12 h. ago ‘You don’t get a second chance at a shot like this – horses wander off’: Mike Wells’s best phone picture

The former World Press Photo of the Year winner on why capturing a good image remains instinctive in the age of mobile photography‘Scrambling to catch this shot felt like 3D chess,” says photographer Mike Wells. “My eyes were balancing Connemara’s famous mountains, its wild ponies and the stone walls, while my mind computed the variables: the rush to catch the last rays of evening sun, that moment when a sea breeze lifts the ponies’ manes, and whichever way they will amble next.”In 1981, Wells won the World Press Photo of the Year for an image shot in Uganda depicting a malnourished boy’s hand resting in the palm of a Catholic priest. “When I was working in the 1970s and 80s, unless you could afford a motor drive for your camera, you often got just one chance at the critical shot,” Wells says. “You could never tell whether you really had captured the moment until you got back from Africa, or at least out of the darkroom. That image wasn’t well lit or well composed, ju...

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7 d. ago ‘It really felt like I was in a fairytale’: Mustafa Seven’s best phone picture

The Turkish photographer on outsmarting the tourists to get the perfect shotMustafa Seven and his friend Hazem were attempting to escape the tourists in an Austrian village when they took this image. Rumoured to have inspired Disney’s Frozen franchise, Hallstatt has been known to attract up to 10,000 visitors a day during high season. Seven had seen many Instagram shots of the place and was curious to visit. He was taken aback by what he found.“There were tourist buses and people everywhere,” he says. “Frankly, neither of us like taking landscape photos, but the fairytale surroundings pulled us along. When I realised every image I’d shot had someone in the frame, we decided to change our route and walk up the slips of the village instead.” Continue reading...

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2 w. ago ‘People told me it gave them a sense of hope’: Ismail Zaidy’s best phone picture

The Moroccan photographer intended this portrait of his sister, taken during the Covid pandemic, to bring optimism in uncertain timesIsmail Zaidy took this image, with the help of his siblings, in the gardens of the famous La Mamounia hotel in Marrakech. The Moroccan photographer received special authorisation to shoot there in 2021, when Covid restrictions were in place. He took his brother, Othmane, as shoot assistant and his sister, Fatimazahra, was the model in the image, wearing a vintage dress their mum had bought at a flea market. The small team fixed flowers to a plastic sheet and took a number of shots over a three-hour period; Othmane appeared in some, too.Zaidy recalls what a treat it felt to be outside. “Getting access to open spaces was limited, so being outdoors – even briefly – felt refreshing and special,” he says. “ It was a fairly chaotic period for all of us, but over time things calmed down and we found a rhythm. It actually gave us more time to cr...

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3 w. ago ‘I want my viewer to ask – what is happening here?’: Meysam Hamrang’s best phone picture

This image captures the passion and solemnity of an Islamic ritual in IranFor Meysam Hamrang, this image was years in the making. The Iranian photographer took it in 2019 at a religious ceremony in the village of Masuleh, part of a historic city in the northern province of Gilan, Iran.“On the sixth day of Muharram – the first month of the Islamic calendar – Shia Muslims mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hussein in a ritual called Alam Bandan,” says Hamrang. “It’s held in a 1,200-year-old shrine. People from surrounding villages gather to participate in, or observe, the ritual.” Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Expert reveals the phone lock screen which could mean that you're a self

Choosing what to use as the background of your phone screen is a small but important decision, as it could say a lot more about you than you think - as the US president learned last week.

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4 w. ago ‘The rain brings out a cinematic quality’: Eric Van Nynatten’s best phone picture

A neon sign reflected in a puddle in New York City’s Theater District inspired this enigmatic shotIt had been raining all day in New York City. After meeting a friend in a coffee shop near Manhattan’s Theater District, professional photographer Eric Van Nynatten decided on a spontaneous street photography session.“The rain had been nonstop, which most people would find messy and chaotic, but I feel it brings out a cinematic quality in the city,” he says. “The wet streets become shiny and reflective, and at night it looks a lot like a painting. I ended up walking down Broadway as evening fell. It’s an area that’s already a visual spectacle – there are all these amazing retro marquees, billboards and neon signs. I spotted this sign reflected in a puddle just off the sidewalk and set up my composition.” Continue reading...

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