8 h. ago ‘The rainbow of colours reminded me of my childhood’: Guillaume Lavrut’s best phone picture

On holiday in his home town of Aurillac, the photographer was drawn to a pretty puddle of reflected umbrellasGuillaume Lavrut was visiting the small French town of Aurillac with his wife and three children when he took this photo. The family were looking for souvenirs together and exploring the streets when they happened on a canopy of umbrellas. Aurillac is home to one of the world’s oldest umbrella factories and is regarded by many as the umbrella capital of Europe. For Lavrut, however, a visit to Aurillac is about returning home.“My family are from there, so we go every summer. It’s so difficult to reach that we need at least a day to get there, but it’s worth it,” Lavrut says. Its peaceful, relaxed atmosphere offers something different from their homes in Paris and Nantes. “The capital is constantly bustling, and Nantes can be busy at times, too, but Aurillac is lost in the mountains, and nature is omnipresent.” Continue reading...

Science

8 h. ago Madeline Horwath on ways to keep your phone safe from snatchers – cartoon

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Politics

7 d. ago A cloak, some monsters and a bicycle: Marguerite O’Molloy’s best phone picture

A spooky scene in a Dublin shopfront – and a chance reflection – make for a surprising and unsettling shotCostume is a small boutique in Dublin’s city centre, usually fronted with elegant window displays of beautifully dressed mannequins. Last October, however, Marguerite O’Molloy was passing on her way for a manicure and found something startlingly different.“The shop is on Castle Market, a pedestrian shopping area,” O’Molloy says. “It’s a really lively, cool area and a regular haunt of mine; I actually met my husband in the famous Grogan’s Castle Lounge pub on the opposite corner. That afternoon, I didn’t expect to see this Halloween-themed display. I thought it was hilarious.” Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘Dad taught me not just to look at the world but to really see it’: Ariel Meyerowitz’s best phone picture

The art adviser captured a portrait of her famous father – the photographer Joel Meyerowitz – as he pointed his camera at her during a visit to an exhibitionAs a child, Ariel Meyerowitz would follow her famous father around with a little Olympus XA camera and mimic his work as a photographer. Once home, he’d edit the images on a slide projector, inviting his daughter to sit alongside him. “He loved having a little shadow,” Meyerowitz recalls. “Watching him click through the slides, I learned not just to look at the world but to really see it, to notice the relationship between people and place, the colour of everything, and the humour or poignancy of it all.”To the wider world, that “perpetually creative, present and loving” father is Joel Meyerowitz, the renowned American photographer. He is also the man in this photo, photographing his daughter who is in turn photographing both him and a sculpture on display at Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone’s show The Rainbow Body. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago ‘It’s like a scene from a movie’: Christian Barroso’s best phone picture

On the 26th floor of a São Paulo skyscraper, the Brazilian photographer captured a stranger in a moment of solitudeAfter being recognised at the Mobile Photography awards 2020, Christian Barroso travelled from his home in Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo for the exhibition of winning images. He was joined by three friends and, after seeing his work on display, they headed to Farol Santander, a skyscraper in the city centre housing a museum, galleries and observation deck.“The exhibition was delayed until the summer of 2021 because of the Covid pandemic, so we were living in the first moments of ‘normal’ life at the time,” Barroso says. They stopped for a snack at a cafe on the 26th floor, and Barroso recalls the atmosphere as “somewhat melancholic. Despite the large space, the feeling was one of solitude, highlighted by this woman sitting alone, and the long shadows.” Continue reading...

Culture

4 w. ago ‘I have no doubt this cat could take him down!’: Dorothy O’Donnell’s best phone picture

The San Francisco photographer on a spontaneous moment that turned into a cute photoDorothy O’Donnell begins all her days at home in San Francisco with a coffee and a dog walk. The street photographer lives in North Beach, an area she loves “for its diversity and old San Fran charm. The combination of colourful characters and old Victorian buildings with interesting architectural details makes this area something of a street photographer’s paradise. There’s no shortage of photo opportunities, and plenty of cute cats and dogs, too.”The ears of Lucky, her chihuahua and miniature pinscher mix, are pictured here, frozen at the sight of a sworn enemy. “I have no doubt this cat could take him down!” O’Donnell says. “We’ve seen him a few times, monitoring the neighbourhood from this window.” Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Iceland resident reveals how to take the best pictures of the Northern Lights

As the aurora season has now kicked off in the Northern Hemisphere, it's unsurprising that hoards of travellers are heading to such countries as Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

Politics