Dialect – The Fading Voice © Boooya
Open your phone camera roll. You’re probably carrying hundreds, if not thousands, of photographs in your pocket, moments that fizz with satisfaction, and images that accumulate in piles, never to be considered again
Screenshots, selfies for the group chat, photos snapped in lieu of note-taking – memory aides, gallery wall texts, shopping lists. But what else? Domestic scenes of quiet splendour. Amongst the slop the occasional gift, in which each component has organised itself just so, right in front of you, ready to become an image.
There’s no doubt that mobile phone cameras have reshaped our visual literacy, the way we see the world, and the way we see ourselves and our own unique histories
Phones’ light weight and large screens are quite literally encouraging new perspectives, as we move away from the eye level shooting that dominated for so long. Their connectivity, which makes it possible to share images on social media in seconds, influences our subjects and their framing, including emphasising vertical orientation. Our smartphones are now an indispensable tool for everyday cultural storytelling, enabling creative voices from diverse backgrounds to document their world.
Mobile phone photography has also changed the media world. Phone cameras can now easily produce high-resolution image files suitable for large format printing and imaginative cropping, with pin-sharp details and balanced tones. And yet, while today’s phone cameras can outrun yesterday’s pro DLRs in terms of image quality, it is their more modest features that encourage the most powerful photography. Fast and versatile, phones can also be less threatening or intimidating in sensitive scenarios, due to their sheer ubiquity. After all, in most situations in which people now congregate, at least one individual will probably have a phone in hand.
The distinction between professional and amateur has essentially collapsed; no longer is it necessary to have specialist equipment, extensive training and a lucrative media contract in order to produce images that can have significant cultural and geopolitical impact. This near-universal ability to tell our own stories through still and moving images, and share these images in a digital arena, can help to foster greater mutual understanding. The smart device brand OPPO is leading in these efforts, promoting mobile imagery as a cultural language, and encouraging young people to use camera phones to document their culture.
It’s an ethos that underpins Culture in a Shot, OPPO’s partnership with the Discovery Channel, which celebrates cultural complexity and inspires diverse communities to capture and share their culture in a creative way
The theme for 2025, Celebrate the Moment, explored the vibrant spirit of festivals, carnivals and folk celebrations around the world, explosions of collective joy in which traditions are continued and reshaped. Featuring more than fifteen countries and regions spanning Europe, South East Asia, and Latin America, the initiative highlights the ways in which the devices we carry can promote and honour diversity, and celebrate both the ancestral traditions and contemporary adaptations that make our shared planet so extraordinary.
This year’s theme stands in striking contrast to the hyper-networked, immaterial world we easily associate with digital technologies and smart devices. Festivals – from those associated with fandom, such as the fiestas of Brazilian football culture; to seasonal traditions such as Nauryz in Kazakhstan; to boisterous rituals dating back hundreds of years, such as the Carnival of Venice – unite communities in physical space through shared moments of joy and abandon. More than just visual spectacles, these events engage all the senses, from the aromas of local foods, the pulse of live music and the sensations of bodies pressed together, dancing and parading. Smartphones are uniquely positioned to capture such movement and intensity in a natural, non-disruptive way.
By amplifying these traditions through visual storytelling, OPPO and the Discovery Channel aim to encourage cross-cultural understanding as well as emphasising the ways in which younger generations – those most typically associated with smart devices and phone photography – are keeping many of these festivities alive, breathing new life into age-old customs. Through mobile imagery, these communities are not only preserving traditions, but reshaping and revitalising them on their own terms.
OPPO’s commitment to empowering young and grassroots image-makers around the world extends to its celebrated Photography Awards, an annual mobile photography competition launched in 2023. Rather than privileging singular masterpieces or technical virtuosity alone, the Awards foreground participation, diversity and everyday creativity. This year’s awards feature a larger prize pool and a more diverse range of awards, including regional categories and enhanced youth recognition, reflecting OPPO’s aim to incentivise visual storytellers globally and make diverse cultural practices more visible.
With a panel of judges including Magnum member Alec Soth and Hasselblad Master Tina Signesdottir Hult, and a combined prize fund of over $127,300, the awards demonstrate a significant commitment to the promotion of smartphone photography as a crucial form of cultural production.
The technical calibre of the winning photographs also illustrates the capabilities of OPPO’s LUMO Imaging Engine, a suite of computational photography algorithms that enhance clarity, dynamic range and colour balance, while retaining a natural feel. The 2025 competition attracted nearly two million entries from 87 countries and regions, reflecting the growing influence of mobile imaging in global visual culture. As these works travel across countries and regions through the OPPO Photography Awards, they form a dispersed yet connected portrait of everyday life — one shaped by intimacy, observation and cultural presence.
Through continued investment in imaging technology and creator platforms, OPPO is lowering creative and technical barriers to entry and enabling more people to capture authentic moments with immediacy and clarity. Initiatives such as Culture in a Shot and OPPO’s Photography Awards can bring manifold perspectives, often absent from traditional media and official records, into the public arena. Beyond winning categories and the appraisal of judges, projects such as these are about participation, amplifying grassroots voices and cultural practices, from diverse regions and backgrounds.