The ‘Shot on iPhone’ Apple Campaign is nonsense.

My problem with it is simple — it’s based on bullshit.

If you look at the simple premise behind the ‘shot on iphone’ campaign, it’s this:

Look what pretty pictures your iPhone can take.

“Oh boy, if you have an iphone, then strap in, because every photograph you take is gonna be billboard worthy! You better invest in a good physio because you’re gonna be high fiving so many people your shots are that good!”

THIS IS HORSESHIT.

1. You know what makes amazing photographs? Amazing photographers.

You could give Platon, Rankin, Mario Testino, or any heavyweight working in the industry today a shitty camera, and they’d probably still be able to do a better job than most other people with a £50,000 camera. This point is excellently showcased in Digital Rev’s ‘Cheap Camera Challenge’.

2. At best it’s misleading, at worst it’s DAMAGING.

When you buy an iPhone based on this campaign, you think to yourself “Right, now my photography will be so much better!” So you take a snap, you look at your screen and you realise — oh, this doesn’t look like the billboards. Here’s where that’s bad.

Instead of thinking “okay, well I know the camera is pretty good, but maybe I need to work on my skills a little”, you’re led down a more damaging path of “Well, the camera is amazing, and my shot was rubbish, maybe photography’s not for me.”

If you have been GUARANTEED that your shots will be great, which is what the campaign is saying, then it’s pretty disheartening when you take anything other than a perfect shot. When you’re starting to snap images on your phone, you want to be encouraged, not discouraged.

3. If you stand in front of beautiful things, you’re gonna get beautiful images.

NO MATTER WHAT CAMERA YOU USE.

Put anyone in front of a beautiful, angel-like new-born baby, or an ice cavern or whatever the fuck is on those billboards, they’re gonna get a half decent shot using whatever camera they give them. And this is it. If you stand in front of a beautiful thing, you’re gonna get a beautiful photograph — end of.

4. If you suck at taking photos, then you’re gonna suck no matter how shiny your god damn iPhone is.

This was even beautifully shown by Tim Cook, who took a photo of the pitch at the super bowl. It was a shitty picture, and then the internet jumped on him.

“OH, LOOK HOW SHIT THE IPHONE REALLY IS AT TAKING PICTURES’.

FUCK YOU.

The iPhone isn’t shit, Tim Cook is a shit photographer. He’s great CEO probably, but he’s a shitty photographer.

Look, I’m all for the increased democratisation of photography. My first ever camera was a Sony Ericsson K750i — my first camera phone. But come on Apple, the camera that took these images had nothing to do with how good they are.

In summary: fuck you Apple. Stop taking credit for someone else’s skill.