Mobile Photography and Art – A Picture’s Worth with Louise Whiting
‘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 Louise Whiting to tell us more about her image featured here. Whiting has detailed her thoughts below, we think you’ll find this invaluable…
“I tend to use my iPhone for self portraits, its usually charged and ready to go at any time. I’m quite a spontaneous person and I don’t set time aside to create, my feelings at any given time dictate what I do photographically. Sometimes I just want to wander and take photos of anything that interests me and other times I just know I want to create something meaningful. Most of my self portraits are an expression of me, there is something of myself in all of them, they are an emotional representation, not necessarily physical. I struggle sometimes with how they’re perceived but at the end of the day I create them for myself, they help me make sense of things…I think some people can ‘see’ them, I hope so anyway.
There is so much in this image that I could write about but mostly it’s loss, the loss of people, family, animals, pets, friends, even myself, I think it is one of my favourite images.
As with a lot of my self portraits this one was taken with Slow Shutter, I really like the unpredictable effect, the smooth and continuous feeling of movement which I feel can help convey a certain mood.
With this particular portrait I changed the ambiance, deepening shadows and adding contrast in Snapseed, also using Snapseed I converted it to black and white, Snapseed for me is the best way to convert an image to black and white, there’s so much variation using the different colour levels. I always use the ‘Film’ option or the ‘Noir’ without grain, I prefer to add my own grain and other textures if needed in Procreate, I usually use Procreate to emphasise or recreate a part of the portrait that’ has got lost or looks weak, in this case the lower eye water rim and lower lashes, little details like that that make such a difference. Once I had added the textures, in this case I used two, I then went back into Snapseed to do any final adjustments”.
Untitled ©Louise Whiting
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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)
