It’s a Wonkyful World

Shortly after I got my iPhone 3S, a friend introduced me to the wonders of the Hipstamatic app. At the time, I was contracting in a quiet and unfamiliar neighbourhood. There was little to do at lunchtime, so I would wander the residential streets, surreptitiously taking photos of anything that caught my eye.

Once or twice suspicious residents accosted me; fortunately I managed to pacify them. It meant, however, that I adopted a furtive methodology – and serendipitously discovered a wonderful effect of the slow camera shutter: distortion. It was random and organic, and impossible to replicate the effect deliberately. Genuine furtiveness seemed to be the key: sauntering along, I would pause mid-stride, snap a photo with a quick flick of the wrist, and continue on my way before anyone knew what I was doing.

Sadly, newer iPhone cameras are too advanced for these happy accidents, and I have not captured a distorted photograph since those early glory days.