The best photos of the year

By

Greg Locke

It’s the end of 2008 and many editorial and photography organizations are posting

galleries of what they consider the best photos and photographers of the year.

 

I usually avoid mentioning these because contrary to what most people believe, they are not

objective selections. Great photography, like many things, is in the eye of the beholder and cultural, social, political, corporate and

personal bias on the part of judges play into every decision.

 

It is not uncommon to see wildly different photos in the European-based World Press Photo

annual and the U.S.-based Pictures of The Year (POY)

editorial photo annual contest, which have many common entries.

 

As the year closes I leave you with a collection of links to many of the “best

of” galleries and you can be the judge.

Some of these sites will be updated in January and February as contest

dates close.

In my view, the best example of the power of multimedia in a web presentation is MSNBC’s collection.

 

And remember, the best photos of the year do not necessarily mean photos from the top

stories of the year.

 

MSNBC – The Year in

Pictures

 

Reuters – 2008 Pictures of The Year.

Time magazine – 2008 Pictures of The

Year

The Boston Globe’s BIG PICTURE – Pictures of the Year

(you have to look for navigation to 2nd and 3rd

pages)
 

The Age (AU) – 2008 Photos of

The Year

 

Travel Photographer of the Year – Darwin Wiggett, Canada

 

The Guardian (UK) – Environmental Photographer of

The Year

 

The Telegraph (UK) – Pictures of The Year

 

Natural History Society (UK) – Wildlife Photos of The

Year. 

 

National Geographic – Readers Photo

Contest. 

 

The Washington Post – Top 10 Sports Photos.

 

World Press Photo (updated

in the new year)  

Pictures of The Year – Missouri School of Journalism, POY
(updated in new

year) 

News Photographers of Canada (NPAC) (updated in new year)