Stockland Martel

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Do you keep a version of your portfolio on your cellphone? I can’t think of a reason not to. You never know who you’ll meet when you’re at an exhibition opening, on a plane, at a party, whatever, and while proffering a business card and mentioning who you’ve shot for can be effective, it seems like your actual work would be your best representative. And if you have an iPhone (or iPod Touch), you can get an app like Portfolio for $4.99 or download Flickr’s iPhone app for free. Having your portfolio with you at all times, in other words, costs a pittance.

Right about now, I’m feeling self-conscious about the fact that I only just got an iPhone and am in awe over it in a very 2007 way. Then again, I still see photographer websites that use Flash—new websites by established photographers—even though it’s well known by now that Flash makes it much harder for your site to be found by Web crawlers. (“Putting your entire website in Flash, or including captions and keywords in the image itself instead of as text below the image, is not advised if you expect search engine traffic,” notes PhotoShelter in an article on photographer websites.) So I’m operating on the premise that what’s old news to some people is a full-on discovery to others.

If you’re interested in exploring the possibilities of your iPhone for your photo business, pay a visit to this blog, where a photographer has posted her tips for using the iPhone as a “multipurpose tool,” like making albums of reference photos. And check out American Photo‘s recent feature “Photographers and Their iPhones.”

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“…Cameraphone photography has become more than just a visual notebook, a journalistic record of events or a way to send friends photos of your dog,” the article asserts. “While most photographers will claim that they simply fell into shooting with their cell phones, saying, “What the heck, I’ve always got my phone with me,” it has rapidly evolved into a legitimate tool for artistic expression and has even shown up in commercial outlets, such as Robert Clark’s commissioned book Image America, shot entirely with his cameraphone. Fullana landed a cover gig from Time Out New York for his urban iPhone images.”

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The American Photo story focuses on four specific photographers, and the magazine’s blog “State of the Art” offers perspective from an additional three who’ve made the iPhone part of their daily routine. Meanwhile, if you’d like to share your own experiences with or advice for using the iPhone in your photo biz, please do post a comment or send me an email (kristina at stocklandmartel.com).

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