Chinese iPhoneographer Publishes A Book Exploring iPhone Vision
Shan Lu is a Chinese now living in San Francisco Bay Area. She is also a recent graduate from Academy of Art University’s Master of Arts in Multimedia Communications program. In addition, Lu is a popular blogger in China’s blogosphere. Her personal blog "Life In Photos" focusing on travel and photography has more than 6 million hits so far. Given that the majority of photos on her blog were taken by a Digital Single-Lens camera, it was quite surprising that her first book published last December was all about iPhoneography. However, Lu thinks it’s not what kind of camera she uses that matters, but the photographer’s heart.
courtesy of the artist
The book “iPhone Vision: iPhone Photography and Image Editing” includes Lu's analysis of iPhoneography, app recommendations, iPhoneography techniques and the stories and thoughts behind her photos.
“I got my first iPhone in September 2010—an iPhone 4 that I’m still using today. I’ve been posting digital photos to my blog for sometime. And after I started posting photos using my iPhone, I saw an increasing traffic in my blog. Then there happened to be a chance and I decided to publish a book about my experience with iPhoneography," says Lu.
courtesy of the artist
Lu likes iPhoneography because “the best advantage of iPhone is its convenience; and the best camera is the one that always with you."
Lu has spent about 50 dollars “investing” different photographic apps and eventually chosen her favorite ones including PictureShow, Camera bag, Diptic, etc. to recommend and analyze individually in the book. In terms of the writing process, Lu did not encounter too much difficulty, "I only spent 5 months writing this book because almost all the materials [images] needed were done before I started writing."
From “What’s iPhoneography” to “App Recommendations;” from “Capturing the four seasons using iPhone” to “Shooting cityscapes,” Lu provides creative perspectives and useful suggestions to people who are into iPhoneography. But she also says that even if the reader does not use an iPhone, this book talks about an attitude—taking photos with an open mind and sheer enthusiasm. Indeed, Lu repeatedly states in her blog that, "no matter taken from where, a photo should have a story and the photographer's true feeling in it."
Lu is so grateful that many people are supportive about her book. “The selling is better than I thought. Maybe there will be new edition coming out. And it will also be sold in Taiwan soon. Many people told me that they understand iPhoneography better after reading the book.”
However, at this point the book can only be purchased on Amazon China and some other Chinese online book stores. Lu expresses that she wants to translate the book into English and sell it in the U.S. but still has not found the best opportunity yet.
If people in the U.S. want to buy this book, please contact Shan Lu at [email protected]. You can also visit the artist's website www.shanstudio.net to see her other photographic and multimedia works.
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Xiaomeng Li earned her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, with Honors in Mass Communication and Fine Arts at Wilson College, Chambersburg, PA. She is now a Master of Arts candidate for New Arts Journalism program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Born in Wuhan, China, Li came to the United States in 2007. Her passion lies in popular culture, cross-cultural communication, and the relationship between the Chinese government, mass media and the civil society. Li is also an aspiring photographer who likes portraiture and the traditional darkroom experience.