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Prize-Winning #iPhoneOnly Photos: From Dinos To Divers

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It’s a haunting image. At dusk, hundreds of Rohingya refugees at a camp in Bangladesh are huddled around a projector, looking at something just outside the frame — a film about health and sanitation.

Rohingya refugees watch a film about health and sanitation in a camp in Bangladesh.
Rohingya refugees watch a film about health and sanitation in a camp in Bangladesh. [NPR]
That photo, taken on an iPhone by documentary photographer Jashim Salam of Bangladesh, is the grand prize-winning photo of the 2018 iPhone Photography Awards.

On Wednesday, the winners of the annual contest, now in its 11th year, were announced. Photographers in 140 countries submitted thousands of entries in 18 categories, taken either with an iPhone or iPad. The images could not be altered with a desktop filter or Photoshop.

Many of the winning photos touch on the global issues and cultures that we cover on this blog.

A Brazilian woman in a bright yellow traditional dress, standing at the doorway of a sky-blue building, was among the winners. The photographer is Alexandre Weber of Switzerland.

Another winning photo, taken by Zarni Myo Win, shows a street boy in Myanmar who lost his leg. He watches his friends play soccer on a patch of dirt.

The winning photos are very much in line with a trend that Kenan Aktulun, founder of the contest, has observed with iPhone photography.

“People are more aware of what’s going on in the world and the changes that are happening around them,” he says. “It’s less about food and selfies and more about … What is going on? What do I care about?

Here’s a sampling of prize-winning photos:

Tourists pose in front of a Catholic chapel at Carneiros Beach in Brazil.
Tourists pose in front of a Catholic chapel at Carneiros Beach in Brazil. [NPR]
A fake dinosaur is a tourist attraction on the Silk Road in Mongolia.
A fake dinosaur is a tourist attraction on the Silk Road in Mongolia. [NPR]
During a lull in the bombings, Syrians in the city of Douma gather for the evening meal at the end of a Ramadan fast.
During a lull in the bombings, Syrians in the city of Douma gather for the evening meal at the end of a Ramadan fast. [NPR]
Village elder Salamah wears his hand-carved wooden dive goggles on the beach at Au Bon Yai, a tiny island community off the coast of Thailand.
Village elder Salamah wears his hand-carved wooden dive goggles on the beach at Au Bon Yai, a tiny island community off the coast of Thailand. [NPR]
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