Joseph Keca

part ii - iphone edition

i stand by the fact that some of my favourite photos have been taken on my iphone(s). not a ton, but a select few. mostly because i’ve made a habit of lugging around an extra 5-15lbs of camera gear on every outing i go on. while physics still doesn’t allow for phones to match pro camera quality, they’re pushing as hard as they can to compete. i don’t think we’re really that far off from the “look how good this photo is [for an iphone]****” caveat getting removed.

it’s also been a fun exercise of pushing what they can do to the limit, testing the boundaries of what they’re capable of… and there’s always some creativity in containment. being stuck within constraints can be really helpful to try something new (even if that just means going for a hike sans camera 🙃)

A little while ago, I was invited to a VSCO meetup in Vancouver. I got to meet and a bunch of other very talented photographers and we spent the evening talking about all things photography.

A few thoughts arose for me; first just realizing how long I’ve been taking photos and how - even though it’s become my job - I still find a lot of joy and artistic expression from it. It also cemented the fact that I love the platform because it really takes the pressure away from posting. I don’t worry about ‘how will this perform’ or anything silly like that. I just post - it’s my curated photo diary and I love it.

But it also reminded me of this problem that I have… that I feel like I like to take a lot of photos in different styles and trying to curate my shots is challenging. Lucky for me though, VSCO has actually done some of that, reposting a solid selection of my work. and honestly, it’s really nice to have that done for me 😅 They’ve chosen images I wouldn’t have necessarily shared on instagram because I didn’t deem them ‘engaging’ enough or something silly like that. It’s just cool to get another perspective on your work; an outside voice. It’s something that I find just doesn’t happen in the same way over here.

All that to say, big thanks to the team at VSCO for helping me keep my passion for photography alive and creating a space on the internet that really feels driven by art and the creative spirit.

a little sufferfest usually means better photos. i don’t make the rules 🤷🏼‍♂️