TIME’s Latest Cover Photos were Shot on the iPhone

TIME magazine’s latest issue features a special project titled FIRSTS, which features profiles of 46 influential women who are changing the world. For the photography in the project, TIME recruited 28-year-old Brazilian photographer Luisa Dörr to shoot 46 portraits and 12 cover photos using an iPhone.

TIME Director of Photography Kira Pollack writes that she first came across Dörr’s work while browsing Instagram, where the young photographer currently has over 44,000 followers.

“I was instantly lured down the magical scroll of @luisadorr’s feed,” Pollack writes. “There were countless images of women of all ages against ethereal yet raw landscapes. Natural light, lovely tone, each one a studied composition. The pictures were incredibly consistent.

“In her bio line she had written ‘All photos made with the iPhone.’ I tracked her down immediately.”

In September 2016, Dörr arrived in New York City and began a whirlwind tour of the United States (her first visit to the country) to shoot portraits of the 46 women for TIME (her first assignment for the magazine).

“For Firsts, the pictures are made with natural light, using only a reflector when necessary,” Dörr tells TIME in an interview. “I like the simplicity of how these pictures are made. But the best part is that as a photographer, you feel extremely light and free. It is almost as if I can make pictures with my hand. There’s no noise, gadgets, tools or plugs—just the subject and myself.”

Dörr had to work quickly with her subjects: her longest portrait session was only 20 minutes, and the shortest was just 2 minutes.

She started the project shooting with her iPhone 5 but progressed through the iPhone 6, 6S Plus, and 7 as she worked on the series.

Here’s a look at the 12 resulting TIME covers featuring Dörr’s photos:

You can find more of Luisa Dörr’s work on her website and Instagram. You can also find the FIRSTS project on its special website.

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