ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the camera phone's emergence is the most definitive example of the performative act that photography has seen. It discusses how to contextualize and theoretically situate the combination of cellular, internet, and digital camera technologies, particularly in reference to the performative aspects of camera phone use. Writer Katherine Mangu-Ward tells of Rob Spence, an unemployed engineer and filmmaker, who is working on inserting a miniature camera into his prosthetic eyeball. In the years since 1997, when Phillippe Kahn took pictures of his newborn daughter with a digital camera soldered to a cellular phone and emailed them to his family and friends, the camera phone has become a prevalent feature in technological societies. Additionally, cellular networks can charge a premium for SMS and Multimedia Message Service (MMS), while the cost to those networks is very, very small.
