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Now that half the world has smartphones in their pockets (with 3.5 billion smartphone users globally, according to Statista), more is being documented than every before. That doesn’t mean everyone is a good photographer though.
The iPhone Photography Awards, the first and longest-running iPhone photography competition, has announced the winners of this year’s competition. In perusing their long list of winners, it was nice to see that some of the standouts captured their images without even using the most up-to-date equipment; one winner scored a prize using an iPhone 4 (c. 2010), which might feel antiquated for those accustomed to constantly upgrading to the latest model.
Below are 20 highlights that often rival the work of professional photojournalists. Enjoy these peeks into some very personal views of our wondrous world.