Camera Phones

I have just received my new cell phone and noticed the inbuilt camera and camera video on the front. I have almost always carried a small camera in my pocket to record information that I can use for producing paintings (I also paint watercolours.) The specifications of these cell phone cameras is improving at such a pace that I may in future leave my compact at home and rely on the cell phone.

I have noticed a new trend in journalism that seems to have evolved from most people having mobile phone cameras. Because of cameraphones somebody somewhere is in the position to photograph just about anything that happens on the planet. Take for example the terrible bombings in London. By the time that the press were informed of the bombings the event was over. This left them with the task of collecting as much information as possible from eye witnesses and of course there were no photojournalists at the scene to collect the horrible images.

There may have been no photojournalists at the scene, but there were a lot of witnesses with mobile phone cameras. From the number of different images that appeared on the T.V. and in the press it would seem that these mobile phone cameras were snapping away and recording eye witness images.

What I am going to say now may seem cynical, but it comes from being objective and business like. These cell phone camera pictures and videos seen on T.V. must have been collected from cell phone owners by the journalists. I can’t talk about individual cases, but often these mobile phone pictures are used to produce exclusive footage. The images are then sold on for exuberant fees to other members of the media band wagon, further increasing the profits.

How much of this profit does the mobile phone holder receive?

Think about it. We all, at some time see some newsworthy incidents as we go about our daily work. As more of us are carrying mobile cameras and video phones we are more likely to be on the spot before the photojournalist hears about the incident and turns up. If you are asked to supply them with your phone camera pictures, make sure that you negotiate a price before handing them over. They are going to make money out of the incident so there is no reason why you shouldn’t be financially compensated.

If you would like to print this page click here                                                                                              Click here to add this page to your favorites