‘My photos are warm and full of imagination – that’s something AI could never achieve’: Yuan Li’s best phone picture 13 December 2025 at 06:00

‘My photos are warm and full of imagination – that’s something AI could never achieve’: Yuan Li’s best phone picture

13 December 2025 at 06:00

This spectacular image taken in Sakrisøy, Norway, triggered accusations that it was simply too good to be true

Yuan Li splits his time between two careers: in the winter, he works as a ski instructor; in summer, a photographer. When he took this image, Beijing-based Li was visiting Norway and Iceland with friends, on a trip focused on sightseeing and photographing the aurora borealis. He captured this picture while exploring Sakrisøy, a small island in Lofoten, Norway. In the foreground sits this distinctive yellow homestay; in the background, Olstinden mountain.

“It had snowed heavily all day,” Li recalls. “As I was setting up to capture this scene, the snow stopped and the sun came out, which made the perfect environment for taking photos.”

The week around the world in 20 pictures 12 December 2025 at 14:35

The week around the world in 20 pictures

The Guardian

By:Jim Powell

12 December 2025 at 14:35

Russian airstrikes on Kyiv, floods in Indonesia, the IDF in Gaza and the Nutcracker in Nairobi: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

Sandhurst cadets and skating ministers: photos of the day – Friday 12 December 2025 at 08:43

Sandhurst cadets and skating ministers: photos of the day – Friday

The Guardian

By:Arnel Hecimovic

12 December 2025 at 08:43

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

Sleeper hits, sci-fi sculpture and Martin Parr on Martin Parr – the week in art 12 December 2025 at 07:00

Sleeper hits, sci-fi sculpture and Martin Parr on Martin Parr – the week in art

The Guardian

By:Jonathan Jones

12 December 2025 at 07:00

Artists explore insomnia and snoozing, sculptors imagine alternative futures and we look back with a great British photographer – all in your weekly dispatch

To Improvise a Mountain
Painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye portrays fictional people in made-up settings. Where does she get her haunting ideas? Here she reveals her inspirations from Walter Sickert to Bas Jan Ader.
• MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, until 25 January

Week in wildlife: a baby echidna, a 600lb gator and an ‘unbearable’ bear 12 December 2025 at 03:00

Week in wildlife: a baby echidna, a 600lb gator and an ‘unbearable’ bear

The Guardian

By:Joanna Ruck

12 December 2025 at 03:00

This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world

Fighting antelopes and a Brazilian sunset: photos of the day – Thursday 11 December 2025 at 08:26

Fighting antelopes and a Brazilian sunset: photos of the day – Thursday

The Guardian

By:Arnel Hecimovic

11 December 2025 at 08:26

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

Naked ambition: the groundbreaking photomontages of Zofia Kulik 11 December 2025 at 03:00

Naked ambition: the groundbreaking photomontages of Zofia Kulik

The Guardian

By:Skye Sherwin

11 December 2025 at 03:00

In her complex works, the Polish artist manipulates images of male nudes to comment on masculine power-plays and female emancipation

To give people a sense of her evolution, the lauded Polish artist Zofia Kulik likes to compare two of her creative milestones. The first was the centrepiece of her earliest exhibition as a solo artist in 1989, where she debuted her groundbreaking, technically complex photomontages in which dizzying patterns are woven from repeating imagery. It’s a self-portrait where she peers uncertainly from a mandala made from tiny posturing male nudes, “pressed in by men” as Kulik puts it.

The second was made nearly a decade later in 1997, the year that that artistic leap into the unknown was given the ultimate public affirmation and she represented her country at the Venice Biennale. This time she’s an assertive queen, posed like Elizabeth I, resplendent with a ruff, wide-skirted and sleeved gown, embellished with decorative patterns of those naked men.

‘Like a rock star’: the global reverence for Martin Parr’s class-conscious photography 11 December 2025 at 01:00

‘Like a rock star’: the global reverence for Martin Parr’s class-conscious photography

The Guardian

By:Philip Oltermann European culture editor

11 December 2025 at 01:00

Unfettered love for late photographer in France and elsewhere stands in contrast to occasional reservations in UK

The death of Martin Parr, the photographer whose work chronicled the rituals and customs of British life, was front-page news in France and his life and work were celebrated as far afield as the US and Japan.

If his native England had to shake off concerns about the role of class in Parr’s satirical gaze before it could fully embrace him, countries like France have long revered the Epsom-born artist “like a rock or a movie star”, said the curator Quentin Bajac.

Sounds like activism: musicians who fight for change – in pictures 10 December 2025 at 15:55

Sounds like activism: musicians who fight for change – in pictures

The Guardian

By:Curated by Briana Ellis-Gibbs

10 December 2025 at 15:55

Photographer Janette Beckman and curator Julie Grahame have organized a one-time fundraiser for the ACLU that showcases images of musicians who have recorded protest songs or are known for their activism. Forty-three photographers have donated images of 50 artists, from John Lennon to Nina Simone to Bad Bunny, and 100% of the profits will go towards the ACLU and their efforts to protect equality, freedom and rights. In addition to the images there is a playlist of songs for the fundraiser.

Snakes alive! A boy with a serpent in the Appalachians: Hannah Modigh’s best photograph 10 December 2025 at 09:00

Snakes alive! A boy with a serpent in the Appalachians: Hannah Modigh’s best photograph

The Guardian

By:Interview by Chris Broughton

10 December 2025 at 09:00

‘I was told not to go to St Charles as it was too dangerous. I went and was struck by how free the kids are. They’re not afraid of the region’s rattlesnakes’

I visited the Appalachian mountains for the first time in my mid-20s, after deciding I needed to get away from my inner circle in Sweden to find my way into photography. I felt I had to be by myself, just responding to things happening around me and not thinking about my daily life.

America played a big part in my family history, and the Appalachians called to me in particular because at that time, around 2006, I’d been listening to a lot of bluegrass music. I wanted to get closer to people who lived in the place where it originated – music has always been a big inspiration for me. While driving in the mountains with no particular destination in mind, I met a social worker who told me: “Whatever you do, don’t go to St Charles.” She said something about it being too dangerous, which made me curious.

A snow patrol, Dior dresses and Storm Bram: photos of the day – Wednesday 10 December 2025 at 08:45

A snow patrol, Dior dresses and Storm Bram: photos of the day – Wednesday

The Guardian

By:Selected by Natasha Rees-Bloor

10 December 2025 at 08:45

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

‘My beautiful house lay in ruins!’: how to build (and wreck) a Hollywood set – in pictures 10 December 2025 at 02:00

‘My beautiful house lay in ruins!’: how to build (and wreck) a Hollywood set – in pictures

The Guardian

By:Guardian Staff

10 December 2025 at 02:00

Veteran set decorator Lauri Gaffin has spent a career dressing up films from indie classics to blockbusters. Her new photographic memoir takes us behind the scenes of this ever-changing job – and on the hunt for wolves’ penis bones

‘I drunkenly hugged him and said I love you, Martin Parr!’ Grayson Perry, Don McCullin and more on Britain’s national photographer 9 December 2025 at 08:12

‘I drunkenly hugged him and said I love you, Martin Parr!’ Grayson Perry, Don McCullin and more on Britain’s national photographer

The Guardian

By:Tim Jonze and Lanre Bakare

9 December 2025 at 08:12

With a sharp eye and saturated colours, Parr’s photographs revealed the world in all its eccentric glory. Here, his friends, peers and collaborators pay tribute to a master

Grayson Perry, artist
I’ve never really been a fanboy, but the first time I saw Martin Parr I ran up and drunkenly hugged him. I said: “I love you Martin Parr!” I couldn’t help it. He was a hero of mine. And over the years he became my best artist friend.

At Last, a Name for the Murderous Face in a Holocaust Photo 28 November 2025 at 16:01

At Last, a Name for the Murderous Face in a Holocaust Photo

NYT: Science

By:Alexander Nazaryan

28 November 2025 at 16:01

With the help of A.I., a historian has identified the killer in a 1941 image that defined the savagery of the Nazi regime.

The photo was brought to light by a Holocaust survivor, Al Moss, during the trial of the Nazi official Adolf Eichmann.

Take Command of Your Powerful New Smartphone Camera 26 November 2025 at 09:00

Take Command of Your Powerful New Smartphone Camera

NYT: Technology

By:J. D. Biersdorfer

26 November 2025 at 09:00

This year’s high-end models from Apple and Google raise the bar for mobile photography, but users should take the time to learn the settings and features.