REG GORDON is well known for his work as a professional photographer, he admits that his favourite photographs are the “ones that happen by accident or when I just winged it”.
It is this idea, plus a desire to rediscover emotions or chance moments that the perfection - or demand for perfection - that digital photography imposes, which has inspired his new exhibition.
Phoning It In - a selection of moments captured between conversations is the title of the new exhibition from well known Galway photographer Reg Gordon, which will be officially opened in Sheridan’s on the Docks at 5.30pm tomorrow.
This is a photography exhibition with a difference as all the images on display here were taken, not with the professional cameras Reg normally uses, but with his two mega pixel iPhone.
By discarding his trusted, but expensive and bulky, professional camera, and relying on the basic camera in the iPhone he carries with him all the time, Reg discovered a freedom that was lost when using more complicated and “technically perfect” equipment.
“The development of digital photography has brought an expectation that every photograph has to be technically perfect, but the reality is that most aren’t,” says Reg. “Most of the greatest photographs of all time would be rejected by photographers today, because they don’t meet the strict criteria we have imposed.
“As my technical knowledge of what comprises a good photograph has developed I found myself discarding more and more images for the slightest of reasons, and not paying attention to the emotion or moment that was there.”
Anyone who uses a digital camera can identify with this. You might take a photo but deleted it instantly as it ‘was not up to scratch’. If you had given it a moment, you might have found something interesting in it. Reg was determined to free himself from these recently developed preconceptions and instead capture the important emotions to be found in random moments.
“Once I started the project I found I was walking around Galway with a renewed energy and was seeing things I hadn’t before,” he says. “It has become second nature for me to have my phone in my hand so taking photos is a natural extension of that. That has also transferred into my professional work and I feel a freedom that I had lost returning.”
Reg says his aim with Phoning It In is to inspire people to take photographs with whatever they have to hand.
“It doesn’t matter if they are perfect, once they mean something to you,” he says. “Every photograph is unique. That moment will never come again, so if you see a moment you like, capture it. You will know why you did it.”
All are welcome to the launch. For more information see www.reggordon.com
