Alex Prager Debuts New Works Shot on iPhone 18 Pro in Apple Exhibition
Debuting in New York before traveling to London and Shanghai, Apple’s new “What Holds Us” exhibition showcases new photography by Alex Prager, Jack Davison, and Jimmy Chin exploring intimacy, presence, and human connection
In an era defined by hyper-connectivity and constant digital noise, what does it mean to really slow down and be present? That is the central question posed in “What Holds Us,” a new photography exhibition presented by Apple at 456 West 18th Street in Chelsea. Curated by Kathy Ryan, the 2-day exhibition unites three visionary artists—Alex Prager, Jack Davison, and Jimmy Chin—who were each commissioned to create entirely new bodies of work shot on the iPhone 18 Pro, which officially launches Friday, September 18.
The exhibition, on view through September 20, shines a light on human connection across three diverse landscapes: hands-sculpting clay in a London studio, the dramatic peaks of the Bugaboos in Canada, and the bittersweet aftermath of a celebration on a Los Angeles soundstage.
At the preview morning, Galerie spoke with acclaimed Los Angeles–based artist and director Alex Prager, whose cinematic, hyper-stylized crowd scenes have long explored themes of collective identity and human behavior. Known for constructing elaborate Technicolor universes, Prager this time turned her lens toward the quiet, reflective moments that takes over when a celebration ends and the crowd departs the scene.
“Human connection is the conversation of our time, and what my work has always questioned: how we connect, and what exists beneath those encounters,” says Prager. “For this project, I was drawn to the aftermath of a celebration—the moment when people begin to disperse and retreat into their private thoughts. There is a dignity in that mysterious space. It is there that life’s poetry begins, and where our capacity for connection and creativity is cultivated.”
The iPhone 18 Pro’s advanced camera system, which features a 48MP Fusion Main camera with variable physical aperture, allowed the artist to maintain her practice of practical set design while she enjoyed a new level of mobility and dexterity.
“I love the idea of working with something so light and small, almost like a spy camera,” Prager tells Galerie. “That photo would not have been possible, I feel like, with my normal camera that I’ve used forever… I felt very dexterous with the iPhone. I could go anywhere and do anything, I had a freedom that I don’t normally have.”
Prager pushed the new hardware to its technical boundaries. “I definitely wanted to try and push it to its limits,” she explains. “I had atmosphere, I had confetti, I had neon lights. The technology to really capture that halation, like the glow of neon lights, had not been fully developed until this new model. So it was really incredible working directly with the engineers in this process.”
For Prager, the process of shooting on a smartphone also connects with her cinematic work and the way modern society consumes visual culture. “I am thinking about imagery as a stream of pictures, and connecting it closer to how we see the world with our own eyes. Our memories are moments that imprint on us like photographs—those decisive moments that strike a chord. By seeing every moment through the lens the way we do in life, I can take a single moment and make it live forever, just like a memory.”
Those personal touches extended to her casting, too. Spotted within the vibrant crowd scenes are her mother, her sister, and her son’s babysitter, the main star in the yellow dress. “I love putting the people close to me into my pictures.”
To reflect the way that we now consume images daily, Prager worked closely with the gallery team to hang her installation using the phone’s vertical framing. “I really wanted it to reflect the way that we see images through our iPhones, because I’ve never done this aspect ratio before. We are constantly used to viewing the world through the iPhone now—it’s so much a part of how we see things.”
Elsewhere in the gallery, Jack Davison’s series celebrates tactility and raw physical touch, capturing hands molding clay into surreal, sculpted forms. High above, Jimmy Chin’s breathtaking images in Bugaboo Provincial Park feature the legendary climber Conrad Anker, explores ideas of trust and solitude and the power of nature.
The three series demonstrate how photography continues to evolve when high technology meets human intimacy and our continued need to connect and be present in the moment.