The Guardian has launched a new application for the iPad called “The Guardian Eyewitness” (available for free here) which, just like the Eyewitness series launched by the newspaper in 2005, focuses on news photography, one photo at the time.

From the official article:

“The Eyewitness series was launched in print at the time of the Guardian’s switch to the Berliner format in 2005, and consists of a daily full-colour, double-page spread devoted to the most compelling news photography. The decision to dedicate so much space to a single picture was a revolutionary move for a newspaper.

The Guardian’s head of photography, Roger Tooth, describes the philosophy behind the series as one that is devoted entirely to showcasing the world’s best photos in superb detail: “We want to hold your attention for more than two seconds … we want you to appreciate the work that the photographer has put into the image,” he says. “We’ve been waiting for a chance to replicate the scale and impact of the newspaper’s Eyewitness spread series on the web - and I think this is it.”

The app seems pretty simple, as its only purpose is that to showcase photos and describe them with a few lines of text. As you can see from the screenshots after the break, the application makes an interesting use of popover menus and thumbnails. Overall, it looks good.