iPhone Photos As Art

I suspect that 25 years from now all those ubiquitous iPhone self-portraits taken at arms length will be seen by the Art world elitist as worthless kitsch if they’re not now. I also know that my iPhone camera has great limitations. However, I am enjoying the fact that it is always with me, and I can shoot photos and videos everywhere I go. I’ve posted a few of these on Facebook to illustrate daily observations, and I’ve been amazed at the comments received – things like “great photo” or “pretty” and "WOW!" Thus, I’m starting to play with the camera in earnest. The photo here is an example I took at sunset about a month ago. It was before I thought to produce an “artistic” result. Quite accidentally, I’ve got a very “pretty” image, if according to my trained artist's mentality, a bit trite. Now, I must come up with a subject or subjects that deserve to be called “Art.” At the same time, I recall a student who said to me many years after leaving my classroom, “You told me that my sunset was trite, that sunsets are boring because they are done over and over again.” Perhaps I was wrong to say such a thing then, and perhaps I am wrong now. The photo is pretty, and my iPhone has done justice to the subject.