Small Screen Impact in Photos

Over at the Poynter Institute, Sam Kirkland put up a piece about consuming photojournalism on smartphones. This is something I’ve been thinking about and trying to find a place for in my program – we have to be thinking of how our audience is looking at our work and mobile devices is a huge percentage now.

Solid advice from Kirkland and Kenny Irby throughout the piece, including this:

That could be a job for mobile and social media editors, but it’s also something photographers should keep in mind as they’re shooting. Identify details and magnify them. Look for powerful expressions. Understand that wide shots don’t work as well.

When I’ve taught smartphone photojournalism workshops, one of the key points is to get in close and fill the frame. That’s partially because of the limitations of the smartphone camera but also because if it was created on a phone, it has a good chance of being consumed on a phone.