Markus Andersen on Mobile Photography

All Photographs: Markus Andersen

Markus Andersen has a passion for revealing truths and creating unexpected narratives through photography. His focus is primarily documentary and conceptual bodies of work using both analog & digital camera formats. Markus has held solo and collaborative exhibitions in New York, Paris, Toronto, Istanbul, Sydney and the United Kingdom, and his work is represented in private and institutional collections around the world.

Markus Andersen’s first book, Rage Against The Light, was released in late 2015 and a second book, Cabramatta: A moment in time, was released in early 2017 (both titles through T&G Publishing). You can see behind the scenes footage from his Cabramatta project in a recently released documentary (directed by Maria Tran) titled Cabramatta Into The Light.

We asked Markus to share some tips and his thoughts on mobile photography and here is what he had to say.

“The mobile phone camera has on occasion become my diary for recording certain spontaneous moments of life. I am not a photographer that walks around daily with my big cameras in hand unless I am shooting a specific project.”

“I do have trouble switching my eye off, I subconsciously scan a scene for a possible picture, whether it be walking down a city street, at the beach or hiking in the Blue Mountains. As a result, the mobile has sometimes become the camera I use to grab a photo that just pops up. I treat the mobile the same as I would a compact film /digital camera due to its size and ability to capture instinctive images discreetly and quickly. Of course there has to be an awareness of the output limitations of a phone camera when compared to a rangefinder, mirrorless or DSLR camera and understand the parameters to work within the device.”

Markus finds that when photographing with the phone it is possible to move in closer to people on the street than when using cameras “grabbing a picture quickly before the subject is aware. I find the mobile phone useful as it is so common that people do not notice or care a photo is being taken in their direction – just another person doing what millions of others are doing.”

Markus also has a few general tips when photographing – regardless of what camera format you are using or whether you are shooting documentary or street photography. “I find certain things can help when taking these types of pictures – keeping a relaxed vibe when in public, moving around and getting your knees dirty; never using zoom lenses, looking for the unique within the everyday, pre- visualise images, paring the equipment kit down to bare essentials and don’t think too much when shooting. As thought can sometimes be the enemy on the street, just observe, react and click. When shooting life or people: scan the scene, explore the light, look for details of interest and wait for the unusual, dynamic or the unexpected to occur “