Yaiza Lopez Garcia San Roman

Millions of photographs are made every day thanks to the fact that almost everyone has a smartphone. Modern photography is everything that is in our camera rolls. But can instant, unplanned and sometimes out-of-focus pictures of our pets, family, meals, and daily life be considered art? Or has photography’s artistic value been depreciated by its accessibility?

Photography: The Art In Your Pocket is a series of pictures that could be found on anyone’s phone camera roll, such as selfies or photos of food. Through careful production and a proposed traditional exhibition, the vernacular photos in our phones are re-created as an art project, in hopes of redefining the concept of photography as art. Part of the exhibit is a printer and a blank wall where the viewers can put up their own photos along with a caption: their own artist statements. With this, I hope to raise a number of questions, including who decides what is art? And can anyone be an artist?