It is half past four in the afternoon, the 16th arrondissement. In a bleak industrial corner on the outskirts of Paris, the rich and the famous of the fashion world are queuing to get inside a warehouse. There is an angry knot of striking fashion workers protesting that the manufacture of haute couture (high stitching) is leaving the city.
Inside, the atmosphere is equally tense. The Dior show features the work of Britain's John Galliano, one of the biggest names at Paris Haute Couture, and he is running two hours late. Stiletto heels are tapping restlessly on the concrete floor.
And then, suddenly, it begins. A firework display of camera flashes. Music. Lights. Beautiful girls. In the second row, Jo-Ann Furniss, a freelance fashion writer from Manchester, is taking pictures above the usual huddle of fashion photographers working the pit. The models seem not to notice her, but then again, Furniss is taking pictures on her mobile phone.
"What's really good about it is that it's very unobtrusive and there's no flash," explains Furniss. "We've been given great access to the shows and we've gone backstage before it's all started and, to be honest, people are not really aware that you're taking their picture."
Furniss is on an assignment for Showstudio.com, an independent fashion website operated by the acclaimed fashion photographer Nick Knight. The pair have been given two new picture phones to report from Paris Haute Couture week. For the past four days, they have been attending each of the major catwalk shows and photo calls. They have been using picture messaging to send images and short commentaries from the shows.
Furniss's biggest problem is the battery. Halfway through the Dior show, her phone goes dead. "I took too many pictures," she admits, as she and her partner, Jonathan Kaye, take a taxi back to their hotel to recharge it. "It is quite addictive using these phones. I'm surprised, seeing as I'm quite technically inept, but even I could use it."
Back in London, her messages are uploaded to the Showstudio's website in just minutes and have provided almost live coverage from the catwalks. Even during the two-hour lull as Furniss rushed back for the recharger, the site still managed to publish pictures from Paris, pipping to the post bigger commercial outfits such as Vogue and Elle by two days.
The pictures might be easy to take but are they any good? One of the main criticisms of the new picture phones is that the quality of the images is poor. But speaking from his bedroom in Richmond, Nick Knight says that misses the point: "One of the mistakes that students of photography often make is to try to get the best camera. If you have something to communicate, it doesn't really matter if you use potato print or you drag someone into a photo booth. A writer doesn't worry about what pen they have."
What's also interesting about Showstudio is that they have found some kind of commercial use for the new picture phones. It is among a number of businesses that are looking at picture messaging. In the coming weeks, expect media companies to start offering Multimedia Messaging Services. The BBC is developing picture messaging for its news content and the Met Office will shortly start offering weather imagery to mobile phones. Both Northamptonshire police and the Met are developing uses for MMS to help tackle crime. And a number of estate agents and second-hand car dealers are considering applications for the phones.
In Bosnia, medical staff of the Swedish peacekeeping battalion use picture phones, and a number of Swedish hospitals are running trial schemes.
Culture, too, is beginning to pick up the phones. The ICA used picture messaging as part of its digital festival last November. Last summer, four friends in Hoxton, east London, used the picture phones for three weeks and published a book, What I'm Talking About. Contra Publishing of Helsinki released it in time for last Christmas.
This is all much-needed good news for the telcos and the manufacturers. Both are desperate to find new uses for their phones. Revenues for voice calls have levelled off after many years of increase and they are keen to develop new markets prior to the full launch of 3G.
The mobile phone companies are also under pressure from camera manufacturers. The latest digital cameras come with Bluetooth - the wireless system that allows data to be transferred over short distances. That allows images of higher quality to be sent. Also, although they are beginning to fall in price, the handsets remain expensive. According to the Mobile Data Association, more than half a million have been sold in the UK so far.
Still, it's early days for picture messaging. Many of those who use the camera phones report a general excitement, even addiction to the new phones. Back in her hotel after a long day flitting between catwalks and photo calls, a tired Furniss reflects: "This is a practical use for this phone," she says. "It's just really useful and it's not like carting a big camera around. I work with text normally, but this simply encourages you take pictures."
