Chad Phaire has caught the eye of the BMX scene with his pegless suaveness contrasted against the gritty four-pegged norm in NYC. He’s been steadily gaining more notoriety through his edits for Cult and for being an all-around motivated and appreciative individual. One thing about Chad that most people might not know, and I did not know until recently, is that he’s got quite the photographic eye. A lot of people have it- the instinctual attraction to the elements of art- but don’t have access to the proper mediums (or the gumption) to translate those inclinations into artwork. Thanks to the rapidly evolving world of technology, anyone who owns a cell phone can now shoot photographs of a decent quality (most cell phones these days have more megapixels than my first digital camera, purchased a decade ago) and have at their fingertips multiple outlets to display and share said photographs (I use the term “photographs” loosely). Out of all image-sharing apps available today, Instagram is undeniably the most popular (with 130 million users and 45 million uploads daily).
Chad’s work first caught my eye a few months ago when he asked how I cropped my Insta images. I told him the app I used and wondered to myself what business he has cropping images- it’s not something the average Instagram user does. I was very surprised to see him uploading some spectacular photos from around the city- stuff that would look amazing printed huge and hung on a wall. Unfortunately, the five or eight megapixel cameras included in most cell phones shouldn’t be printed larger than 8×10″ (shouldn’t, not can’t). Since following Chad over a year ago, I’ve watched his photographic eye and iPhone 5 yield him some remarkable photos and glowing feedback from his followers. About a month ago I was pleased to see Chad with a 35mm SLR camera slung around his shoulder. We got to talking about photography and Instagram, and this is what he had to say.
“I got into photography 6 months ago. Right around the time the Iphone5 came out. I just upgraded from the IP4 and couldn’t ignore the camera power the IP5 had. I started to take notice in a friend of mine who I follow on Instagram Ralphy Ramos. His vision and sense of detail and use of color is amazing. The reason I was drawn to Ralphy Ramos’ work is because his photos looks like its shot with a $5,000 camera but surprisingly everything he shoots is with a iPhone. I always new the camera on a iPhone was decent but had now idea it could take as good as a photo as a DSLR. Me and Ralphy got closer over the past few months and he taught me how to use different apps to clean up the photos I post to Instagram. I never had any prior knowledge of photography but I always knew what I like when it comes to photos. Honestly the only photographers I know of is my all time favorite 13thwitness, of course Ralphy Ramos, Karston Tannis aka Skinny and you Scott Marceau. It wasn’t until I started to go to Edwin Delarosa‘s print shows that really open up my eyes to photographs. I know Ed uses many cameras not just a iPhone but his vision got me into shooting more then just depth of field and buildings. I have to say Edwin opened my eyes and inspired me to shoot differently then what people are use to seeing coming from New York.”
I’d like to take a minute to share with you some of my favorite selections from @chadphaire.
Push It A Stop 