Although it may sometimes seem as though smartphone cameras are a quick fix rather than a permanent solution for photography needs, one South Norwalk Marketplace vendor is making money off of his iPhone snapshots.
Michael Heintz, co-owner of East Norwalk-based Torn Edges, said when he began taking photos on Instagram, a photography smartphone application, it was a way to wind down after a long day of serious photography.
"Three years ago, the end of a long day shooting in the studio, I come up, take my iPhone, go out to my flowers (in my garden), and just take a picture. No thought, just fun. And I start publishing them on Facebook and before I know it I had about 200 people following me on Facebook," Heintz said. "If I didn't put up a picture of a flower, I'd get messages like 'Where's my flower?' I said guys you're killing me, I'm doing this for fun."
Heintz said after about a year of doing that, he came up with the idea of printing the photos on watercolor paper.
Heintz sells the Instagram-filtered photos for $20 each. The paper gives the prints a detailed look worthy of being displayed, like on the wall Heintz hangs them on at the marketplace - the "crazy wall of color," as he calls it.
The shop also sells photographs of other various items that were taken in the couple's studio at the marketplace, though.
The Beach Shack, one of the two spots occupied by Torn Edges and Heintz Wasson Studios in the marketplace, is decorated like a small oasis. There are photos of sea glass from all over the East Coast, collected by the couple while traveling in their sailboat and photographed in their studio, hanging above decorative sand.
There are also maps, charts and various photos from Heintz and Wasson's travels, as well as more high-quality pictures of vegetables and flowers.
Heintz has been photographing for about 20 years and said the shop has been at the SoNo Marketplace since it opened last winter.
"When we found out about this place, we jumped on it immediately so we could show all of our artwork," Heintz said. "We've been here since the beginning. We opened officially on Dec. 1."
The SoNo Marketplace is open every weekend from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
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