The “Shot on iPhone” program has long been aimed at showcasing some of the best photos that can be captured by the iPhone, and Apple has carried that program into 2019. After accepting submissions for the 2019 iteration of the competition, Apple has announced the winners, which will be featured in Apple advertisements and possibly even on billboards.
Ten photos were selected by the panel of judges, which included the likes of former White House photographer Pete Souza, specialized iPhone photographer Austin Mann, and Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller.
The photos themselves are pretty stunning, and cover a range of different types of images and countries. There are winners from the U.S., Singapore, Belarus, and Israel, among others. The subjects of the photos range too — from colorful urban settings, to a raccoon looking down a log, to the reflection in a puddle. The photos all look like they were taken by professionals — and while they were shot on an iPhone, we think it’s likely that they were at least edited a little before being submitted to Apple. You can check out some of the winners below.
- 1. Alex Jiang (US), iPhone XS Max
- 2. Blake Marvin (US), iPhone XS Max
- 3. Darren Soh (Singapore), iPhone XS Max
- 4. Nikita Yarosh (Belarus), iPhone 7
- 5. Dina Alfasi (Israel), iPhone X
- 6. Elizabeth Scarrott (US), iPhone 8 Plus
Apple won’t just feature the winners’ work on billboards and in stores. After some backlash, the company announced that it would be compensating winners financially too — though it’s not currently known exactly how much winners will be paid for Apple to be able to use their work in advertisements.
Apple has been running the Shot on iPhone series for some time now, to help show that the iPhone can take professional-quality photos. In recent years, the program has become more important than ever for Apple, given the fact that the likes of the Pixel and Galaxy series phones offer cameras that are just as good, if not better, than the camera on the iPhone. It’s expected that the 2019 iPhone, whatever it ends up being called, will offer improved camera tech that could put Apple back on top when it comes to smartphone cameras.
Updated on February 26, 2019: Apple has announced the winners of the 2019 “Shot on iPhone” competition.