Mobile Photography – A Picture’s Worth with Meri Walker – TheAppWhisperer
‘A Picture’s Worth‘… is where we ask mobile photographers that have created powerful mobile photography/art to explain the processes they took. This includes their initial thoughts as to what they wanted to create, why they wanted to create it, how they created it, including all apps used and what they wanted to convey. We also ask these incredible artists to explain their emotions and how the image projects those feelings. We have published a few A Picture’s Worth articles recently, if you have missed those – please go here.
In this A Picture’s Worth today we asked Meri Walker to tell us more about her image ‘Icarus’, she has done so, passionately below…
Apps used (with links): Camera+, Repix, PicArts, Polamatic, Rollworld, Photocopier, Stackables, Leonardo, iColoramaS
“For me, the last month of living in the United States of America has been a dark journey: physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually.
As winter descends rapidly here in the Northwestern US, by 3 o’clock in the afternoon, I get panicky that there’s just a little light left before the long night closes in again. My hands ache all the time with the damp and the cold.
I long for the light and warmth of the sun. And I long for relief from the surges of grief and rage spreading across the nation, tearing at our communities, ripping our hearts apart. War, racism, sexual brutality, moneymoneymoney, power and drugs have gained ascendance again in my homeland, obscuring the precious value of Life on Earth, driving delight underground.
So, as I’m taking my (not so) late afternoon walks with Blaze, I’m seeking signs of color and life in the dying leaves. Something I can laugh about. Something beautiful to soothe my aching heart. And hands.
This is the mental and emotional soil in which “Icarus” took shape last week.
Walking along, musing on the crazy cops and reckless greedy bankers, droves of Wall Street predators, desperate returning soldiers, jaundiced media and power-hungry fake food makers, exhausted teachers and healthcare workers…I found some drying mimosa pods hanging at eye level. In the gathering darkness, their markings looked like little sets of pursed lips. I laughed out loud as I captured some black-and-white macro shots using Camera+ on my iPhone 6“.
Contact details for Meri:
‘Plain B&W shot’ – ©Meri Walker
That evening, I used Repix, PicArts and Polamatic to edit one of the macro shots into a pretend “Polaroid,” suggesting that it’s mimosa seedpods (not their boyfriends) that give 13-year-old-girls hickies/love bites (UK).
‘Polaroid-look shot’ – ©Meri Walker
A day later, with my heart still tied up in knots over the lack of justice for the murderers of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, I found myself flipping through my Camera Roll, back to the silly seedpod shot. My fingers opened it into Rollover, reaching for the soothing balm of surprise.
And I found it. As the seedpods disappeared into a swirl of curves opening into a virtually endless “sky,” I saw Icarus and Daedalus, the mythical father and son, taking flight towards the sun. There they were, in my iPhone, powered by the hubris of believing they could and should be more powerful than anyone else on Earth.
As I continued to muse on the myth, I used Photocopier to add some texture and color to what was an essentially black-and-white shot and then added some color and texture combinations in Stackables to separate “above” from “below” in the seemingly endless space. I used Leonardo and iColoramaS to fine tune the clarity and contrast, and to infuse the “scene” with believable mythical light. At the last moment, I found the peeling texture and blended it through the smooth field of light, foreshadowing their coming destruction. And ours.
‘Icarus’ – ©Meri Walker
At this point, it’s looking more and more like hubris is our entire nation’s tragic flaw.
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
4 Comments
gina costa
Meri, it is so interesting to learn how you arrive at these mesmerizing images. Thank you for sharing with us. Sending you light!
Carolyn Hall Young
Thanks to Joanne for bringing the glimpse of Meri to us! Thank you, Meri, for bringing your whole self to this!
Jelly Beans
Meri, right on point! thank you for your wisdom, generosity, spirit, and womanhood!
Jelly Beans
Thank you, Meri!