Paris on iPhone

When we’re at home, I’m behind the lens almost as often as Ian. After years of working together, we’ve determined the best way for me to capture my vision of photoshoots is simply to take any photos that I won’t be in. Flatlays, shots of my wardrobe, our home and the city – that’s all me. But when we travel, Ian carries the camera, while I snap away with my iPhone.

It sounds silly, but I relearned photography starting with my first iPhone. I studied film photography in high school, but promptly forgot everything I learned when the class ended and I returned my mom’s vintage Canon AE-1. I met Ian a few years later, and relied on him to capture our life on film, rarely picking up my own point-and-shoot camera. When I started Coco & Vera, I relied on him for all of my blog photos. It was only in the advent of Instagram that I was inspired to try taking photos again. I mastered the square “from above” snapshot and moved on from there.

Like most people, I take my iPhone everywhere – but when I’m out with friends or family, I rarely take it out of my purse. As much as I love photography now, I’m still not a great capturer of everyday moments. I probably never will be. To me, selfies are a chore. I would rather talk with someone than take a photo to document the time we spent together. And I would always rather eat my food than photograph it. But I love photos of special occasions, and a holiday is nothing is not a special occasion, which means I pull out my iPhone every five minutes when we’re away – especially in Paris.

Despite the sheer volume of iPhone photos that I take, I share them only sporadically. Even the best ones are imperfect, often blurry. But the more I experiment with my own photography, both on iPhone and DSLR, the more I realise that those imperfect photos are often the ones that conjure the strongest memories. And that makes them the best ones.

These are my favourites among the hundreds of iPhone photos I took while we were away. They are not perfect, but Paris is not, either; it is a crowded, noisy, dirty place, and I love it, and the way these photos capture it, anyway.