Secondary photogeneration due to reabsorption of internally emitted photons in metal halide perovskites is assessed using a novel dipole emission model that is compatible with detailed balance rates. The model considers the non-uniform local photon density of states of thin film absorbers consistently in internal and external emission and provides insight into the impact of photon confinement on the effectiveness of photon recycling in the wave optics regime. New and general expressions for local radiative recombination and generation rates in terms of the local values of refractive index, extinction coefficient, density of states, and quasi-Fermi level splitting allow for a seamless integration of photon recycling into full opto-electronic device simulation frameworks.