Smartphone Society
In a world where the smartphone is now ubiquitous, photographers capture daily life in which the personal device is part of the moment. Whether it is used for communication, navigation, a flashlight, a wallet, or to take photos, it’s an essential part of life for many.
The Lie That Helped Build Nintendo
In 1981, a young Swede called Owe Bergsten strolled through Singapore to pass the time before his flight home. Passing a camera shop, he spotted a two-button LCD game called ‘Fire RC-04’ in the window. The story of a man, a lie, a video game handheld, and a business empire.
Arctic: New Frontier
Yuri Kozyrev and Kadir van Lohuizen travelled through 15,000km of the Arctic Circle, investigating the startling effects of climate change on the land and its indigenous communities. If temperatures continue to rise, scientists expect that the North Pole will be ice-free in summer by 2040.
The State Of Qatar’s Hack Of Democracies: A Global Cyber-Crime Operation
In one of the largest state-sponsored computer hacks ever detected, Qatar’s proxies cyberattacked more than 1,400 high-status and ordinary citizens who were exercising their free-speech rights in democracies across North America, the Middle East, Asia and Europe, according to U.S. court filings.
Behind The Walls Of Brazil’s Secretive Gated Communities
Photographer Giovana Schluter grew up uneasy in one of Brazil’s many private neighbourhoods – artificial worlds built for the middle classes. So years later, she returned to a manufactured enclave just like the one of her youth, hoping to get to the heart of their emptiness.
For The Smartphone Industry, Theft Is A Part Of The Business Model
The manufacturer profits by hawking a replacement phone; the carrier profits double, by locking the crime victim into a new contract, then opening an account with whomever ends up with the stolen phone. Telecom companies even profit from the specter of phone theft, by selling expensive insurance policies to protect their users.
The Magical Realism Of Santa Cruz Del Islote – Photo Essay
Santa Cruz del Islote is a magical place. A population of up to 1,200 live on an island the size of two football fields in the middle of the Caribbean, making it one of the most densely populated islands on the planet.
China Aims To Launch The World’s First Official Digital Currency
Dozens of central banks have started looking at whether to issue digital currencies. But only a few have run trials and none has gone as far as China, which appears set to become the first country to put a central-bank digital currency (cbdc) into limited use.
A Rare Look At The Photography Of Andy Warhol
While photography was central to Warhol’s artistic practice for 30 years, often as source material for his famous screen prints, his purely photographic works — in particular, his stitched gelatin prints of a single image printed multiple times and sewn together — only saw the light of day once while he was alive.
26 Hours On A Saharan Freight Train
Mauritania’s Train du Desert is one of the longest and heaviest trains in the world. Completed in 1963, the train operates daily between Nouadhibou on the Atlantic coast and the iron ore mines in Zouerat, in the middle of the country—a journey of around 450 miles that takes about 13 hours each way.
Tokyo In The 1970s, A Pre-Blade Runner City, Amazing Unseen Photos By Greg Girard
To mark the release of his latest book, ‘Tokyo-Yokosuka 1976-1983’, Greg Girard has shared a collection of largely unseen images offering a nostalgic glimpse of the Japanese capital before it exploded into the hyper-modern metropolis we know today.
I Accidentally Uncovered A Nationwide Scam On Airbnb
An undetected scam created by some person or organization that had figured out just how easy it is to exploit Airbnb’s poorly written rules in order to collect thousands of dollars through phony listings, fake reviews, and, when necessary, intimidation.
The Apps On My Phone Are Stalking Me
Your location, your purchases, video and audio from within your home and office, your online searches and every digital wandering, biometric tracking of your face and other body parts, your heart rate and other vital signs, your every communication, recording, and perhaps your deepest thoughts or idlest dreams.
Speedgate, The Sport Invented By Artificial Intelligence
A team of designers in Portland, Oregon, tasked their artificial intelligence system with building a new team sport for us humans. The result of that pet project, Speedgate, is being heralded as the first viable AI-created field game. It has since become an indie sports phenomenon, with proposed leagues in more than 50 countries worldwide.
Dystopian Photos Of London’s Bankers In Meltdown
Having been a fixture in and around the banks since the rumors of trouble first started circulating, photographer Stephen McLaren was embedded on the frontlines when what would become the 2008 Global Financial Crisis began to first take shape.
Dressing For The Surveillance Age
As cities become ever more packed with cameras that always see, public anonymity could disappear. Can stealth streetwear evade electronic eyes? Is there anything fashion can do to counter the erosion of public anonymity?
David Altrath Photographs The Spectacular Stockholm Metro
German photographer David Altrath unveils the majestic underground tunnels and their stunning architectural and artistic detail that feature in Stockholm’s underground in his latest series, simply titled Metro.
Lenovo Shows Off The World’s First ‘Foldable PC’
Lenovo has just announced what it says is the world’s first “foldable PC:” a prototype ThinkPad that iterates the foldable tech we’ve already seen from phones on a much bigger scale.
How Tom Kiefer Documents Lives Via Items Seized By Border Patrol
While working as a janitor at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility in southern Arizona from 2003 to 2014, photographer Tom Kiefer secretly collected the belongings and later began shooting them. It took about six years of collecting before Kiefer began photographing.
Striking Street Photography In Japan By James Takumi Shyegun
Stunning street scenes by James Takumi Shyegun, a talented photographer, videographer, and model from Tokyo, Japan. Takumi focuses mainly on urban, architecture, and street photography.
Adobe Unveils Photoshop Camera App For iOS & Android
Adobe today announced a new mobile app called Photoshop Camera, which “brings Photoshop magic directly to the point of capture.” Photoshop Camera is a new Sensei AI-powered app that automatically recognizes subjects in photos and suggests artist-created image filters to apply.