SENT-SATIONAL IMAGES

A group in Los Angeles is preparing to host the first major exhibition of phonecam art in the United States. The show, aptly named Sent, will explore camera phones' creative potential through the imagery of professional photographers and ordinary people alike.

The gallery exhibit, to be hosted later this year at sixspace in Los Angeles, will consist of multiple plasma screens displaying photos in a constantly refreshing array of images. Printed versions of artists' images will be displayed on gallery walls and will be available online for viewing.

Starting Feb. 26, amateur camera photographers can contribute images to the Web site, www.sentonline.com, along with a camera phone Weblog to be posted on an online photo gallery. These photos will be on screen at the art gallery as well.

“Basically it's just a different kind of camera, and it puts photography in the hands of people who, under normal circumstances, would have never carried around a camera or taken pictures of things,” said Sean Bonner, project co-founder and sixspace co-owner. “It just makes people look at things differently. As well, it's exploring what people who do carry cameras around can do with this picture in a format that's different from anything they've ever been used to.”

Bonner said the inspiration for the project sprung last October from project co-founder Xeni Jardin's tours of Barcelona. “Xeni was in Barcelona, and she was just sending in images. We were just talking and IMing back and forth while she was out of the country, and it just sort of came up.”

Bonner says an exhibit of phonecam imagery is only relevant in the present tense as camera phone technology keeps improving.

“There's a limited window to do it because as the technology gets better they'll basically just be like digital cameras, so there won't really be anything specific to doing it with camera phones,” Bonner said. “It's really a thing that can happen now and only now. Once the resolution is as good as a regular digital camera off the shelf, it loses any sort of impact.”

Slated artists include Webloggers, including actor Wil Wheaton and recording artist Weird Al Yankovic, and several professional photographers.

Los Angeles-based professional photographer Meeno had just purchased a camera phone when he was approached about Sent.

“In the everyday world there is a lot that is really aesthetically valuable, and taking a picture of it implies singling out those moments that are just quintessentially important for some little reason,” he said. “And I love the quintessentially important reasons within the bigger scope of the day.