I'm surprised that it has taken so long for this to happen. Actually, I am pretty sure that there have been other camera phone images displayed in galleries before, but I feel like we all saw this coming a mile away. I do admire Patrice Elmi's movement away from traditional digital technology and towards something that is as common as a cell phone. Not everyone can have a manual Leica or a digital SLR and this is an example of how level the playing field has become. Whether you're using a disposable CVS camera, Canon, Lomo, or Leica it shouldn't really matter. Take pictures of whatever you find fascinating, stick behind your choice to do so, and that should fulfill the criteria of being a photographer.
Contrasting that positive note is the fact that the increasing mega pixel camera phones is starting to steal away some of the authenticity and originality of photography. Earlier in the year we spoke about how our culture is beginning to lack iconic images and we attributed this to the cell phone/ affordable digital camera crisis. I don't think that Elmi is using her phone for evil, but I think that by attracting attention to this trend there is risk to the credibility of photography as an art.
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