I not one to shill things, but if you have an iPhone, download nofinder! Toshihiko Tambo, nofinder’s developer, was inspired by the from-the-hip street photography of Daido Moriyama when developing this app. There are hundreds of camera replacement and editing applications available for iOS, but most are pale imitations of eachother, replicating the same faux-vintage style over and over.

nofinder is a different way to take pictures with the iPhone. As the name suggests, the app won’t give you any pointers as to what it is you’re taking pictures of. There is no preview, or finder (you know, those things that old film cameras had, rangefinders, no? ok step two after downloading this app is picking up a Leica M3). This is both freeing and frustrating. If you want that perfectly instagrammable photo of your lunch, this is not the app for that.

Gone are the apprehensions of trying to frame your subject correctly or ensuring everything is clear. Blurry, poorly composed, and strange metering are all advantages of this app, in my mind. I’m usually happy with the results, especially of the high-contrast black and white setting.

If you need more encouragement, here are some photos i’ve taken with nofinder

flickr slideshow and previously on my tumblr +tagged

itunes price: free, plus an in app upgrade, if you want.