Mobile Photography and Art – A Picture’s Worth with Robin Cohen
‘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 Robin Cohen to tell us more about her image featured here. Cohen has detailed her thoughts below, we think you’ll find this invaluable…
“When I create art, I am usually expressing my feelings and sensations, rather than only representing something visual. When I walk on the beach and feel the warmth on my shoulders, smell the sea air and see the light dancing on the foam, I try to share those sensations along with the joy that I feel in that environment. My process is pretty spontaneous. I very rarely decide in advance what I’m going to shoot, or how I am going to shoot it. Nor do I know a priori, how I will process it.
The photo I am sharing here, called “Dance like…” is an example of how I just play around until something I like emerges. I was sitting in my office one day and I suddenly thought: “I want to dance in front of my iPhone”. I took a variety of these shots. In this photo, I used Camera+ to take the shot, but in more recent photos like this, I’ve used Slow Shutter app, which creates such fascinating patterns of motion. What worked well in this shot is my loose tunic shirt (which moved well), as well as the Indian pattern on it. Then I took the shot into the wonderfully creative iColorama, which is my go-to app. First, since I was in my office, there was a whole room of stuff behind me, so I used one of the blurs to soften and blot out the background. Then, after creating a tone/set of colors that resonated with me, I used a zoom blur to intensify and highlight my sensations of movement. I created the final punctuation of the experience using DistressedFX textures and birds. For me, the birds mirrored the my experience of freedom through this dance”.
Photo ©Robin Cohen
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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)
