Ikea Creates a Photo App That Lets You Take Only One Picture Ever

Ikea Belgium wants to save what it considers the dying art of photography … by creating an app that only lets users snap one picture.

Titled "Klikk" (or "Click," in Dutch), it aims to force would-be photographers to focus carefully on composition, timing and light—rather than rattling off a bunch of shots, then picking the best one and using ready-made filters to smooth out the flaws.

DDB Brussels designed the app to promote Ikea's 2016 Art Collection, a limited run of 11 posters featuring works by a range of professional photographers, including Mandy Barker, Bobby Doherty, Jill Greenberg, Annika Von Hauswolff, Chad Moore, Rankin and others.

To incentivize use of Klikk, the marketer will select one Belgian consumer's photograph to print on a 12th poster, to give away as part of the collection. The winning photo will be printed and distributed on Ikea.be, and about 1,000 Ikea clients will be able to order the poster for free.

It's an intriguing idea, made less pretentious by the crowdsourcing element—but DDB confirms the winner won't be paid for the use of his or her image, which raises questions about whether exposure alone is sufficient compensation. (Hint: It almost always isn't).

Anyone skilled enough to nail a perfect shot without any tweaking after the fact is likely to deserve the cash, especially considering that even professional photographers routinely use retouching or digital manipulation in their own work (Greenberg, for example, is famous in part for it).

Plus, hand-wringing about the adverse effects of Instagram on fine art seems a little 2012, or like crying over spilt milk. Point-and-shoot cameras didn't ruin professional photography—though increasingly sharp smartphone cameras haven't done any favors for traditional brands like Canon, Nikon and Sony.

They have made for some pretty impressive iPhone 6 ads, though.

CREDITS

Client: Ikea

Agency: DDB Brussels

CD: Peter Ampe & Odin Saillé

Concept: Bjorn Conradi & James Boomsma

Art director & copy: Silke Beurms & Tom Meijer

Copy Fr: Jonathan d’Oultremont

Strategy: Dominique Poncin / Maarten Van Daele

Account team: Francis Lippens, Kaat De Brandt & Maria-Laura Laubenthal

PR – Press Coordinator: Kenn Van Lijsebeth

Digital Producers: Renaud Goossens