Chase Jarvis is an acclaimed commercial photographer. He’s taken pictures for household brand names like Volvo, Nike, Apple, Microsoft, Jeep, and Red Bull, among many others. His work has long been the subject of magazine advertisements, but in September 2009, Jarvis developed a new kind of notoriety outside of the ad world. That’s when he published The Best Camera is the One that’s With You, a collection of images from a year in Jarvis’ life, all shot with his iPhone.

the-ioscarsNow some ad men are taking Jarvis’ work to the next level.

BBH Labs – a “global innovation unit” that’s part of the renowned Bartle Bogle Hegarty advertising agency – just launched The iOScars. It’s an online award that celebrates democratized filmmaking and honors the best movies shot and edited with the iPhone 4.

The idea evolved from Twitter banter between BBH New York Digital Creative Director, Seth Weisfeld and BBH Executive Director of Innovation, Ben Malbon. Entries must be all original work, completely shot and edited on the iPhone 4. While BBH cannot instantaneously verify that submissions are created with the sole use of Apple’s latest cellular device, they claim to have special powers that can be evoked if need be.

Winners of The iOScars will be chosen by public voting at TheiOScars.com.