Alon Goldsmith's iPhone Photo: A Lonely Machine on Santa Monica Pier

Los Angeles-based photographer Alon Goldsmith, originally from Johannesburg, has selected a black-and-white image taken on day 111 of his 365-day project as his best phone picture. The photograph, titled 'Eye Spy', was shot on an iPhone 16 Pro Max and features a Hi-Spy Viewing Machine on Santa Monica Pier, overlooking the beach. Goldsmith, who began the project on New Year's Day 2026, takes and posts a photo every day for a year. He captured the image during his daily bike ride through Venice and around Santa Monica Pier, an area he describes as a 'cornucopia of curiosities'. The photographer explains that the vantage point of the bike allows him to slow down and notice the world differently. During editing, he converted the image to black and white to emphasize its graphic and cinematic nature, adding sculptural weight to the clouds and anthropomorphizing the machine with the help of a bird, turning it into a lonely character gazing at an empty beach. Goldsmith adhered to the ethics of street photography by not altering the image, refusing to erase elements like the seagull or sand. The photograph was featured in The Guardian's 'best phone picture' series on August 1, 2026.