Photographers record their attempts to create the next iconic Windows wallpaper

Windows wallpapers are seen every day in homes and offices around the world. The rolling green hills and blue sky of Windows XP’s Bliss, captured by photographer Charles O’Rear, became so iconic that Microsoft even put it on sweaters. Then we had the mysterious Windows 10 wallpaper, which looked like computer-generated imagery but was actually a photograph of a real window with lasers, a mirror and smoke machines. 

Windows 11 marked a departure, with Microsoft opting not for photography but for a piece of digital art: Bloom, created by Barcelona-based Six N Five. But the tech giant decided to seek its next great Windows wallpaper photograph to provide an alternative. And it invited seven photographers from different countries to compete to create it – and to document the process.

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Taking part in the contest, Caleb Wielhouwer from the US headed to Alaska, the Japanese photographer Kohki Yamaguchi set off for Mount Fuji, and Zac Watson from Australia took to a helicopter to get an aerial shot of Horizontal Falls. Meanwhile, the British film photographer Kate Hook headed to Glencoe, Justin Choquette from Canada spent seven days on the road to capture a mountain landscape, Loic Lagarde captured a castle in the Loire Valley with a drone, and Frauke Hameister shot a landscape in her native Germany.

Each photographer documented how they found the location and took the shot they submitted as a candidate for the new Windows wallpaper. Microsoft's aim appears to have been to promote the use of its AI, Co-Pilot, which some of the photographers say they used to help them take and even to edit their photos (I'd simply turn to the best Photoshop tutorials).

The project was organised by the agency Superdigital. “Windows wallpapers are legendary across the internet," director of strategy Whitney Wolf says. "Windows XP’s iconic Bliss has inspired everything from games to clothing. It’s a legacy we wanted to preserve, while also empowering creators to show off the beauty of their home country that not everyone gets to see first hand.”

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There's no winner. All seven final photos are available as Windows wallpapers from the Microsoft site. If you're tempted by a new Surface Pro to display it on, see the best prices in your area below.