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David Arnold Photography+
Tok-Tok Passenger waits in traffic in Varanasi, India

Varanasi Streets | the ProCam App

Posted on March 26, 2022

The cameraphone merges the most important communication devices in the history of the planet—the telephone, the camera, and the internet. The camera phone or smartphone concept has dramatically reshaped expectations of photography and the look and feel of the camera. Camera phone conventions appeared in 1988, and the first wireless camera phone prototype appeared in 1993. In 1995, a device known as the Apple Videophone appeared, and in 1997, several digital cameras with cellular phone transmission capabilities were shown. On June 11th, 1997, Philippe Kahn jerry-rigged a small Casio QV-10 digital camera to his cell phone (an experimental camera by any definition), enabling him to capture and email a photograph of his newborn daughter Sophie to 200 family and friends.

Phillip Kahn’s laptop, camera, and cellphone used to create and upload the world’s first cellphone image.

Never before has photography been so easy and so popular. The smartphone is an essential travel item and for many travelers, the smartphone is the only camera they need. The plethora of camera phone apps has stimulated enormous interest in all things photographic. Applications to expand the functionality of the smartphone have proliferated. While traveling in Varanasi in August 2019, I experimented with the iPhone application ProCam. The application provides increase functionality by giving the user access to shutter speeds and ISO controls, as well as permitting raw capture.

  • Woman Standing At Gate in Varanasi, India
    Woman Standing At Gate.
  • Man Standing With Bike in Varanasi, India
    Man Standing With Bike
  • A Man on a Bench in Varanasi, India
    A Man on a Bench
  • A Tok-Tok Passenger in Traffic in Varanasi, India
    A Tok-Tok Passenger in Traffic
  • Family in Crosswalk in Varanasi, India
    Family in Crosswalk
  • Tok Tok Driver Stopped in Traffic in Varanasi, India
    Tok Tok Driver Stopped in Traffic
  • A Man at Steetside Cafe in Varanasi, India
    A Man at Steetside Cafe
  • Tok-Tok Passenger Waits in Traffic in Varanasi, India
    Tok-Tok Passenger Waits in Traffic in Varanasi, India

ProCam provides a feature called “show shutter” that allows multi-second exposures. Crowded with tourists and religious pilgrims, Varanasi is one of India’s holiest and most fascinating cities. It’s also one of the most crowded cities in India with its narrow streets choked with traffic for much of the day. I used my iPhone and the ProCam app to photograph the dense and intensely fascinating streets of Varanasi.

As traveled through the streets of Varanasi to visit religious and tourists sites, I experimented with the ProCam with 4 and 8-second exposures. Visiting the city during monsoon season, the skies were mostly overcast. The subdued light helped to retain highlight detail in my motion experiments and also helped to unify the color in photographs taken over a 4 day period. The small series, Varanasi Streets is offered as evidence that any camera can be an experimental camera; any camera is a creative camera. The motion experiments express the intense chaos, colors, and humanity of Varanasi’s streets

  • Motorcyclists Wait at Traffic Light in Varanasi, India
    Motorcyclists Wait at Traffic Light
  • Motorcyclists in Traffic in Varanasi, India
    Motorcyclists in Traffic
  • A Man at Steetside Cafe in Varanasi, India
    A Man at Steetside Cafe
  • A Man and Woman in Crosswalk in Varanasi, India
    A Man and Woman in Crosswalk
  • A Peddle Rickshaw Driver in Front of a Shop in Varanasi, India
    A Peddle Rickshaw Driver in Front of a Shop
  • Three Pedestrians in Front of Apartment Building in Varanasi, India
    Three Pedestrians in Front of Apartment Building
  • Man Walks Bike into Driveway in Varanasi, India
    Man Walks Bike into Driveway
  • Motorcyclists and Advertisements in Varanasi, India
    Motorcyclists and Advertisements
  • Motorcyclists Wait In Heavy Traffic in Varanasi, India
    Motorcyclists Wait In Heavy Traffic in Varanasi, India
View More ProCam Experiments

Please enjoy the short video on using the ProCam app for creating motion experiments with objects.

Using the ProCam Application
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