Technologies

Display Your Photography at Home With These Beautiful Wall Art Ideas

Don’t let your photos languish on an old hard drive. These ideas for dramatic wall art can give your images new life.

Whether you’re snapping away on your iPhone 16 Pro or Galaxy S25 Ultra, or if you’re using a great mirrorless camera, it’s never been easier to take stunning photos wherever you are. But all too often those images sit on our devices for years, cluttering up our camera roll and never being given the attention they deserve. Using those pictures to create beautiful wall art pulls them from the depths of your hard drive and shows off those stunning moments all around your home, providing a wonderful reminder of the good times you had and the beautiful places you’ve seen.

As a photographer myself, I know how it feels having countless photos I’m really proud of that just sit on my computer never to be looked at again. I also know how amazing it can feel to see my work printed out nice and big, so I’ve put together some of my favorite ways that I display photos in my own home.

Read more: Best Cameras to Buy in 2025

Go big with a canvas

I’ve had small canvas prints before and they’ve looked OK, but this gigantic canvas makes a real statement. At 47 by 47 inches, it’s a real beast of a print and I had it hung over my stairwell to really show it off and add some color in an otherwise plain space.

While any image will work for a canvas print, I specifically wanted to go with something a little more abstract, opting for a square print of this coastal scene, that brings great seaside vibes into my house.

Buy canvas prints from Cewe UK here.

Read more: Best Camera Phone in 2025

Create a stark monochrome aluminum print

I love black-and-white photography and was especially pleased when I took some moody monochrome images using my converted infrared camera while on holiday on the beautiful Isle of Skye in Scotland. Printed onto aluminum, these prints have a smooth, matte finish that’s free of any reflections and lends itself well to high contrast black-and-white images.

I had a print made in a whopping 55 by 41 inches and it’s a stunning addition to my home studio space, standing out nicely against the gray wall. My aluminum print came with hanging rails mounted on the back, although you can also use other wall fixings, as long as they’re strong enough. These large prints are heavy!

Buy aluminum prints from Cewe UK here.

Split your image into an eye-catching triptych

A triptych refers to any image that is displayed in three parts, whether it’s three different images designed to be displayed together, or one image broken up into sections. I went for the latter option, splitting a wide, cinematic view over a wintery Edinburgh into three foam board panels, each measuring 23 by 15 inches.

Hanging them in perfect alignment took a bit of doing, but I love the look of the three of them together. It takes what would be an otherwise regular print and gives it a slightly more modern, interesting twist by breaking it up, while still maintaining the visual impact of the original image.

Try creating triptychs using wide landscape scenes, cityscapes or other panoramic images. Or try it using three different images either from the same occasion (a wedding or holiday) or grouped by theme (black-and-white images, or three locations in different seasons).

Buy triptych prints from Cewe UK here.

Splash some color with an acrylic print

Acrylic prints are great options for vibrant images, as the way that light passes through the thick material allows colors to really pop with a satisfying contrast that almost gives the print a 3D effect.

I went with a print of an image I shot of the Northern Lights, shimmering over a bay in Iceland. It’s an incredibly colorful image, with vivid greens and yellows from the aurora, mixed in with deep blue tones in the night sky and I absolutely love how it looks in the 55-by-41-inch print.

Hanging it involved screwing mounting points into my wall, which is a bit fiddly for a DIY novice like myself to get right, but I love how the image looks against the deep blue of my room.

Buy acrylic prints from Cewe UK here.

Create a modern, hexagonal display

Hexxas tiles allow you to print your images on hexagons that you can then build up into an interesting honeycomb pattern on your wall. The seven tiles I received were enough to create a neat circular pattern, but you can order loads more and create much more interesting shapes that spread across your wall.

They’re a great way of showing lots of images as part of one set, so consider how you can theme your tiles so they work in harmony. I opted for a selection of my natural macro images, grouping shots of mushrooms and leaves that work well together. But these tiles would work really well to show off your images from various vacations, adding to them as you travel each year, resulting in an ever-expanding display of beautiful, modern-looking prints.

Buy Hexxas hexagonal tile prints from Cewe UK here.

Frame a hero print for a classic look

Going with a classic frame for your print may not feel like the most exciting, modern way to show off your photos, but sometimes the classics really work and will allow your prints to stand the test of time. But if you still want your framed art to make a statement on your wall then you need to go big.

I went for the largest 20-by-30-inch framed print Cewe offered, filling the black frame with an iconic view of the Old Man of Storr on the Isle of Skye. I love how timeless this piece of art looks on my wall and how well it fits against the other, smaller framed prints from other parts of Scotland.

Buy large framed prints from Cewe UK here.

Pack your memories into a stunning photo book

Not all your photographic artwork has to live on your walls. A photo book can be an amazing way to show off a whole selection of images that really tell the story of an occasion. Wedding albums are of course the most obvious ones to go for as you can include all of your images from the happy day into one book that you — and your family and friends — will enjoy flicking through for years to come.

But I’ve also loved creating photo books with sets of images from specific holidays around the world. I often keep photo books in mind when I’m away, ensuring I shoot lots of images that really tell the story of a location — architecture, shop fronts, food, street art — that will then fill the pages of my book like it’s a luxury travel magazine.

Good photo book makers (including Cewe) will allow you to fully customize the layout of your images, along with the paper type and choice of outer finishes. Cewe also offers books made with 100% recycled paper.

Buy photo books from Cewe UK here.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Feb. 21

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 21.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s the long Saturday version, and some of the clues are stumpers. I was really thrown by 10-Across. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: «Jersey Shore» channel
Answer: MTV

4A clue: «___ Knows» (rhyming ad slogan)
Answer: LOWES

6A clue: Second-best-selling female musician of all time, behind Taylor Swift
Answer: MADONNA

8A clue: Whiskey grain
Answer: RYE

9A clue: Dreaded workday: Abbr.
Answer: MON

10A clue: Backfiring blunder, in modern lingo
Answer: SELFOWN

12A clue: Lengthy sheet for a complicated board game, perhaps
Answer: RULES

13A clue: Subtle «Yes»
Answer: NOD

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: In which high schoolers might role-play as ambassadors
Answer: MODELUN

2D clue: This clue number
Answer: TWO

3D clue: Paid via app, perhaps
Answer: VENMOED

4D clue: Coat of paint
Answer: LAYER

5D clue: Falls in winter, say
Answer: SNOWS

6D clue: Married title
Answer: MRS

7D clue: ___ Arbor, Mich.
Answer: ANN

11D clue: Woman in Progressive ads
Answer: FLO

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 21, #516

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 21, No. 516.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one. I actually thought the purple category, usually the most difficult, was the easiest of the four. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Old Line State.

Green group hint: Hoops legend.

Blue group hint: Robert Redford movie.

Purple group hint: Vroom-vroom.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Maryland teams.

Green group: Shaquille O’Neal nicknames.

Blue group: Associated with «The Natural.»

Purple group: Sports that have a driver.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is Maryland teams. The four answers are Midshipmen, Orioles, Ravens and Terrapins.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is Shaquille O’Neal nicknames. The four answers are Big Aristotle, Diesel, Shaq and Superman.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with «The Natural.» The four answers are baseball, Hobbs, Knights and Wonderboy.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is sports that have a driver. The four answers are bobsled, F1, golf and water polo.

Technologies

Wisconsin Reverses Decision to Ban VPNs in Age-Verification Bill

The law would have required websites to block VPN users from accessing «harmful material.»

Following a wave of criticism, Wisconsin lawmakers have decided not to include a ban on VPN services in their age-verification law, making its way through the state legislature.

Wisconsin Senate Bill 130 (and its sister Assembly Bill 105), introduced in March 2025, aims to prohibit businesses from «publishing or distributing material harmful to minors» unless there is a reasonable «method to verify the age of individuals attempting to access the website.»

One provision would have required businesses to bar people from accessing their sites via «a virtual private network system or virtual private network provider.»

A VPN lets you access the internet via an encrypted connection, enabling you to bypass firewalls and unblock geographically restricted websites and streaming content. While using a VPN, your IP address and physical location are masked, and your internet service provider doesn’t know which websites you visit.

Wisconsin state Sen. Van Wanggaard moved to delete that provision in the legislation, thereby releasing VPNs from any liability. The state assembly agreed to remove the VPN ban, and the bill now awaits Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers’s signature.

Rindala Alajaji, associate director of state affairs at the digital freedom nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, says Wisconsin’s U-turn is «great news.»

«This shows the power of public advocacy and pushback,» Alajaji says. «Politicians heard the VPN users who shared their worries and fears, and the experts who explained how the ban wouldn’t work.»

Earlier this week, the EFF had written an open letter arguing that the draft laws did not «meaningfully advance the goal of keeping young people safe online.» The EFF said that blocking VPNs would harm many groups that rely on that software for private and secure internet connections, including «businesses, universities, journalists and ordinary citizens,» and that «many law enforcement professionals, veterans and small business owners rely on VPNs to safely use the internet.»

VPNs can also help you get around age-verification laws — for instance, if you live in a state or country that requires age verification to access certain material, you can use a VPN to make it look like you live elsewhere, thereby gaining access to that material. As age-restriction laws increase around the US, VPN use has also increased. However, many people are using free VPNs, which are fertile ground for cybercriminals.

In its letter to Wisconsin lawmakers prior to the reversal, the EFF argued that it is «unworkable» to require websites to block VPN users from accessing adult content. The EFF said such sites cannot «reliably determine» where a VPN customer lives — it could be any US state or even other countries.

«As a result, covered websites would face an impossible choice: either block all VPN users everywhere, disrupting access for millions of people nationwide, or cease offering services in Wisconsin altogether,» the EFF wrote.

Wisconsin is not the only state to consider VPN bans to prevent access to adult material. Last year, Michigan introduced the Anticorruption of Public Morals Act, which would ban all use of VPNs. If passed, it would force ISPs to detect and block VPN usage and also ban the sale of VPNs in the state. Fines could reach $500,000.