/£1.49 and $0.99/£0.69 – Click here to download.
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photographer, photography journalist, editor and curator and the founder and editorial director of TheAppWhisperer.com, an independent international photography publication established in 2009.Her journalism, criticism and commentary have appeared in The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Financial Times, BBC, Vogue Italia, LensCulture, Popular Photography, Android Magazine, NikonPro, DPReview, Which Digital Camera and Which Camera. She has lectured internationally on photography and mobile art, served as a juror for international photography awards, and exhibited her own photographic work across the UK, Europe, South Korea and the United States.Alongside her editorial work, Joanne's photographic and postgraduate research explores death, grief, memory, representation and social inequality through contemporary photography, participatory practice and visual research methods, with the longer-term aim of developing this work through doctoral research.Through TheAppWhisperer, she continues to publish independent photography journalism spanning contemporary photographic practice, mobile imaging, photographic apps, computational photography and emerging imaging technologies.Joanne is available for editorial commissions, photography projects, judging, curatorial work, speaking engagements, consultancy and selected collaborations.
