I’ve had my fill of the news oriented best pictures of the year lists so I wanted to create my own but I’m a little too lazy to do all the research (the bohemian would agree). Maybe you could give me a hand.
I’ll start off with two amazing covers. Peter Yang’s photo of Obama for Rolling Stone (here) and Platon’s cover of Willie Nelson for Texas Monthly (here). It’s so rare that a great photograph is made into a cover that these really had an impact on me.
Brent Stirton’s Gorilla killing story was one of those pieces that kept popping up everywhere and seems to win an award in every contest it was entered: http://www.brentstirton.com/feature-gorillas.php
Pieter Hugo’s hyena men is another incredible subject executed perfectly by a great photographer: http://www.pieterhugo.com/nigeria/index.html
Damon Winter deserves an award for breaking out of the pack of heavy political coverage this year. His Obama pictures for the NYTimes are stunning: slideshow here
Roger Ballen is of course an incredibly talented and original photographer but it was his performance/talk at the NY photo festival that had everyone buzzing.
Who else deserves recognition?
Comments 27
Probably the photo of the Olympic games was taken by Heinz Kluetmeier of Michael Phelps winning the 100 meter butterfly. It’s not just a pretty action photo with great light, but a historic sports photograph captured at the exact moment, with an incredible angle, all completely planned with a pinch of luck. Kluetmeier remains one of sports brilliant photographers.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/olympics/2008/writers/richard_deitsch/08/19/heinz.qanda/index.html
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Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 10:54 am ¶Yes, those are some great ones.
I’d like to add:
Phillip Toledano’s http://www.dayswithmyfather.com
Nina Berman’s “Marine Wedding” http://ninaberman.com/index3.php?pag=prt&dir=marine
and “Purple Hearts” http://ninaberman.com/index3.php?pag=prt&dir=imagesph
and Robbie Cooper’s “My Game Face” http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/11/18/magazine/20081123-games_index.html
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Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 11:00 am ¶Platon’s photo of Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan grave and his mother Elshba Khan. It helped the American people look at Muslims in a different way, at least Colin Powell.
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Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 11:04 am ¶my favourite summary of the olympic games by kenneth jarecke is also one of my favourite galleries of 2008. man, would i love to see those pictures printed in a magazine.
http://kennethjarecke.typepad.com/photos/beijing_olympics/index.html
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Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 12:01 pm ¶Eric Thayers coverage of Iowa was excellent. My (peculiar) fave;
http://www.photoshelter.com/img-show/I0000XrBXN8Y9DLo
Though I agree wholeheartedly with Darrell re: Colin Powell & Platon
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Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 12:01 pm ¶Seamus Murphy
The Unsettled South (for Newsweek)
http://www.newsweek.com/id/150605
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Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 12:11 pm ¶Platon did a lot of great work this year. I love the willie nelson shot. His photos of Obama http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20071210,00.html and Putin http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20071231,00.html are among my favs.
Awesome story of the Hyena Men!
-
JD
- http://www.jdittmarphoto.com -
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Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 12:35 pm ¶Hendrik Kerstens
Bag
http://www.hendrikkerstens.com/
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Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 1:05 pm ¶Jeff Riedel’s portrait series for GQ of politicians was stunning.
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Gary Reply:
January 6th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
@Emma,
Completely agree. I was going to list this one as a favorite series as well.
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I think that Dominic Nahr is worth checking out. Especially his shots from gaza.
http://www.dominicnahr.com/
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Ryan Marr Reply:
January 6th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
@Ryan Marr, and his new stuff from the congo.
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Ryan Reply:
January 8th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
@Ryan Marr, absolutely. I was his editor on the Gaza project. Outstanding project by a courageous and intelligent young photographer.
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This picture gets my vote. The Times had the good sense to run it huge. It was an amazing show, too. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/arts/music/17youn.html?_r=1
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Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 1:58 pm ¶Bilal Hussein
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Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 2:17 pm ¶Jeff Riedel created timeless portfolio for GQ!
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Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 2:27 pm ¶Chris Anderson and Mitt Romney…
He turned my brain upside-down by using what I had always considered bad technique (blasting with on-camera flash) to make something quite remarkable and new.
http://www.magnumphotos.com/archive/C.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.StoryDetail_VPage&pid=2K7O3RHT8GXT
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Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 2:43 pm ¶I think this image by David J. Phillip-Pool/Getty Images, of the devastation of hurricane Ike, stuck with me the most last year.
http://cache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/ike_09_15/ike11.jpg
Main link on Boston.com http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_short_but_eventful_life_of.html
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Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 2:46 pm ¶James Nachtwey’s story on extremely drug-resistent tuberculosis (XDR-TB)
http://www.xdrtb.org/
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jimmyD Reply:
January 7th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
@Picture This, I second that emotion.
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Mike Goldwater
I really liked his series on coal mining in China
http://www.mikegoldwater.com/pm/pages/imagegroup.public.display.php?igId=100
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Jodi Reply:
January 6th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
@Jodi, And some of the portraits from that series are really nice too:
http://www.mikegoldwater.com/pm/pages/imagegroup.public.display.php?igId=95
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I second Todd’s Olympic mention, beautiful timing and execution.
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Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 4:28 pm ¶I will second Ken Jarecke’s Olympics work.
I do not think this photo got enough play out there.
http://kennethjarecke.com/#/Portfolio/Beijing%20Games/16
Gilles Peress’ work in Ohio should be mentioned too.
http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/insightamerica/full-swing-state
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Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 5:20 pm ¶Platon. Service.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/2008/09/29/slideshow_080929_platon
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Tim Reply:
January 12th, 2009 at 12:06 am
@Clif Page,
REAL photography.
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James Frost
http://www.ateaseweb.com/2008/07/10/camera-free-house-of-cards-video-premieres/
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Posted 07 Jan 2009 at 7:02 pm ¶Let us not forget Jill Greenberg’s shots of john mccain!
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Posted 07 Jan 2009 at 9:12 pm ¶I liked Shehzad Noorani’s set Children of Black Dust . The idea that from computers to flashlights, the batteries in these things, today, are being handled are ” recycled” by human hands, leads me question how technologically advanced we really are.
Someone want to show these to someone at Duracell or Energizer? Not to throw something in their face but help engineers realize people open these thing around children. Can’t they build a battery filled with candy or baby formula?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/81504640@N00/sets/72157605348907561/
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Posted 08 Jan 2009 at 10:26 pm ¶I like Kevin German’s take on the Olympics called Outside the Rings it provides a different perspective featuring photos of chinese citizens watching the games on T.V. security guards, and life, rather than action images. http://www.kevingerman.com/ Check it out.
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Posted 11 Jan 2009 at 1:33 pm ¶Mark Holthusen in San Francisco won multiple awards in 2008 as he continues to churn out eerie and thought provoking images. His album artwork for American Music Club’s latest record comes to mind first. http://www.markholthusen.com
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Posted 12 Jan 2009 at 2:06 pm ¶I would like to nominate Vanessa Winship’s Sweet Nothings:
http://www.vanessawinship.co.uk
Lars Tunbjork’s Vinter:
http://agencevu.com/stories/index.php?id=575&p=80
And I was very pleased to discover the work of Jeffrey Silverthorne, if you’d allow some kind of Lifetime Achievement Award:
http://www.agencevu.com/photographers/photographer.php?id=213
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Posted 13 Jan 2009 at 6:33 pm ¶When I came across Miles Aldriges Book “Acid Candy” I was fascinated by the use of color, its like a different type of ice cream you never tasted before. So he should be mentioned: http://www.milesaldridge.com
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Posted 15 Jan 2009 at 11:56 am ¶Post a Comment