I read upon the dingy wall the words the old man said

Apple has added a new feature called Live Text that can recognize text when it appears in your camera's viewfinder or in a photo you've taken and let you perform several actions with it.

To use Live text while taking a picture

Open the camera app

Point the camera at some text

A box will appear around the text

Tap the live text icon

Tap copy

To use live text in a photo

Open the photos app

Tap a hold on some text

Drag the cursor across the area to copy

Tap the copy

Bonus tip

If there is a phone number in the picture, tap on the phone number and you will be asked if you want to call the number.