Smartphones Only – May 2026

The third print Exhibition took place on the last Friday of May with the theme “Smartphone Only”. Every image in this gallery was taken on a smartphone or mobile phone. No digital SLRs, no mirrorless systems, no dedicated camera equipment of any kind. Just the device that most of us carry in a pocket or bag every single day — and the photographers who chose to use it intentionally, thoughtfully, and to its fullest creative potential.

That is precisely the premise of this exhibition. Smartphones Only brings together a collection of images that explore what it means to have a camera with you at all times — not as a compromise, but as an opportunity. The smartphone has quietly become one of the most significant tools in the history of photography: always charged, always ready, and increasingly capable of producing work of remarkable quality and depth.

There is a particular kind of image that only becomes possible when the barrier between seeing and capturing is removed. A fleeting expression, a shaft of light lasting mere seconds, a scene that would be gone before a camera bag could be unzipped. The utility and convenience of the mobile phone camera has unlocked a new kind of photographic instinct — one rooted in presence, spontaneity, and the everyday.

“The best camera is the one you have with you.”— Chase Jarvis, photographer

Jarvis coined that phrase long before smartphone cameras became the force they are today, but it has never rung more true. The images gathered here are proof of that idea made visible — street scenes and quiet portraits, landscapes and intimate details, all born from the same small rectangle of glass and metal that most people use to check the weather or send a message.

Look at these images not just as photographs, but as a conversation about accessibility, intention, and the democratisation of the image. When the tool is universal, what separates one photograph from another is nothing more — and nothing less — than the eye behind it.

The third challenge of 2026, themed “Ruins” will be everyone’s objective for June.

Once again, visitors on opening night had the task of selecting their favourite “FIVE” images. As is traditional for print exhibitions, the public votes were counted from 34 voting slips that produced the following results:

• 1st Place:
  02 Grounded Motion by Ligia Glover – (14 Votes)

• 2nd Place:
  Hotel Numa by Sharon Johnson – (10 Votes)
  
• Tied 3rd Place: (9 Votes each)
  16 Grasses by Glyn Parry
  19 Quiet Reflection by Marijke McBean
  31 Jump for Joy by Nigel Chapman
  34 Mercado de Loulé by Jam Tromp
  
  4th Place:
  The Barber of Alte by Marijke McBean – (8 Votes)
  
• Tied 5th Place: (7 Votes each)
  20 Under on Cloud by Ligia Glover
  21 Donkey by Ina Tänzer
  

Congratulations to Everyone!!

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