The past 12 months have been a fantastic journey. Along the way I have had the privilege of meeting many talented mobile photographers and have been inspired by so many more.
As we approach the festive season I thought it would be interesting to invite 24 mobile photographers who have inspired and supported me in one way or another and ask them to offer an insight into their photography, to reflect on their year gone by or plans for the coming year ahead.
Each day until Christmas Eve we will be featuring one photographer in a sort of online advent calendar so to speak.
Today’s featured photographer is Carlos Agrazal.
Carlos Agrazal is a mobile photographer from Panamá who was featured in the recent Mobiography Magazine Subscriber only special. There is a beautiful quality to the black and white street photography that Carlos shoots. I love the contrast between the heavy shadows and sunlit streets.
My mobile photography takeaway from the past year is…
Mobile photography has made me reconnect with photography. During this year it has been an uncontrollable passion, that haunts me everywhere I go. I know is somewhat freaky, but in my opinion I think it is a very good obession.
As a professional musician and educator, I have seen the power that art has to educate, sensitize and teach values to children from a very early age. With mobile photography I’ve noticed that I can capture, within a second, a story, a reality that can be revived trough photography. In my opinion, pictures gets to meet a social and cultural purpose, which is something complementing to my work as an educator.
The power to document stories has gave me true love for photography. No matter which device I use to capture the image, it’s more important to document and communicate the moment.
Through mobile photography I also discovered street photography and its importance in society: The power to express something within a second, a story that will never be repeated the same way. Street photography thrives on the spontaneity of an impromptu composition which you can not plan or make a decision beyond two seconds, because it would be very late. For me, it is a very exciting fixation.
Another important lesson, is that in order to tell a good stories, we should not be tied to limits. What really matters is to continously search, to have an open mind, and to be creative. These qualities should be supplemented with the mastering of the fundamental elements of traditional photography. If you take time to learn about them, you will get better results with your phone. By studying the history of the great exponents of photography, you get a solid foundation and knowledge that can be applied beautifully to mobile photography.
Through the course of this year, I tried to apply all the basic concepts of traditional photography into street photo shoots with my phone, playing with concepts like light and shadows, rule of thirds, composition and subject placement, in order to communicate a good story. To conclude, the lesson I’ll cherish the most, is that mobile photography is a very valid an artistic expression that allows me to share what is in my mind and heart. As Henry Cartier Bresson once said, “To photograph is to put on the same line of sight the head, the eye and the heart”.
Connect with Carlos Agrazal
Parc-mobilephotography.com | EyeEm | Instagram | Oggl | Facebook | Twitter | tumblr | Google+ | AMPt community | Flickr
Hear hear! Some very wise words and a fabulous image you’ve given us Carlos. Great stuff mate, I’ll be sure to check out your photos. Congrats.
Thank you so much Andy ^_^ Albion