Culture

Photography is about far more than capturing an image. How photos are shared and what social issues are impacting the profession are just as important. PetaPixel regularly covers the stories around the culture of photography, how it affects society, and what cultural changes affect the art.
A collage on a blue background with travel photos, a group of friends dancing, and icons for photos, music, and camera. A "New York, NY" location tag and Facebook logo are included.

Meta Wants Its AI to Learn From Your Camera Roll

Meta wants access to the photos on Facebook users' smartphone camera rolls. The company's new feature is designed to help people find "shareworthy" photos they haven't yet published, but the privacy concerns are obvious and there are important considerations about how these photos may be used to train AI.

A group of emergency responders surrounds and assists a person lying on a stretcher with a neck brace, preparing to move them in a hallway with beige tiled walls.

NPPA Condemns ICE Assault on Journalists ‘In the Strongest Possible Terms’

The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) has condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the actions taken by ICE officers against journalists in Federal Plaza in New York City earlier this week. "The assault on an a New York reporter and the serious injury inflicted on another journalist represent an unacceptable, blatant attack on press freedom," the organization writes.

A grid of twelve black squares on a white background spells out "CREATIVE LIVE" in bold white letters, with one letter in each square.

CreativeLive is Shutting Down

CreativeLive, one of the original platforms for online photography education, is shutting down on December 31, 2025. The site is now closed to all but current users and will be wholly shuttered at the end of the year.

Four overlapping versions of a Renaissance Nativity painting are shown, with each layer revealing different restoration or imaging techniques, including color overlays and digitally enhanced sections.

New Digital Art Restoration Method Can Save the World’s Dying Artworks

Most of the world’s art is locked away and will never be seen. This isn’t due to any nefarious reason, simply the ravages of time -- historical paintings are degraded and can require months, years, or even a decade of sluggish, painstaking restoration. As a result, about 70% of paintings in institutional collections are not on public view.

A smartphone displays the TikTok logo on its screen, positioned in front of a blurred American flag in the background.

TikTok Sale Grows Closer as Trump Signs Executive Order Legalizing It

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that outlines how the China-based Bytedance divestiture from TikTok in the United States will play out, laying the groundwork for the app to be majority-owned by U.S. persons and leaving Bytedance with a minority stake. This move only applies to the U.S.-based version of the app.

A smartphone displays the TikTok logo on its screen, positioned in front of a blurred American flag in the background.

TikTok’s Algorithm Will Be Under American Control In Trump’s Deal

President Trump is expected to sign an executive order this week to finalize a long-rumored TikTok acquisition. In view of the impending deal, more details surrounding how the U.S. will tweak TikTok have come to light, including changes to the app's algorithm that is essential to its success and core to security concerns surrounding the app.

Frosted glass with cut-out letters partially reading "GR SPACE BRISBANE," with the background faintly visible through the transparent text.

Brisbane, Australia to Open the First GR Space Photo Hub Outside of Asia

Ricoh Imaging not only manufactures the extremely popular GR series of cameras, but the company also operates three GR Space locations in Tokyo, Shanghai, and Beijing, which are designed to serve as dedicated community hubs for photographers. Brisbane, Australia, is set to be the fourth global location for a GR Space when it opens in October.

A collage of three photos: a young man wearing large sunglasses, a blurry black-and-white self-portrait with a camera, and a close-up of two young men with serious expressions in black and white.

Paul McCartney’s Photos Show Beatlemania From the Inside

The Frist Art Museum is set to exhibit Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm, a newly discovered collection of images taken by McCartney during the early surge of Beatlemania, offering a personal glimpse into the band’s rapid rise to global fame through nearly 300 intimate photographs.

Two women in neon swimsuits and futuristic glasses pose on a beach at sunset. Beside them, a woman with glowing red eyes and metallic arms stands topless, with a black bar covering her chest, against a dark, glowing background.

xAI’s Grok AI Lets Users Create ‘Spicy’ NSFW Images and Videos

Long before Elon Musk bought Twitter and rebranded it to X, the platform was known for allowing users to post a wide range of explicit content. Under Musk's anti-censorship stewardship, the social media platform has only become more of a Wild West. xAI's new Grok Imagine AI image and video generator is poised to take that reputation even further, and the alarm bells are already sounding.

A white instant camera with rainbow stripes is shown next to a developed instant photo of a baseball game on a stadium field. The camera and photo are on a plain white background.

AP Photographer’s Polaroids Perfectly Capture Baseball’s Nostalgic Spirit

No sport is wrapped up in as much history in the U.S. as baseball. What better way to capture baseball's nostalgic spirit than with Polaroid pictures? That's precisely what Associated Press photographer Erin Hooley did for the recent "Crosstown Classic" in Chicago, a clash between the city's two MLB teams, the Cubs and the White Sox.