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Lumia
March 13, 2014

Meet the Lumia photographers rockin’ SXSW 2014



At the start of this month, we drew your attention to the Windows: Art Meets Technology exhibition in New York by We Are Juxt. Now, the Seattle (and online) based mobile arts community is at it again.

We Are Juxt, celebrates the global rise of mobile photography with awesome articles and showcases. Needless to say, they’re big fans of the Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 1020. We’ve been blown away by their amazing smartphone artistry so were over the moon to discover they are also part of this week’s massive South By Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas.

The kudos of exhibiting at SXSW, the number one place to see and be seen for people involved in innovative arts, combined with breathtaking images, is guaranteed to persuade even larger crowds about the potential of mobile photography. And that seems to the mission of We Are Juxt, judging from this sneak preview of a video titled The Growing World of Mobile Photography and filmed on the Nokia Lumia 1020. Stay tuned to see it in its full glory later! In the meantime, scroll down for pictures from SXSW that take smartphone imaging to the next level.

Windows Phone x SxSW 2014 x We Are Juxt Photography

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“The Transport” by Sony Arouje

Flickr // Tumblr site of my Lumia 920 photos // Instagram // Twitter // Facebook

The Transport, Aleppey, Kerala, December 2013, Nokia Lumia 920 by Sony Arouje

How did you become a fan of mobile photography?

I am passionate about photography and ended up buying a Nikon DSLR back in 2007. Since then I have fallen in love with photography.

I saw a lot of opportunities to capture in my daily life but it was difficult to carry my SLR every where especially to work. One device that is always handy was my mobile but I never used it, the camera was very bad.

I switched to a Lumia 920 less than a year and started experimenting with the camera. I would say Lumia 920 has an awesome camera. It’s low light capturing ability is wonderful. After a couple of days with Lumia 920, I realized that the opportunities for mobile photography are endless. I decided to explore the potential of mobile photography that I had also explored with my DSLR.

Where was this photo taken and what inspired you?

This was shot in Aleppey, Kerala, India. Standing for a long time on a pedistrian bridge, crossing a lake, waiting for a right type of boat. I get back home with this photo.

Which specific setting, technique or accessories, if any, did you use?

I use Proshot camera to capture this moment. Edited in Fantasia Painter.

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“RoShamBo” by Mike Hill

Website / IPA / Flickr / Twitter / G+ / Instagram / EyeEm

“RoShamBo” Orlando, Florida, November 2013, Nokia Lumia 1020 by Mike Hill

How did you become a fan of mobile photography?

I’m a fan of photography, in general. I started taking photography classes in high school, but back then it was all film and time spent in the darkroom. Then digital came along, which I never really got into much, and now it’s mobile, or phone photography. To me, it’s just the next step in the evolutionary ladder of photography. There’s no denying the potential of the cameras on these little devices, plus it’s convenient and just fun!

Where was this photo taken and what inspired you?

It was taken in Orlando, Florida. I’ve been doing these type of photos for a while, of my hands, where it’s all blacked out around them and they seem to be floating in nothing. I’ve been wanting to try with a series of poses that could be stitched together to form a motion, rock, paper, scissors immediately popped in my head, or RoShamBo as the kids call it. To be honest, it has no real meaning, sometimes a photo is just a photo, and you just like how it looks. No over thought, pretentious story or deep meaning behind boulders, sheets of paper, or scissors. Just a photo I’m proud of. Everyone played this game as a kid, right? I still do to settle some things!

Which specific setting, technique or accessories, if any, did you use?

I bought a large solid black cloth and cut two holes for my arms to fit through. Once I found a bright sunny spot in my backyard I set the 1020 on a tripod and summoned my lovely assistant to come out and help me by pressing the shutter a few times. I used the native camera app, auto settings. Once I had a few versions of each pose I edited them using Fhotoroom, all I basically did was convert it to black and white, and then lower the brightness a lot, and raise the contrast a bit. I used my PC to stitch them all together afterwards.

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“Alaska Brown Bear” by Matt Coch

Blog // Instagram // Eyeem // Twitter // Backspaces // Flickr // Google+ //Facebook

“Alaska Brown Bear” American Museum of Natural History, November 2013, Nokia Lumia 1020 by Matt Coch

How did you become a fan of mobile photography?

Photography is photography, whether you shoot film, a high-end digital camera or a mobile phone. I first became a fan of photography while flipping through the pages of National Geographic Magazine. I became a fan of mobile photography after purchasing a phone that had a camera and made phone calls too.

Where was this photo taken and what inspired you?

The image was taken at The American Museum of Natural History. What inspired me here was the silhouettes of people milling around in front of the exhibitions. I feel like there is a little sense mystery and human curiosity within the image. Trying to tell a story or share a narrative is one of the truly inspiring aspects of photography.

Which specific setting, technique or accessories, if any, did you use?

I used the Nokia 1020’s manual exposure setting to render the silhouette. Photography is photography, whether you shoot film, a high-end digital camera or a mobile phone. I first became a fan of photography while flipping through the pages of National Geographic Magazine. I became a fan of mobile photography after purchasing a phone that had a camera and made phone calls too.

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“Ice Fishers” by Antti Tassberg

Flickr // 500px // Twitter

tassberg ice fishers

How did you become a fan of mobile photography?

I’ve been into photography since the late 70’s and used to work with SLRs and pocket cameras. The first smartphone I started use as a camera too was 808. The first time I had a good quality camera always with me. It had a major impact to my photography.

Where was this photo taken and what inspired you?

This image was captured near Hanasaari in Espoo. It was one of the few sunny days we had had during the last winter. I was taking some sunset pictures when I spotted these two fishermen. I planned to close to them and take some silhouettes but the men had other plans. They started to walk away from the ice before I was even close to them. I quickly planned a new composition, set my camera ready and waited until the men were close enough to the sun.

Which specific setting, technique or accessories, if any, did you use?

I concentrated to get the highlights right and to minimize any lens flare. So I tap focused to the bright area under the men and set the camera angle so that no lens flare was visible in the view finder. As I captured the image in DNG I could then set the exposure and tones to my liking in the post processing in Lightroom. I have adjusted the white balance a bit and applied the daylight camera profile. Tone wise I have decreased highlights and shadows and increased mid tones. The image is cropped.

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“Big in Japan” by Joel Aversing

Flickr // iphoneArt.com // AMPt // Backspaces // VSCO

"Big in Japan" Rural Louisiana, January 2014, Nokia Lumia 920 by Joel Aversing

How did you become a fan of mobile photography?

I’ve always been involved in the arts. In 2011 I purchased a mobile phone with good camera capabilities and began shooting. I joined online photo sharing sites and discovered communities of like-minded mobile artists and photographers, and more importantly, the endless possibilities of mobile art photography.

Where was this photo taken and what inspired you?
This photo was taken on the back highways or rural Louisiana. I had to capture that big sky and a young individual ready to take on the world.

Which specific setting, technique or accessories, if any, did you use?
This shot was taken with my Nokia Lumia 920 WindowsPhone using a tripod. I then cropped and increased saturation and contrast using the windows app Fotor.

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“Infinite possibilities” by Anna Cox

Email / Instagram / Twitter / Flickr / Website

Infinite possibilities

How did you become a fan of mobile photography?

I became a fan of mobile photography because it was a natural extension of my existing work. Mobile photography added a layer to my process and planning phases in painting. Eventually, it spread to my non-painting life and became an easy and convenient way to share my experiences.

Where was this photo taken and what inspired you?

This photo was taken in Galveston, Texas. Much of the time I experience things through my children’s eyes. This visit to the beach was no exception. I think this photo was the only minute My son held still the entire time. He paused just long enough to look out at the ocean.

Which specific setting, technique or accessories, if any, did you use?

This photo was taken in the Nokia camera app. I manually set the shutter speed and white balance to account for the water and my son and the sunshine.

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“Love Pushes Daisies” by Jean-Brice Lemal

Twitter // Instagram // Website

"Loves Pushes Daisies” Paris, May 2013, Nokia Lumia 920 by Jean Brice Lemal

How did you become a fan of mobile photography?

I became a fan of mobile photography with another smart phone because it was the first phone to be able to produce good pictures. I love using mobile because it’s hard; you must be close to your subject and you have to think before taking a picture. It’s only a story of feeling, not a story of material.

So, for me, the real instant moment is possible by way of a mobile picture..

Which specific setting, technique or accessories, if any, did you use?

I don’t use anything specific apps with my phone. My technique is about light, so I lock the lightest point of my scene before I press the shutter release.

Today, with the 1020, I always set it on 100 ISO and select my speed. I never use the zoom. I like to edit pictures in Adobe Lightroom.

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“Easy Creatures” by David Norbut

Website / Instagram / EyeEm / Flickr / Twitter

"Easy Creatures live at Oddity Bar" Wilmington, DE. January 2014, Nokia Lumia 1020 by David Norbut

How did you become a fan of mobile photography? Once the cameras on these phones started capturing decent images I was hooked. It’s been said before but it’s a camera you always have with you. What’s not to like? 

Where was this photo taken and what inspired you? This photo is of my buddy’s band Easy Creatures live at the Oddity Bar in Wilmington DE. The singer Shane is a wild man and always super fun to photograph.

Which specific setting, technique or accessories, if any, did you use? Proshot in Black and White setting with the flash fired. That’s it!

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As Nosyaj Zeuqram rightly pointed out in his comment to the last We Are Juxt post, this shows how “the gap between pro photography and mobile phone photography is really thinning.” Had someone shown me these photos just a few years back, I wouldn’t have believed smartphone cameras (and the artists behind them, of course) would ever be capable of such precision in detail as well as beautiful light and focus. A big thumbs up to We Are Juxt and their Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 1020 phones. We hope they’ll keep up the great work, while we’ll keep you posted.