A new lineup of inductees to the much coveted International Photography Hall of Fame was announced last Thursday for World Photography Day. Amongst the eight culture shocking individuals was an unlikely but familiar face. The late Steve Jobs, co founder and visionary of Apple Inc.
There is no question to the iPhone’s impact on the photography world. That tiny camera and sensor revolutionised the snapshot through virtue of the App Store. Hipstamatic and Instagram at first, later iMovie & Youtube as the 3Gs model brought with it video production, Facebook and Twitter as social media took mobile communication more seriously and most recently the king of ephemerality, SnapChat have all contributed to the platform that Steve Jobs created. The iPhone’s impact stands alongside the Kodak Box Brownie in terms of contribution to photography.
An excerpt from IPHF.org’s website:
Steve Jobs was an American inventor and entrepreneur who cofounded Apple and led it to become the world’s most innovative company. Steve helped create products that revolutionized the creative world and became essential tools for designers, filmmakers, music producers and photographers. Passionate about photography both in his work and personal life, his most profound contribution to the artistic community and the world is the iPhone which, in less than a decade, has changed both the art of photography and the industry around it.
A single product may be enough to earn Steve Jobs the selection however his enthusiasm for photography didn’t begin and end at the iPhone. Take John & Thomas Knoll’s induction for their improvements in digital photography editing with Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom; a software package that was at first exclusive to the Apple Mac.
Steve Jobs was a huge fan of the Polaroid company during its heyday and modelled Apple’s product launch on the success of the once photography giant. It’s no coincidence in retrospect to see Mr Jobs taking up the mantle of extreme photographic innovator as the man who took the American baton from Polaroid in the 1980s.
A formal induction for the 8 new faces will take place on October 28th 2016.
Phogotraphy 