5 amazing examples of iPhoneography

If you’ve been anywhere near Instagram, you’ve probably seen the hashtag. Android may be dominating the smartphone market, but when it comes to mobile photography, there’s no denying the iPhone has had a major impact. Apple knows it — it claims more photos are taken everyday with an iPhone than any other camera, and Flickr stats show that the various generations of the device take spots one, two and three in the rankings of most popular cameras used by its members. So when you hashtag #iPhoneography, you’re joining a pretty massive community.

So what exactly is that community uploading? Some nicely filtered latte art, a sunset snapshot or two and a lot of photos of cats? Well, yes. But they’re also capturing some pretty amazing scenes and moments in their lives using their phones, and editing them on the go with an ever-expanding suite of powerful apps ranging from the casual Instagram filter to more high-level tweaking using apps like SnapSeed, VSCOcam and Camera+.

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Some of the best work by South African iPhone users was showcased again this year at the annual iPhoneography SA awards, which has seen iStore team up with MarcForrest to acknowledge the efforts of mobile photographers from Johannesburg to Cape Town.

The competition has grown so much that the organisers had to split the entries up into categories to make judging more manageable. These are the entries s of the Cape Town leg of the competition:

Overall winner: Michael Carstensen (@steadimike) – She is fixed

Abstract photography winner: Ashley Newell – Chipping

Portrait photography winner: Damon Hyland (@nomadhyland) – People Trains Catch

Still life photography winner: Brigitte Stanford (@stanfordsoul) – My Button Collection

Scenery photography winner: Faatima Tayob (@faatimatayob) – Rusty Sunset

The work of all the finalists is currently on display at an exhibition in Cape Town for the city’s iFans to peruse and purchase.

Warning: Android fans and those with an aversion to square photographs may find the following visuals disturbing.