As an international photojournalist, I’ve been to some of the most far-flung places on Earth. After 20 years abroad, I felt like my own country was a mystery to me. So when I moved back to the United States in 2014, I began to explore it as I would explore any foreign country—with my camera. Only I didn’t use a “real” one; I used my smartphone. 

I’ve always kept a small film camera with me for my personal projects—things I wanted to shoot for myself, without the pressure of external expectations. When I got my first smartphone, in 2010, I realized it was the perfect tool for this kind of thing: small, discreet, always in my back pocket.

But back then it