Photographs represent an instant of time captured forever, fractionally suspended. That is the beauty of photos, they are able to capture perfectly a moment that would otherwise have flitted by unnoticed. This is perhaps even more possible with the invention of digital cameras, making instantaneous snapping possible. Photography is now so accessible to capturing in the moment shots, that phones are now being established that are becoming of a similar quality to a digital camera, a development from the initial novelty 2 megapixel camera. Take the new HTC phone: the advert, which depicts a man free falling from a plane doing a photography photo shoot with his HTC suggests that it can achieve the same quality as a good quality digital camera. Enough for a professional photographer to complete his photoshoot using just his phone? Perhaps not.

 
The main point is, is that photography has the potential to capture those small fleeting moments, the ones we won't remember, the ones where we were gazing into space, drooping over our most recent dramas; the ones that will be jolted by a photograph. These are our all important moments which are so often forgotten in the melee of life. This is why unplanned photographs are the best. If people know there is a camera lurking in someone's trigger happy fingers, they will be stiff and on their guard, desperate for a snapshot of reflection perfection. As a result they freeze up, particularly when the full frontal glare of the camera is on their face. It's what causes, what I call Camera Face. That stiff rigid too wide, mirror perfected smile devoid of all natural beauty. This is why I prefer to catch people unawares, head turned, smiling at the ground, looking at a friend. It's what captures life, those gazes people don't know they are doing, the small half-smiles, the reactions to the things people are watching on YouTube. It's the moments that make us interesting and real. Say no to Camera Face. It has dominated for far too long.