52 h. ago ‘The children were delighted to see themselves in such bright colours’: Moe Wai’s best phone picture

The photographer’s painted bottles and hoops enhanced a carefree afternoon on a Burmese beachAs a tuk-tuk driver, Moe Wai feels that he has honed both his observational and people skills. Wai lives and works in Myin Ka Par, a village in Myanmar, and became interested in mobile photography several years ago. In this instance, he used his phone to capture this gaggle of local children as they were returning home from school.“They were playing on a sandbank with their own plastic bottles,” Wai recalls. He’d been collating props for some time; bottles and hoops he had painted in a variety of colours, including neon pink. “The children were happy to let me replace theirs with my own colourful ones for the purpose of this photo.” He later applied some minor edits using the Lightroom app. Continue reading...

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9 d. ago ‘The foggy, golden sunrise makes for incredible images’: Sachin Ghai’s best phone picture

The Punjabi photographer was delighted with this stunning shot of birds being fed on the Yamuna River in DelhiSachin Ghai describes Yamuna Ghat in Delhi, India, as his idea of a photographer’s paradise. “In winter, thousands of migratory birds circle the wooden row boats on the river,” he says. “During foggy, golden sunrises it makes for incredible images.”For Ghai, travel photography is a passion, so he had orchestrated a short trip from his home in Nabha, Punjab. First, he had visited Agra, to capture the Taj Mahal. The next morning, he awoke before dawn to visit the Yamuna River. Despite being one of the most polluted bodies of water in the world, locals can be seen fishing while visitors take boat rides from the ghat, the name for the flight of stairs that leads to the water. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Christmas will never be the same after my girl, 17, died in a needless car crash – don’t make the same mistake they did

JO Alkir blinks back tears as she looks at the photo that has just sprung up on her phone. Her daughter’s best friend has posted a picture of her friends around the Christmas tree; all sparkling dresses and twinkling lights. But Jo’s daughter, Olivia, is notably absent. Olivia, 17, was tragically killed in a horror...

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2 w. ago ‘Geometric lines, strong colours and shadows created a striking image’: Anne Rayner’s best phone picture

A sci-fi playscape at an exhibition in Gateshead had the photographer’s granddaughter entrancedAnne Rayner was enjoying a day out with her husband, Bob, and two-year-old granddaughter Phoebe when she took this photo. The three of them had headed into Newcastle city centre to find some fun, while Rayner’s daughter-in-law was caring for Phoebe’s siblings, six-month-old twin boys, at home.Walking along the quayside and crossing the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, they pointed out landmarks to Phoebe as they went: the Tyne Bridge, the Glasshouse International Centre for Music. They arrived, eventually, at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, where Harold Offeh’s exhibition The Mothership Collective 2.0 was showing (it’s on until 18 January). Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Bill Hader's 'extreme sadness' as he breaks cover after tense chat with Nick Reiner at party just hours before grisly murders

The comedian looked tense while pacing back and forth during a phone call in Los Angeles, as he was pictured for the first time since his tense chat with Rob Reiner's son Nick Reiner.

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3 w. ago Let Donald Trump see inside my phone? I’d rather be deported | Emma Beddington

The potential demand that visitors to the US hand over their social media records, or even their phones, opens up a world of embarrassmentAs someone with a child in the US, this new Trump threat to scrutinise tourists’ social media is concerning. Providing my user name would be OK – the authorities would get sick of scrolling through chicken pics before they found anything critical of their Glorious Leader – but what if I have to hand over my phone at the border, as has happened to some travellers already? I would rather get deported.There’s nothing criminal or egregiously immoral on there; I don’t foment revolution or indulge in Trump trolling, tempting as that would be. But my phone does not paint a flattering picture of me. Does anyone’s? Those shiny black rectangles have become contemporary confessionals, and we would like to believe they abide by the same kind of confidentiality rules. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago ‘My photos are warm and full of imagination – that’s something AI could never achieve’: Yuan Li’s best phone picture

This spectacular image taken in Sakrisøy, Norway, triggered accusations that it was simply too good to be trueYuan Li splits his time between two careers: in the winter, he works as a ski instructor; in summer, a photographer. When he took this image, Beijing-based Li was visiting Norway and Iceland with friends, on a trip focused on sightseeing and photographing the aurora borealis. He captured this picture while exploring Sakrisøy, a small island in Lofoten, Norway. In the foreground sits this distinctive yellow homestay; in the background, Olstinden mountain.“It had snowed heavily all day,” Li recalls. “As I was setting up to capture this scene, the snow stopped and the sun came out, which made the perfect environment for taking photos.” Continue reading...

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last month ‘I climbed a building to get this shot of Egyptian fishermen with sardines’: Ahmad Mansour’s best phone picture

How the photographer captured this split image of sardine fishermen taken from aboveFreelance photographer Ahmad Mansour was visiting Al Max, a fishing neighbourhood in Alexandria, Egypt, when he took this image on his mobile phone. Mansour was there with friends, documenting the area and the fishermen who resided there.“The sun was bright and it was very loud; the water was running strongly and the men were shouting,” Mansour says. “I climbed a small building to reach this vantage point above the men with the sardines. I love the top view angle; I’d been inspired by another image that was split that way and it suited the colours to balance them like this, too.” Continue reading...

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