The first cameras, designed by the French scientist and artist Louis Daguerre, weighed about 100 pounds and were actually bulky wooden boxes. So, photography in those days was primarily studio-based, with models coming to the photographer rather than the other way around. Taking random shots on the street or in nature was out of the question!
The first digital camera prototype, released by Kodak in 1975, weighed nearly 8 pounds. While it was possible to carry such a hefty device everywhere, only the most avid (and strong) photography enthusiasts could afford it. But from that time on, more and more random photos began to appear – and sooner or later, quantity was bound to translate into quality!
Today, statistics on camera usage for various photos on Flickr, one of the most popular photo-hosting sites in the world, show that Apple ranks first among camera manufacturers, and the iPhone 16 Pro ranks third among specific camera models. So what’s the conclusion?
That’s right, mobile photography has completely changed our perception of the world. While in the era of compact film cameras, people would often think twice about whether it was even worth taking a photo at all, as the number of shots was strictly limited, today everything is limited only by our imagination and the amount of cloud storage available.
And when we sometimes take dozens or hundreds of photos a day, among these random shots, it’s quite possible to find a random, completely unexpected photographic masterpiece!
On the other hand, you have to admit that, looking at these photos here, you realize that many of them were taken during trips to various beautiful places. By the sea, in the forest, in the middle of a metropolis bathed in evening lights… The great 20th-century American photographer Ansel Adams rightly said: “A good photographer is knowing where to stand.”
Two other qualities that distinguish a good photographer are the ability to see the shot and the ability to wait. The first quality is almost essential for street or reportage photographers. For example, a friend of mine, who’s been shooting portraits for many years, honestly admitted to me that he doesn’t know how to “catch” beautiful, unusual shots just walking around the city.
And the second quality is, essentially, an understanding of what can happen in just a few seconds – in other words, in the seconds it takes to grab a smartphone from your pocket and press the camera button. If you possess these two qualities, kudos to you – you’ve definitely made your time wandering around the city worthwhile!
You know, we’ve gathered over four dozen incredibly beautiful photographs for you in this collection, so all we expect from you now is to scroll through it to the very end, enjoy the wonderful shots, and admire the photographers’ skills or reaction speed.
And if you have any random clicks that you consider worthy of sharing with others, too, please feel free to add them in the comments below. After all, as another great photographer, Robert Capa, once said, “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough…”
