So, I saw while monotonously scrolling through my Twitter feed this article from the Times showcasing the best photos of the year. I thought I’d share with you all my pick for Photo of the Year and why. Quick preface: I’m merely a photography newb, but I love photography. I adore the medium for its ability to convey such powerful emotion, to really set the scene and say it all without words, even as someone that cherishes the English language. There are a plethora of iconic images over the years and I think it goes without saying some of the photos from this year will go right along those. So, keep that in mind, as I do my newb analysis of why I think it’s a great photo (in as small a blurb as my verbose ass can manage).
Before I display my personal pick, though, here’s some worthy runner-ups:
Orthodox priests prayed as they stood between pro-European Union activists and police lines.
Sergei Grits/AP
The juxtaposition here is striking to me. The cross stands out facing the camera, as behind it stands police clad in riot gear with protective shields held up. They look like an advancing army, advancing on a group of religious folks in a sea of debris. Truly beautiful, macabre photo.
Almost a century after World War I erupted, people visited a cemetery where nearly 12,000 soldiers are buried.
Tomás Munita for The New York Times
Haunting and chilling image I hadn’t seen before until I scrolled through the Times’ gallery. All of those tombstones and as sad as it is, those are only a mere fraction of the slaughterhouse that WWI was. Its legacy still lingers. On the flip side, the cemetery’s landscaping is quite beautiful. My first thought was (especially with the woman in a white dress) that it was a nice runway down the middle for a wedding ceremony. Odd.
Relatives looked into a hospital’s operating room at those injured in an Israeli airstrike nearby.
Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times
Devastating, devastating photo. The war that broke out between Israel and Palestine this year was heartbreaking and horrific to follow along with. This picture is a great, if tragic, representation of that bloody conflict. The relatives looking in through the window, the bloody gurney, the injured man gazing sluggishly at it; it’s powerful.
Really worth checking out the full gallery. Some great, strong pictures on there. But my personal pick for “Photo of the Year” is:
A man backed away from law enforcement officers at a demonstration in response to the police shooting of Michael Brown.
Whitney Curtis for The New York Times
It’s American-centric, I know, but it’s been a wild year in the United States and this picture best represents that: 1.) A black, unarmed protester with his hands in the, what would go on to be the chant of the “movement” (along with “I can’t breathe!”), “Hands up, don’t shoot!” 2.) Opposite the man are three police officers (in a different angle, you can see far more behind them) clad in army fatigues (in an urban environment?), heavily armed and protected pointing their guns at this man.
It says it all, really.
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