A Last Glimpse of the Eye and other iPhonetographs

OK, so having a camera on my phone isn't exactly news, or even new. But whereas the picture capability was convenient on cell phones past, in many ways it was a mirage. For the image quality was so lousy, you could barely define the result as a photograph, especially for someone who appreciates the virtue of SLR photography.

Nowadays, the photographic quality from my iPhone 4 still isn't quite as good as I might have hoped. Even when not lugging around my first-gen Digital Rebel, I still generally prefer my 6mp Canon point-and-shoot to what I get from the iPhone.

But the other day, I was walking around downtown Chicago before a meeting and took the pictures below with my iPhone. While not high art, I'm pretty pleased with the quality, especially as I've done no cropping and virtually no image enhancement (just a touch of lightening on a couple pix).

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The Eye. I took this on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 and later read that the next day would be the last that the sculpture by Tony Tasset would be on display. But according to this article, it might be back in the spring.

The words on the stairs of the Art Institute are an installation by Indian artist Jitish Kallat. You can read more about it here.

After being stored away while the Modern Wing was being built, Marc Chagall's America Windows are back on display in the Art Institute, although in a different place than before. More info here.

The Art Institute's Modern Wing, which I still find to be a beautiful waste of space. Taken from the bridge crossing into Millennium Park.

Frank Gehry's Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park.

The Bean, or more precisely, Cloud Gate by Anish Kapoor. Although there are always tons of tourists nearby, you can't buy a postcard or sculpture of the Bean due to licensing agreements. You'd think a city in the red might try to work that out.

The Crown Fountain, designed by Jaume Plensa.

Two holiday window displays at Macy's on State Street.