Shot on iPhone challenge pix will take your breath away

A stunning edit of 10 photos will soon adorn billboards around the world to advertise the iPhone’s camera capabilities after Apple today announced the winners of the Shot on iPhone Challenge.

The contest ran from Jan. 22 to Feb. 7 and drew thousands of images from around the world. Six of the 10 winners are from the United States. The other four photographers are from Belarus, Singapore, Israel, and Germany. They were selected from a panel of judges that included Apple executives and some of the most widely respected artists, photographers, and editors in the photo community.

Winning photos originated from the range of iPhone models, from the newest flagship iPhone XS Max to the now seemingly humble iPhone 7. The contest drew heat from online photo communities when Apple initially announced the contest would not include paying the photographers.

Apple did an about-face a couple of days later, announcing it would pay an undisclosed fee to license the photo for the ad campaign.

Apple has run “Shot on iPhone” campaigns since the iPhone 6. Typically, a team from Apple mines Instagram and Twitter in search of a hashtag to indicate photos were made with an iPhone. This is the first contest it has held to find photos for the campaign.

Among the winners was Dina Alfasi of Israel, whose work she finds on her daily commute to work was featured on Cult of Mac earlier this month.

Alfasi’s picture was of a reflection of a silhouetted pedestrian perfectly center in a heart-shaped puddle.

The winning images below will include a caption with a judge’s comment.

Alex Jiang, U.S., iPhone XS Max

Shot on iPhone challenge — Judge’s comment: “The narrative in architecture. There is actually life behind the surface of an average apartment building in an unknown city. Vivid colors and a perfect composition with the basketball board right in the middle! Great eye.”
Photo: Alex Jiang

Blake Marvin, U.S, iPhone XS Max

Darren Soh, Singapore, iPhone XS Max

Nikita Yarosh, Belarus, iPhone 7

Dina Alfasi, Israel, iPhone X

Elizabeth Scarrott, U.S., iPhone 8 Plus

Andrew Griswold, U.S., iPhone XS

Shot on iPhone — Judge’s comment: “What I find most interesting is the background pattern, uniquely magnified and distorted in every one of the water droplets. I’m drawn to studying and trying to elucidate what that pattern is.”
Photo: Andrew Griswold

Bernard Antolin, U.S., iPhone XS Max

LieAdi Darmawan, U.S., iPhone XS

Judge’s comment: “I feel like this landscape was treated like an old portrait. The texture of the mountains evokes an old wrinkled face. Portraits and landscapes are the oldest way of creative representation by humans. There’s something about it that belongs to the realms of the subconscious mind, and this is mainly what appeals me of this picture; the part that I’m not able to explain.”
Photo: LieAdi Darmawan