The theme of last week’s Mobiography Photo Challenge was ‘Curves & Lines’. For this challenge participants were asked to share their best curve and line inspired photos, and the submissions were fantastic. All photos featured in this showcase illustrate how different photographers have approached this theme. Some have opted to capture the curves of spiral staircases to lead the eye into the frame while others have chosen to capture leading lines or curves to frame a subject and lead the viewers eye into the scene.
Featured photographers this week include: @persiflagepics, @bortolinimassimo, @magdalena.szurek, @sunflowerof21, @reneetakespics, @detailsofberlin, @jessica_fiore_photographie, @emilia_photographe, @aniraz95, @pennijam, @allophile_, @lorindatisdellimages, @shabsmia, @echo_hanne and @luiggi1905.
Take part in the next Mobiography photo challenge
The theme of this week’s photo challenge is ‘Joy & Happiness’. For this challenge think about sharing your best mobile photos that capture the the feelings of Joy & Happiness – Think laughter, special occasions, portraits of smiling people, or people celebrating.
To enter the challenge simply start sharing your best images on the theme of ‘Joy & Happiness’ that were taken and edited with a smartphone by using the hashtag #mobiography_challenge_141 on Instagram.
The best ones will be featured in the next photo challenge showcase, so get sharing now.
Join The Mobiography Facebook GroupUntitled
‘Untitled‘ by @persiflagepics – “I took this image as the sun came out and back lit the edifice of the south bank. The figure walked up and created a perfect silhouette but also cast that great shadow. I love trying to compose and create images in a semi abstracted way, especially with places that we see every day. It was shot on my iPhone 7 and I found a good contrast black and white on Snapseed. I wanted the shadows quite solid to add to the graphic nature of both the building and the heavy back light.
For me the image tells an urban story of a human dwarfed and confronted by their environment but still able to express themselves.”
Subway life XVI
‘Subway life XVI‘ by @bortolinimassimo – “I took this picture at the end of July 2020. We were in between the two waves of the covid epidemic in Belgium. There were still few people in the streets, because of the fear and because of the holidays. I decided to spend that day in the metro. In Brussels, each metro station has a work of art – painting, sculpture, photography – and I spent the day going in and out the metro wagons to shoot those works. The Pannenhuis station is one of the few which don’t have specific work of art, but the architecture of the station make it one of the most spectacular of the metro network, with its red-orange colors. At the moment of shooting that part of the station, I didn’t notice the sun reflection, which gives a particular feel to the picture.”
Untitled
‘Untitled‘ by @magdalena.szurek – “Stairs like these can create unimaginable compositions if we try to imitate them in a suitable way. This time I decided to photograph the stairs in Warsaw at the royal castle.
I used my smartphone Xiaomi MI Note 10 Pro and then in the phones app, I emphasized the contrast and color of spiral stairs”.”
Kirkstall Abbey
‘Kirkstall Abbey‘ by @sunflowerof21 – “This is a shot of Kirkstall Abbey in Leeds, Yorkshire. I shot this for an Instagram takeover I was doing for Visit Leeds. I wanted to get as much of this section of the Abbey in the frame as possible, and give a sense of its scale, so I got down low and used the wide angle function of my iPhone11 Pro Max camera, only slightly. I edited the shot in Hipstamatic (combo Jane/Telegraph).”
Travel nirvana
‘Travel nirvana‘ by @reneetakespics – “This shot was taken in the Chicago International Airport United tunnel – anyone who travels through there knows it well! It is a sensory experience of light, color, and sound. When I heard our flight was delayed, I was ecstatic to have the time to play and find a unique perspective of this much photographed location.
I took the photo with my phone held upside down with the camera closet to the floor to maximize the reflections, and processed in Snapseed for cropping, straightening, and color balance.”
Untitled
‘Untitled‘ by @detailsofberlin – “Berlin is famous for its backyard buildings and I also have this thing for spiral staircases. This combination lets me check buildings on a regular basis if there is a cool spiral staircase that I can use for #staircasefriday. After a while you get a feeling which building could have a spiral staircase and with this one I was lucky as well, it’s in an office building in a southern part of Berlin, Germany. It was shot on the LG Velvet with the awesome wide angle mode, which is just perfect for these kinds of shots. ”
Untitled
‘Untitled‘ by @jessica_fiore_photographie – “This photo has been taken with an iPhone 8 Plus. Sometimes, you just wander around the house and you force yourself to look up and find those amazing lines and curves. With the great framing it a real peace of art!”
S P I R A L
‘S P I R A L‘ by @emilia_photographe – “The word “spiral” has come to have such a deep and impacting meaning for me. It does so, in how it relates to navigating the journey of life.
So often, we get caught up in believing that we’re not progressing the way we had hoped, or along the timeline we had anticipated. We fool ourselves into believing we’re lost, stuck, or worst yet, feeling a sense of doom, when we’ve been dealt a bad hand.
While such predicaments can certainly feel true and cause us a lot of pain, I believe them to be a fallacy, in that they are based on our conditioning of how we were taught to view our circumstances. But a shift in perspective can truly change what we’ve come to believe as truth, and ultimately, awaken us to see the other side.
We can assert that life is most certainly not a straight line. In fact, it has many highs and lows. Then, we must also assert that it is crucial for us to be vigilant in remembering to trust the route, especially during the low points.
Hermann Hesse wrote in his book, Siddhartha, “We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral.” So that, what may feel like a lack in movement or a setback is merely an illusion. That any hardship is not intended to hinder, but, in fact, to trigger us to tap into our power and persevere. It is a means of delivering us towards reaching a full circle, to graduate and advance us to the next level in life, better and stronger.
We are here to experience life. This upward spiral symbolizes that, and our expansion. That with every ring, a greater sense of awareness and a strengthened capacity is established, beyond what we are willing to see.
So you see, we are on our way. And always have been. Trust the route. We are going upwards. The path is a spiral.
This photograph was taken back in September 2017 of the beautifully suspended stairwell at Barneys New York in Chelsea. I made a trip out to New York, specifically to photograph this stunning masterpiece, designed by architect Steven Harris. It did not disappoint; just a little saddening now that the store is permanently closed.
(Shot on iPhone 6s and sharpened on Instagram.)”
Looking up
‘Looking up‘ by @aniraz95 – “This photo was taken during a heritage group tour to Jakarta and Banten in Indonesia in November 2019. The group made a stop at the Masjid Istiqlal for late-afternoon prayers. I was captivated by the architectural design of the mosque; and upon entering the main prayer hall, the huge and beautiful interior of the dome took my breath away! There was a large crowd of people performing their prayers but I managed to get to the centre of the dome and pointed my smartphone flat up and took the photo. I did some enhancement to the exposure, saturation and cropping using Snapseed.”
Untitled
‘Untitled‘ by @pennijam – “This photo was taken in the newly renovated flagship Hermes store in Sydney’s CBD. The store is located in a heritage listed former banking hall and a key feature of the renovation is an amazing sweeping staircase in the middle of the store. The staircase was constructed by master boat builders and is made out of ash wood and fibreglass. Because of COVID restrictions, the store was very quiet when I visited it so I was able to take many photos of the staircase from different angles – this photo was taken from the ground floor looking upwards – the dark lines are the ash wood which was apparently steamed into shape. The photo was taken on my iPhone 11 Pro Max and edited in Snapseed.”
Arching upward, westward bound, St. Louis…
‘Arching upward, westward bound, St. Louis…‘ by @allophile_ – “The Gateway Arch in St. Louis is one of those public monuments that is über-photographed yet still overwhelms you when you see it in person. This photo is from my very first year of having an iPhone — an iPhone4! — when I was just beginning to understand the potential of mobile photography. I was in St. Louis for a work conference, and my hotel was just across the road from the riverside park where this giant metal arch soars into the sky. Going for my morning run beneath and around the Arch, I was glad to have my iPhone with me. I took this photo with the native in-phone iPhone camera. It was actually several years later that I used Snapseed to turn this photo into a grainy black and white image.
Designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen in the early 1960’s, the audacity of the minimal form—metallic geometry seeming to defy gravity on this seminal spot in North American history — distills the sense of place in a truly awe-inspiring manner. I was glad for my fellow runner who stopped in just this spot as he ascended the steps, gazing upward just as I thought about taking this photo: the scale of the structure would be lost without his presence, which adds a human element to an otherwise almost abstract scene.”
Beauty is everywhere
‘Beauty is everywhere‘ by @lorindatisdellimages – “One of the things I enjoy most about photography is how it’s taught me to look around and see the world a bit differently. This photo is a perfect example. It was shot on a bright, sunny day in Cozumel, Mexico using an iPhoneX.
Photographing this stucco and concrete staircase looking down from the seventh floor, I suddenly wondered what the image might look like from the ground floor up. Inspired, I ran down the stairs, looked up, and viola, one of my favorite images was born! I loved the interplay of the shadows and light, the curve of the arches, the texture of the stucco and the “tunnel” effect, which I enhanced using Snapseed, followed by a final square crop on my iPhone.”
Untitled
‘Untitled‘ by @shabsmia – “When I see the world I always notice shadows, lines and curves. I see them everywhere I go.
This staircase at Mall of Africa caught my attention. The likeness of ‘The marvelous spiral’ found in nature was evident in the design.
All my photos are captured on a smartphone using basic editing skills. To achieve the look of my photos I use the Inkwell Instagram filter. I play around with the contrasts, shadows and highlights to get the desired effect.
I am unconsciously drawn to the logarithmic spiral and I always think #theworldneedsmorespiralstaircases”
Untitled
‘Untitled‘ by @echo_hanne – “This picture was taken a couple of years ago when I left the airport in Stockholm to get to the train downtown. Usually I try to take an elevator as I am afraid of heights. This time I could not find one. So I went on this escalator that seemed quite long to me and did not dare to look back. Once I made it upstairs I was so proud of myself that I cautiously turned around to take a picture of my “accomplishment”. I was fascinated by the symmetry and leading lines I saw! This “vertigo” shot was taken on iPhone 7 Plus and edited with Instagram.”
“Never look where you come from, but where you are going.” – Pierre Augustin de Beaumarchais
‘“Never look where you come from, but where you are going.” – Pierre Augustin de Beaumarchais‘ by @luiggi1905
Don’t forget…
The theme of this week’s photo challenge is ‘Joy & Happiness’. For this challenge think about sharing your best mobile photos that capture the the feelings of Joy & Happiness – Think laughter, special occasions, portraits of smiling people, or people celebrating.
To enter the challenge simply start sharing your best images on the theme of ‘Joy & Happiness’ that were taken and edited with a smartphone by using the hashtag #mobiography_challenge_141 on Instagram.
The best ones will be featured in the next photo challenge showcase, so get sharing now.
Join the Mobiography Facebook Group
If you haven’t already done so, follow Mobiography on Instagram and hashtag your photos with #mobiography. Don’t forget to sign up to the Mobiography email list to get the latest news and updates direct to your inbox.
Join The Mobiography Facebook Group
