all images by Errol Rainey
To put it simply, the internet fascinates me. What usually starts of as a regular social media crawl becomes an A.D.D fueled obsession. Where skip from page to page raiding the blogosphere for something truly unique and new. I want shiny, fierce and fresh!
The thrill, you see, is in the search and it was during one of my many internet stumbles that I spotted the exceptional work of the young Errol Rainey and his ‘phone-ography”. After a little email tag I managed to catch up with burgeoning photographer,wanting to find out more about the man behind the mobile phone.
- Who are you? I’m Errol Rainey, I’m a London based freelance photography assistant and budding photographer. Full time hustler, like everyone else. I also do a photo blog on my phone.
- And what’s your work all about? My phone photography, “Phone-ography”, are just documentations of my day to day life, looked at from a “living fashion shoot” kind of angle. Shoots usually have themes, but a lot of the time it’s everyday life. I’m very fortunate to get a lot of days off being freelance, so most of it is myself and my wonderful other freelance friends doing everyday things. I just take a snap from a different angle, bending reality almost. The blog is also live, so I take a picture on my phone, edit it on the phone and then send it to my blog. So the key is knowing that you’re seeing things in the now, as opposed to back then, which don’t get me wrong I do like!
- Phone Photography is genius, how did that idea come about? Well to be honest the phone itself was advertised for its camera, its super quality and all that jazz but it’s still a phone. Its shit quality, but that’s the charm. I hate the mediocre quality of your standard digital cameras, I still like film best of all. I always carry a little 35mm snap camera, a little digital, my phone, and when you add my iPod it’s all too much.
I always upgrade to the latest camera phone when I can. It was last summer I realized while messing about on my phone and editing the pics, that they looked kinda cool. If it’s a nice moment, some nice light, framings ok, then it doesn’t matter what camera you’ve used. Your eyes will usually see something nice, hopefully. - What kind of phone do you use? Well, I hate to answer this one because I asked for sponsorship and never got a reply. Could have been a wrong email address, so I’ll tell you, it’s a Sony 5mp camera phone with 3 stripes down the sides like a pair of Adidas joggers. I haven’t a clue on the model name. But there ain’t many to choose from with those specs.
- How do you handle shots where you need more specific focus or lighting? I rarely shoot at night, because the camera on the phone goes blind and the flash is weaker then birthday cake candle. I tried using a bike light as filler to help, but that kinda flopped. So I just have to shoot where it’s bright and then find the shadows. You can’t get much bokeh in the images so I usually focus on the subject, everything else is usually in similar ranges. But to put it bluntly I don’t shoot it if the lights too low or the subject is too fast.
- Which do you prefer film or phone photography? Film for sure, but I love the phone more than I used to, because with out it I would have never taken any of the pics on the blog. Or ones that couldn’t make it and I think there are a few cool ones up there.
- What is your worst vice? Smoking good weed and just chillin’ all day with Cosmo (EdNote: The Dog), happens far too often. Buying bottled water also, but Hackney tap water ain’t too nice.
- What is in store for you this year? Shoot more, assist more and learn more. Got a few things that excite me lined up for the summer but if nothing comes from them I’ll look like a fool for mentioning them.
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