I have decided to start a new documentary project that I am calling 11:59/365 It will start tomorrow 5th December at 12:00 hrs and finish 365 days later.

In part it will be a visual documentary of where I am at a set time each day, but also a visual diary, journal and even an experiment in the camera phone as a social networking/documentary tool.

The project was inspired by two things, my work with a Canon G9 point and shoot as a potential photojournalist and documentary photographers camera, in a compact form; (you can see my blog here) but more recently from an article on the BBC on the 28th August 2009 "New Media in Kashmir" on how mobile phones are being used by "Cyber Activists" and how it is used to show, document and report the disturbances happening in Kashmir.

Prompted by the purchase of a new iPhone I found Chase Jarvis's site and the iPhone App Best Camera, which has a statement "The best camera is the one that's with you" which is true of course, but then I nearly always have at least one DSLR, a bag of lenses, flash, Laptop, cables, batteries, and my Canon G9 with me 99.9% of the time, and may be dragging a tripod as well, and could even be lugging a few film bodies in addition too! However, the iPhone has several advantages; its size, weight, access and connectivity all in one.

You can see a sample photograph here of a bush that someone has decorated with accessories from a car

There is no instant, upload with a DSLR or even the compact Canon G9, although Eyefi cards (a memory card) are now available, that will connect to WiFi and download your pictures to a designated location like Flickr or other social networking sites. With a DSLR or G9, I have to switch on the laptop, transfer the images, resize them (maybe) and then send them, if I can find a WiFi Hotspot that's working. This is close to taking up an hour in normal reportage scenarios. The iPhone; a couple of minutes, tops!

Although the quality of images with the DSLR and my compact G9 cameras are obviously going to be better technically, it does not hold true that the images are any more a valid documentary photograph than the other, while the camera on the iPhone is some what basic and lacks a lot of user control, it also benefits in other ways of working creatively in its limited capacity and accessibility.

The event/subject before them would be the same for whichever camera I chose to use. The selection and my viewpoint are of course still variable and decided by me at the decisive moment of pressing the shutter to make the photograph.

But even when using a DSLR and a range of lenses or even my 5"x4" I am still working with limitations of the cameras, so the iPhone should not make any difference to the practice of documentary photographer, although the camera may affect my strategy and with the exception of one and that is the presentation of the final result.

The 3MP camera on the iPhone is not going to be enough to make a 60" x 40" print for a gallery exhibition. However as most photographs are (sadly) only seen on the web as opposed to printed form, for most users its a mute point.
Prints are the neglected medium, where the scale of the print can alter the viewers perception, and communication experience, and for the iPhone this is its biggest disadvantage.
Freedom of expression however, is what I strive for as do many documentary photographers, we don't like to see our work cut up (cropped) or our digital images altered.


Even when exhibiting there are limitations of course, the biggest is cost of making the prints, curators have to consider their audience, there may be a limit on space and so on. So the only true way to have this final freedom of expression is through the form of a published book and here the iPhone can be used, the photographer can make all the decisions with self publish books manufacturers like blurb

Its hard to imagine being out without your mobile phone in our 21st century world, and the camera phone even seems to be able to find its way into social groups of low income, or those that have been shunned by the mainstream society.

The Camera Phone gives these people a voice to photograph, video or record (audio) what is happening to them and those around them that are part of their community, a voice to record and tell what is important to them, without having to wait for the established media, who, in some countries may be more than biased, or state controlled!

In a way, by using a camera phone as a documentary tool, I hope I get to appreciate what it is like for those marginalised voices by putting myself in their shoes as it were, even though I am in the wealthy, recession hit west.

So why start tomorrow?
Well to be honest, I thought about starting it in the new year, which would give me a little play and testing time, mapping out how it would all work... smoothly. Then start it as a new years resolution, but I have been bad at those anyway, so it's not a good idea.
The main reason though, is that the people in Kashmir don't have time to plan like I was intending too; stuff happens, often unexpectedly, when you are not prepared and besides there is not a great deal to prepare other than perhaps forewarning the readers of this blog, and that is part of the simplicity of using the iPhone as a documentary tool!

As Chase Jarvis's site shows the camera phone makes a good participatory photography tool

So tomorrow the alarm on the iPhone will go of at 11:59 hrs GMT and within a minute, I will try and find a subject/event or moment in time worthy to photograph at 12:00 (as near as can be) and then upload the photograph to my Twitter, Facebook and this website.

I decided on 12 midday as it is said to be one of the "magical times of the in between" not morning or afternoon! I am not one who is going to be anywhere or doing a routine task at 12:00 either, I don't do regular meal times or anything like that, I am very random in my lifestyle!
The point in time documentary is important too, as I often know what I will be doing in a given day (I am almost organised) I could manipulate the events to provide more interesting content on any given day. The point in time means I don't really know where I am going to be in the future.

There may well be days I upload more than one image of course, and even upload video, as I want to see how the concept of using the camera phone as a documentary camera works out, so some will be done at night, or in strange places and situations, just to push it ;)

I will also give notes on my findings as well as provide information on the apps I am using

Gary