Looking back at your pictures
Is there any practical use for a digital camera in your phone? That was the question posed by us back in 2003 and one that led us to ask our readers to send in their pictures so we could feature them in a gallery on the website each week.
This was, of course, many years before the term "citizen journalist" was in common use; although we hoped that at some stage we would get a newsworthy image, the idea was simply to provide a platform for keen photographers to share their pictures.
On Monday 10 February 2003, we published a page asking for your pictures; to be honest, we had no idea if we'd get any, let alone the ten we felt we'd need to run a gallery later in the week.
It turned out we needn't have worried: we received more than 100 pictures, and ran a selection in a pop-up gallery which you can still see.
Of course, news pictures soon started to flow, the first being a shot of the Staten Island fire in New York. Pictures of events in the news soon became a regular feature - but it was the 2005 London bombings when readers' pictures led the way. We received many hundreds of images, among them the defining pictures of the tragic events of the day, photographs that went on to be picked up by the national and international press.
All rights to the pictures remained with the photographers, who were free to negotiate their own deals with other outlets.
Today, as the first decade of digital photography draws to a close, I thought it would be good to show those first ten pictures from our readers once again, and see whether any of the photographers are still out there and indeed still looking at the BBC site.
So, if you were one of those whose pictures appeared in this gallery, please do drop me a line via e-mail or leave a comment - it'd be great to hear from you.
One photographer I did manage to track down is Sherry Brukbacher whose single image in the gallery mentioned above led to us featuring a longer version of her story on homeless children in Nairobi.
I asked her what she'd been up to in the intervening years. She said:
"After spending almost a year and a half in Nairobi, I returned to Washington DC to continue my work in international development. Photography kept calling me back and eventually I left one career for another and I now work full-time for National Geographic Magazine.
"This is a dream come true for me. Every day, I have the opportunity to learn from the world's most elite and talented documentary photographers, photojournalists and artists. Hopefully one day all of this will rub off!"
One of Sherry's pictures is at the top of this article; she told me:
"This is a photo of my neighbour, who is lovingly referred to by all who know him as Uncle Willy. He is a friend, a drummer in the Meridian Hill Sunday drum circle, a Baptist preacher and an expert cobbler! He lives in Washington DC and one only need meet him once to remember him - his laughter can always be heard long before he is seen!"
It's good to hear that Sherry is still taking pictures and now working in the area she loves most; I'm sure we'll stay in touch. You can see more of Sherry's work on her website.
I thought I'd finish with a thought from Bill Thompson, who wrote an article on camera phones in January 2003 in which he said:
"Soon there will be photographs of me, perhaps taken without my knowledge, on websites all over the net...
"What about the snap that shows you asking for directions from a stranger, when that stranger turns out to be a terrorist suspect and you end up being questioned?"
Prophetic indeed - it's hard to believe how much has changed in just seven years.
You can see the original ten pictures in their original gallery format here.
I'm 
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~28~RS~)
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Is there any 'REAL' reason for mobile phones? They are the most unsociable invention ever.
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@ 1 - PCright
Mobile phones are a very social aspect of today's society, they allow for communication where ever you are.
For example; my phone helps in the "social" aspect of my life by allowing me to: contact friends to see if they are going out in the evening, phone friends to check up where they are if they are running late, and also phone friends and relatives for a good old natter wherever i am.
Additionally, my phone has a built in Camera and camcorder so i can take photo's and record movies... all from a little black box.
15 years ago you couldn't do that, if you wanted to take a picture you had to carry an additional camera. You had to buy the film to go in it, and even then you only had one chance at the shot. when you had done all of that you then had to wait for the film to be processed before you knew if the image was any good.
On a mobile phone, you can take the picture and if it's not quite what you where looking for you can delete it and try again... after all practise makes perfect.
I love taking pictures both on my mobile phone and my camera, but the phone camera is more of a convenience then a serious camera.
Additionally my phone allows me to use GPRS to get directions from where i am standing (the phone auto updates it's self on my current location) to where i want to go, meaning i cannot get lost.
Those mobile phone malarkey's are awfully clever now.
I am guessing back in 1910 or whenever the Land Phone started to become mainstream someone questioned their relevance to society.
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"Is there any 'REAL' reason for mobile phones? They are the most unsociable invention ever."
Where landlines are hard to get, expensive and unreliable, yes, there's a very good reason to have a mobile phone. I never liked them myself in the UK, but there almost every house has a landline. Now I rely heavily on my mobile. If I want to be incommunicado, I leave it at home. These days, if I was sharing a house again, the stupid woman whose stupid boyfriend used to call the communal phone at 1am would have a mobile and he wouldn't wake up the whole house. For work where you are mobile, such as delivery driving, they're indispensable now. But like every invention, they can be used or abused.
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@1 Yes there is. I think that reason could be to contact someone whilst unable to use a landline.
As for the article in question, cameras on phones have been great for news companies, as most people happily send in video footage and pictures for free. Perhaps the footage of Ian Tomlinson being shoved to the ground highlighted the importance of the 'citizen journalist'.
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Is there any 'REAL' reason for mobile phones? My mobile is my lifeline, my insurance, my get-me-out-of-a-jam aid. Ever since i became disabled, and even more so since i took to an electric wheelchair my mobile phone has kept me in touch with my partner and carer, helping make me a little more independent.
It is how i have reached out for help when the need has arisen, without it i would have been on my own and vulnerable, unable to alert anyone to my plight. It has brought me help when my chair had punctures or ran out of juice. Before the chair it brought me help after falls, kept me in contact with family and friends when away from home for odd reasons, and brought me moral support when my self reliance was lacking. All that, and more, like calling from whatever room i happen to be in when i need help getting about or have taken a tumble. Both me and my partner keep our mobiles with us at all times, and i wear mine around my neck like an alert device.
And when i was a virtual prisoner in my own home for quite a while, it helped others keep in contact with me, cheer me up and pass on news and gossip! For some of us a mobile phone is something to value, a dependable instrument that makes life liveable.
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It's great to see a platform for users of cameraphones on the internet, but it sometimes bothers me that news services are so keen to use images taken by members of the public in place of other, possibly more important stories.
Since the introduction of the 24-hour news broadcasts it's become more and more obvious that sections such as 'Have Your Say' are used merely to fill the schedules. It might sound snobby but to me, the news should be for the people, not by the people.
Of course, like The_Hess wrote earlier, there is a place for citizen journalism, such as the footage of Ian Tomlinson, but there's a difference between being in the right place at the right time, and standing about with your [Unsuitable/Broken URL removed by Moderator]iphone shooting anything in the hope of getting a scoop.
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