Apple Unveils ‘What Holds Us’ Photography Exhibition, Shot on iPhone 18 Pro
Featuring work by Jack Davison, Alex Prager, and Jimmy Chin.
by Erin Ikeuchi · HypebeastSummary
Apple is opening a new art exhibition, titled 'What Holds Us,' in New York City
Curated by Kathy Ryan, the show unveils new work by acclaimed photographers all shot on the new iPhone 8 Pro
The exhibition is open from September 18 to 20 in Chelsea, Manhattan, with a live talk from the curator on opening night
Apple just keeps upping its photography game. The new iPhone 18 Pro comes equipped with a 48MP Fusion Main camera, dubbed the first of its kind made for photographers, offering users even more creative control with variable aperture. For a better picture of the new device’s abilities, Apple has tapped three acclaimed photographers to put those upgrades to the test.
Among some of the first to get their hands on the new phone ahead of launch last week, artists Jack Davison, Alex Prager, and Jimmy Chin have created new bodies of work for the exhibition, What Holds Us. “The theme holds a mirror to our increasingly fragmented world,” explains Kathy Ryan, the curator and former longtime director of photography for The New York Times Magazine, who worked closely with the artists to realize their unique projects. Open from September 18 through 20 in New York, the showcase spotlights people, ideas, and places that ground humanity and how, per Ryan, “technology rises to the occasion to make it possible.”
Each vision of connection is just as varied in composition as it is in style. For Chin, an athlete, photographer, and filmmaker, it meant a trip up Canada’s Bugaboos with climber Conrad Anker. His photographs move from sweeping composite panoramas to intimate details — Anker’s fingers gripped tight on snowy peaks — and vertiginous views of glacial rivers shot from a helicopter. “In these raw, wild places there is nowhere to hide from yourself.”
In Davison’s work, human connection brought touch and physicality to mind. The photographer, known for dramatic chiaroscuro, turned his lens toward the relationship between clay and people. Visceral and tender, the images on view delve into the maker and material, emphasizing texture, form, and the almost surreal tactility of sculpture.
On the middle wall, Prager mounts a coterie of her cinematic crowd scenes. Shifting between bird’s-eye view and tightly framed compositions, her work captures the aftermath of a celebration — “the moment when people begin to disperse and retreat into their private thoughts.” Behind-the-scenes photos of the monumental vertical triptych hanging at the back of the gallery reveal the grandeur of Prager’s sets, rivaling those of big-budget feature films.
“Seeing what Alex, Jack, and Jimmy are able to create with a device we all carry every day challenges our ideas of what photography can be and shows us how it can remain true to the original values of the craft while embracing new tools and possibilities,” Ryan shared.
What Holds Us will be on view at 456 West 18th Street in New York from September 18 to 20, before making stops in London and Shanghai. A conversation between Talk Easy’s Sam Fragoso and Ryan will be held at 6 PM on opening night, followed by a cocktail reception.