Matt Hawthorne, Untitled, 2010. Images courtesy Photos Do Not Bend

A gallery in Dallas is holding a photography show with a twist – each of the pictures on the wall was captured with an iPhone. KERA’s Stephen Becker reports:

KERA radio story:

Matt Hawthorne was in Los Angeles when the perfect Southern California image presented itself.

HAWTHORNE: “The light was so good, and I was catching that flair through the palm trees. I couldn’t run home and grab my camera and come back, because it would have been gone. So right then, you just bust out that little iPhone and go.”

The picture is part of “iShow” at the Photos Do Not Bend gallery in Dallas. Hawthorne is one of 10 photographers who contributed pictures captured with an iPhone.

The photographers at the recent opening reception weren’t ready to retire their traditional cameras just yet. Smarthphone cameras are still limited by their metering systems and by the size of the images they can produce.

But exploring the limitations of such a high-tech tool was what drove some of the photographers to participate.

Ryan Hartsell, Urban Anomaly, 2010

BRODÉN: “It’s like having a pencil and not having a palate of colors. You use what you have. That’s what worked for me.”

Fredrik Brodén is a professional who shoots with his iPhone nearly every day. For one of his photos, he took advantage of his iPhone’s tendency to over or under expose.

BRODÉN: “That light bulb up there – I knew that was going to kind of look like a sunset, because it was going to be so blown out. With a regular camera, you might have seen the light bulb.”

Photos Do Not Bend owner Burt Finger said the iPhone isn’t necessarily the future of photography but it’s a step in the art form’s evolution.

And Ryan Hartsell, who co-curated the show, says seeing the photos in a gallery is yet another step.

“Having them archivaly printed and put up just like any other photography would in a proper art show helps bring legitimacy to the iPhone as another tool in the camera bag for artists to make fine art with.”

“iShow” runs through Oct. 9