getPhotoHtml

<?php // https://stackoverflow.com/questions/73105094/should-i-call-this-function-or-echo-the-variable

function getPhotoHtml(array $person = []): string
{
    $path = 'photos';

    if (empty($person['photo_url']) || !file_exists("$path/" . basename($person['photo_url']))) {
        return "<img src='$path/no_photo_available.png' alt='no photo available'>";
    }

    return "<img src='$path/{$person['photo_url']}' alt='{$person['name']}'>";
}

foreach($persons as $person) {
    echo getPhotoHtml($person);
}