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‘The angle of the dog, the hat and the tattoo on her foot all come together’: Trace Meek’s best phone picture

A family day in a Florida back yard was the setting for a summertime memory it would be impossible to recreate

Trace Meek is abundantly proud of his Florida back yard. For the last 10 years, he and his wife, Lauren, have worked diligently on it. “It’s our happy place,” he says. “We live in Belleair Bluffs, and I’ve watched my son and daughter grow up playing in the dirt under our giant oak trees, swinging on the tree swing, riding their bikes and scooters on the circular path, and swimming in our pool. It’s big, with a really deep end and three water fountains that shoot over the top. We like to have a last jump into the pool before bed and, best of all, there are no iPads or TVs.”

The family had friends visiting for 4 July celebrations when Meek took this photo on his phone. There were six adults, six children and two dogs present. Harvey, a braque français, is pictured here on Lauren’s lap.

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© Photograph: Trace Meek

© Photograph: Trace Meek

© Photograph: Trace Meek

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Sunsets, disasters, dinners: we now record them all with our phones. But what is that doing to our souls? | Phoebe Greenwood

As a war correspondent, I worked with photographers who said the camera was a buffer between them and reality. It is much the same now as we snap and scroll

I was sitting on a rooftop in Athens at sunset looking up at Filopappou hill. Athens in August is burning hot. Not so much hotter than London or Paris any more, but the sort of hot that makes it foolish to step out into sunlight before 6pm. Emerging from the air conditioning at dusk, I saw a dense line of silhouettes on the ridge above me. Almost every one of these shadows had its arm raised, holding a cameraphone towards the sunset.

Of all the pretty hills in the Greek capital, Filopappou arguably has the best view. The Acropolis stands directly to its north. To its south, where I sat, the city sprawls out towards the sea and a dark horizon of islands – Aegina, Salamina, Agistri.

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© Photograph: Antonio Parrinello/The Guardian

© Photograph: Antonio Parrinello/The Guardian

© Photograph: Antonio Parrinello/The Guardian

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The week around the world in 20 pictures

The Nepal-Tibet flood disaster, Russian strikes in Kyiv, Israeli settlers in the West Bank and tributes to Dolly Parton – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

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© Photograph: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

© Photograph: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

© Photograph: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

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Roy Cohn, Robert Mapplethorpe and a Trump-Era Dilemma Over Free Speech

When a respected biographer tried to use a Mapplethorpe photograph of Roy Cohn for a book cover, worries about the wrath of Mr. Cohn’s protégé, President Trump, intervened.

© Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe’s photograph of Roy Cohn, from 1981.
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Iran seeks to criminalise all contact with foreign media in ‘chilling’ crackdown

As photojournalist sentenced to 15 years, rights groups warn law would turn civic engagement into security crime

Iran has taken the first step towards criminalising contact with foreign media, in a move human rights groups have said attempts to “sever the entire Iranian society from the rest of the world”.

For journalists, researchers and even ordinary citizens, the proposed law being discussed by Iranian lawmakers this month could make speaking to international audiences and groups a potential criminal act and restrict coverage of events such as January’s mass anti-regime protests.

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© Photograph: Yalda Moaiery

© Photograph: Yalda Moaiery

© Photograph: Yalda Moaiery

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