AI and Photography: Gianluca Ricoveri on Truth, Memory and Presence
Introduction In this latest conversation for my ongoing AI and Photography interview series, I speak with Italian photographer and artist Gianluca Ricoveri, whose work many readers will already know through TheAppWhisperer and our print store, where I have the privilege of representing his collection. Gianluca’s photographs – from his contemplative Tuscan landscapes to his richly observed botanical studies – have long carried a profound sense of stillness, intimacy and emotional attention. That quality feels especially relevant within this discussion on artificial intelligence. Gianluca’s images are rooted in observation, patience and lived experience – qualities that increasingly feel at odds with the speed and synthetic fluency of AI-generated imagery. His work…
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Best Apps for Culling Photos in 2026: Save Time, Keep the Best Frames
Culling is one of the least glamorous parts of photography, but it’s also one of the most important. Before editing, before publishing, before printing, comes selection. And if you shoot a lot, whether that’s documentary, portraiture, street, or events, culling can quickly become the most time-consuming part of the process. After nearly two decades working as a photography journalist and editor, and reviewing thousands of images and apps along the way, I’ve become increasingly interested in how photographers are streamlining this stage of their workflow. In 2026, culling apps have become smarter, faster, and, in some cases, remarkably intuitive. AI now plays a much bigger role, helping identify duplicates, closed…
“The Imperfect Human Hand May Become the Most Radical Artistic Gesture of All” — Jane Schultz on AI and Photography
Over the years, through TheAppWhisperer, I have had the privilege of not only publishing the work of some of the world’s most influential mobile artists but also forming genuine friendships with many of them. Jane Schultz is one of those artists. I first met Jane and her husband, Dave, in London some years ago, and what struck me immediately was her depth of thought, her warmth, and her unwavering commitment to authentic creative practice. Jane has long been one of the most respected voices within the mobile art community, creating work that is emotionally rich, layered and deeply personal. Jane is also one of the artists I represent through TheAppWhisperer…
Best Photography Competitions and Awards to Enter in 2026
As someone who has worked within photography, journalism and publishing since 1997 and spent almost two decades building and editing TheAppWhisperer, I am often asked whether photography competitions are worth entering. My answer is usually the same: the right competition can be transformative, while the wrong one can be an expensive disappointment. Over the years, I have interviewed hundreds of photographers, reviewed portfolios, followed careers as they developed and watched photographers move from relative obscurity to international recognition. In many cases, a respected competition or award provided the breakthrough that helped their work reach a much wider audience. At the same time, I have seen photographers spend considerable sums entering…
What Happens When AI Starts Curating Our Memories?
What Happens When AI Starts Curating Our Memories? Yesterday, Apple unveiled what it describes as an entirely new generation of Siri, powered by Apple Intelligence. Far more than a voice assistant, Siri AI has been designed to understand personal context across a user’s devices, drawing information from emails, messages, photographs, notes and applications to provide more personalised and conversational responses. Among the most significant developments are Siri’s ability to understand what is displayed on screen, retrieve information from personal archives, analyse visual content, and assist with writing, editing and everyday tasks. Apple is also introducing a dedicated Siri app, allowing users to continue conversations across devices while maintaining…
Michelle Sank on AI, Photography, Truth and Authenticity
Michelle Sank on AI, Photography and the Future of Seeing Michelle Sank was one of the first photographers I thought of when I started putting this series together. Born in South Africa and later settling in Britain, her work has often explored questions of identity, belonging and displacement, examining how people navigate social, cultural and personal change. Over the years, Sank has photographed communities, families and individuals with a quiet sensitivity that allows stories to emerge rather than be imposed upon the viewer. Her projects have taken her from South Africa to the UK and beyond, often focusing on those whose lives lie at the edges of broader political and…
How Professional Photographers Build Online Portfolios in 2026
One of the questions I’m asked most often by photographers is whether they still need a portfolio website. After all, many of us spend a significant amount of time sharing work on Instagram, Facebook and other social media platforms. It’s where conversations happen, where communities form and where new work is often first seen. My answer is always the same: yes. Social media is useful, but it isn’t a portfolio. It never has been. Over the years, through TheAppWhisperer, I’ve looked at thousands of photographers’ websites. I’ve interviewed photographers and mobile artists from around the world, reviewed portfolios, judged competitions and followed the development of artists at every stage of…
Between Photography and AI: A Conversation with Dan Marcolina
Dan Marcolina is a photographer, designer, author and visual storyteller whose work spans more than four decades of technological change in image-making. Beginning with traditional lens-based photography, his creative journey has evolved through digital imaging, Photoshop, mobile photography, augmented reality and, more recently, generative AI. An early advocate of digital creativity, Marcolina co-founded with his wife Denise, one of Philadelphia’s first all-digital design studios and has spent much of his career exploring how emerging technologies can expand visual expression while remaining grounded in photographic observation. He is the author of several books on mobile photography, including iPhone Obsessed, one of the first iPhoneography books published, and has lectured internationally on…
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I’ve been writing about mobile photography for almost two decades, and if I’m honest, I thought I’d seen most of it by now. Every year brings another camera app promising to turn the iPhone into something it isn’t. There are always more controls, more presets, more editing tools, and increasingly, more artificial intelligence. And Halide Mark III made me pause for a different reason. It wasn’t the new editing tools or the collection of Looks that caught my attention. It wasn’t even the promise of producing better photographs. What stayed with me after reading about the update was the sense that Lux is trying to have a conversation about photography…
Remembering Kerry Mitchell
I was deeply saddened today to hear of the sudden death of mobile photographer and artist Kerry Mitchell. I interviewed Kerry for TheAppWhisperer several times and, like many people within the mobile photography community, I always remembered the quiet sensitivity of her work. Her images never shouted for attention. They didn’t need to. They carried emotion in a much softer and more lasting way. At a time when so much photography competes to be louder, faster and more immediate, Kerry’s work did the opposite. It slowed you down. There was a calmness to her images, but also something underlying them that felt fragile and deeply human. I think that’s why…
