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<\/a>\u00a9 Guia Besana<\/em><\/p>\n“My image of the year comes from Guia Besana\u2019s series \u2018Under Pressure\u2019, a project that challenges our warped perspective of the \u2018ideal woman\u2019.<\/p>\n
“While the discourse of feminism has helped us to gradually structure a reclassification of just what we mean when we use the word \u2018female\u2019, our notion of femininity is still placed firmly within a series of lazily assembled types, ones still perpetuated by film and literature. Here we find one such trope: the bride. The trope of the bride is a fleeting one. It\u2019s a stopgap between two other ideals: the innocent virgin and the doting housewife.<\/p>\n
“The bride\u2019s body is concealed within a ritualistic uniform. It\u2019s cocoon-like, further highlighting the idea that, through the archaic ritual of marriage, this butterfly-to-be will be transmogrified from one trope to another. The bride aggressively thrusts a bouquet of flowers towards an unseen target. We all know the tradition of throwing the bouquet to the crowd. Here the bride is passing on the ritual of marriage as if her unseen target has no say in the matter. After all, isn\u2019t our expectation that all little girls grow up to get married, bear children and create a perfect home?” www.guiabesana.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n “I have seen thousands of images this year, and have been impressed by many. However, when I was forced to stop and think of one in particular the picture that came to mind is Simon Phillpotts\u2019 \u2018Forest Flyer\u2019, which was highly commended in the British Wildlife Photography Awards. In itself, the image is quite simple \u2013 a shot of a red squirrel jumping from one tree to another \u2013 but the angle and colours make it look like no other shot I can remember seeing.<\/p>\n “The picture is taken from below with a fisheye lens and a dash of fill-in flash to illuminate the body of the squirrel perfectly, and freeze the action mid-flight. The technique is flawless, but it is the simplicity and humour of the image that brings a smile to my face.” www.wilddales.co.uk<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n “As a bit of a football fanatic, every four years I become fixated with the World Cup. I looked forward to this year\u2019s tournament with particular excitement as it was taking place in what some would say is the spiritual home of football \u2013 Brazil.<\/p>\n “A football World Cup is a sports photographer\u2019s dream, with endless photographic opportunities in a wide variety of locations up and down the land. As such, it\u2019s difficult to pick out a single standout image from the tournament. That said, this image captured by Getty photographer Yasuyoshi Chiba on the day of the World Cup final itself has that extra something special you look for in an image of the year. The combination of the ball-shaped full moon highlighting the Christ the Redeemer statue atop Corcovado mountain \u2013 itself lit in the national colours to celebrate the occasion \u2013 seems to encapsulate the month\u2019s festivities in a single shot.” www.gettyimages.co.uk<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n “On a sweltering day, Shuo Huang cycled along the U Bein Bridge in Myanmar, the sun setting behind him. Suddenly, he heard a deafening clap of thunder and within seconds the bridge was deluged with monsoon rain. The locals scurried for shelter, but as the bridge cleared he marvelled at a phenomenal light diffused by the rain transforming the landscape. He leaped off his bike to capture the moment and took this picture.” www.shuophotography.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n “Some photographers like to brag about how far out of their way they\u2019ve gone to get a great shot. The European Space Agency probably went further.<\/p>\n “I\u2019m a landscape photographer at heart, and in a previous career I was a research scientist. My choice of standout image of the year reflects this.<\/p>\n “At first glance it may look like an artfully chosen shot of a striking rocky outcrop with a star field beyond, but it\u2019s actually Comet 67P\/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, and therefore taken more than 300 million miles away from the earth. It underlines a basic human urge that lies behind much of photography \u2013 when we go somewhere new, we want to make sense of it by taking a photo and sending it home.<\/p>\n “For the technically minded, this is a mosaic of four frames from the Rosetta spacecraft\u2019s NAVCAM camera, each of 1-million-pixel resolution, which has been slightly rotated and cropped. This has turned it into a visually striking composition, which I suspect is no accident; scientists can be artists too. Basic record shots are all well and good, but pretty ones are better. To me, this is simply the most remarkable photograph of 2014.” www.esa.int\/spaceinimages<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n “With one of the greatest sporting events passing almost in front of his doorstep, James Maloney didn\u2019t want to miss this unique opportunity \u2013 and I\u2019m glad he didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n “The enthusiasm and excitement that Yorkshire would host the opening stages of the Tour de France had been building significantly in the preceding weeks, but I don\u2019t think anyone would have fully appreciated the reception and crowds that would gather in their thousands in the Dales, turning the Buttertubs Pass (renamed C\u00f4te de Buttertubs for the event) into something that would shame some of the most popular climbs in the Alps.<\/p>\n “James\u2019s shot sums it up perfectly for me. The tight crop has resulted in a strong composition, so it appears the peloton is somehow merging into the thronging crowds. The overall sense of drama that you get from the shot is hard to beat. It\u2019s almost as though a mini amphitheatre has been created to watch these riders torture themselves on climb gradients, some of which can be 25% in places.” www.flickr.com\/people\/liverpoolmerc<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n “I have cheated a little with this image in that I\u2019ve selected a photograph that was clearly not taken this year, but it has been featured in this year\u2019s news nonetheless.<\/p>\n “This 1912 image of Spitalfields in London, by Charles Mathew, is a spontaneous, candid-style street shot taken in an era when it was common for many subjects to pose. However, the significance is actually in a blurry newspaper hoarding in the background. In their quest to pinpoint the date it was taken, researchers spotted the partially viewable word \u2018Titanic\u2019, leading them to conclude it must have been taken in the days after the Titanic hit an iceberg on 15 April 1912.<\/p>\n “The way children are dressed in the photograph suggests it was captured during the Sabbath, the Jewish holy day. This simple, yet effective, piece of detective work implied it was taken on Saturday 20 April 1912.” www.elevenspitalfields.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n “My favourite image of the year was chosen from a stunning selection of shots that made up this year\u2019s Sony World Photography Award winners.<\/p>\n “The picture was captured by Chi Hung Cheung and depicts a heart-pounding scene of wildebeest migrating in Kenya across the torrents of a river. There are many elements to the scene that, in my eyes, make it the best wildlife image I\u2019ve seen this year, but essentially it\u2019s all about the light and the timing of the shot that have made it what it is.<\/p>\n “With strong backlighting, Chi Hung Cheung has successfully silhouetted his main subject while capturing the drama of the wildebeest launching themselves into the water. He has managed to record an impressive level of detail throughout, right down to capturing the water droplets in pin-sharp focus.<\/p>\n “The first time I viewed the photograph, I spent some time studying it and taking it all in, but I do question how close a representation it is to the actual scene at the time of capture. I believe there\u2019s been some post-production work that\u2019s helped create an image with such a wide dynamic range, although I don\u2019t find that this detracts from the image and instead enhances what any professional wildlife photographer would tell you is a truly stunning shot. I\u2019d love to have the opportunity to speak to Chi Hung Cheung about how he went about capturing it. It only seems to get better the more I look at it.” www.worldphoto.org<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n “I have chosen as my image of the year a picture taken by a monkey. It\u2019s an outstanding image, and probably the best photo of a monkey I\u2019ve ever seen. Even now, after viewing it dozens of times, it still makes me laugh. There\u2019s something about the expression; it\u2019s so human, as though it\u2019s fully aware of what it\u2019s doing and completely au fait with social media.<\/p>\n “Yet the fact it was the macaque that released the shutter, instead of the photographer David Slater who provided the camera and set it all up, has led to a bitter legal dispute between Slater and that whole generation of internet evangelists (led, disappointingly, by Wikipedia) who are opposed to the concept of having to pay for content and would like the internet to be a copyright-free zone. They claim that it\u2019s the monkey that owns the copyright, making the image effectively free to use without payment.<\/p>\n “The likes of National Geographic have been using camera traps in wildlife photography for years. Photographers like Michael \u2018Nick\u2019 Nichols and Steve Winter have won numerous awards for their self-captured images of tigers and snow leopards. Is Wikipedia and its followers claiming that these images are copyright free too? Funnily enough, they\u2019ve been strangely quiet about that. Could it have something to do with the fact that taking on the might of National Geographic and its team of lawyers would be much riskier than picking on a solo British photographer with limited power to fight back? It will be interesting to see how this case develops.” www.djsphotography.co.uk<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n “Over the past year I have seen so many inspirational images that it has been really difficult to pick just one. From the pages of Amateur Photographer to candid shots uploaded on Twitter, there have been hundreds that have really impressed me \u2013 and on occasions made me a little envious. However, one piece of work by a young Essex-based photographer, Morton Rustad, had me captivated with his masterfully created time-lapse video taken in Norway.<\/p>\n “Morton spent five months shooting in all of Norway\u2019s 19 counties, capturing everything from the deep fjords in the south-west, to the moon-like landscape in the north and the aurora borealis. The video just gets better and better, and it\u2019s a truly outstanding piece of work.<\/p>\n “I picked this single image from the set as it shows the light just peeking over the mountain. In the time-lapse video you see how the clouds move and the sunlight pours over the mountain and onto the lake below. I wholly recommend watching the whole video. It\u2019s beautiful.” www.rustadmedia.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n http:\/\/vimeo.com\/rustadmedia\/norway<\/p>\n\n “We often laud images for telling stories at AP, and here\u2019s a cracker. Hairul Azizi Harun won the Sony World Photography Awards\u2019 Split-Second category in the Open Competition, and it\u2019s difficult to see how anyone else could have come close.<\/p>\n “The story in question is a tragicomedy in one act. It has been captured at the perfect moment \u2013 the mutual obliviousness of every single person involved is what gives the image its humour. Neither the woman throwing the water nor the man with the camera has any idea what\u2019s about to happen, and we\u2019re viewing the last fraction of a second in which that state of affairs is true. Vitally, the fast shutter speed has frozen the moment into complete stillness. The image wouldn\u2019t work as well if we couldn\u2019t see exactly what was about to hit the unfortunate photographer in crisp detail.<\/p>\n “The boy under the house to the right of frame, easily missed on first viewing, adds an extra layer of intrigue to the image. What\u2019s he doing under there? We can\u2019t know. If you wanted to overuse an English degree you could mention how his surreal and wonderfully inexplicable mask makes him reminiscent of an archetypal mischievous spirit, like Ariel in The Tempest<\/em> or Puck of A Midsummer Night’s Dream<\/em>.<\/p>\n “Hairul took this image in a village in Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia. He says how his image narrates \u2018the pains and gains of being a photographer, the heritage of an old house, forgotten traditional games and the old generations meeting the new\u2019. Can\u2019t argue with any of that. A thoroughly deserving winner!” www.worldphoto.org<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\nRichard Sibley (Deputy Editor) \u2013 ‘Forest Flyer’ by Simon Phillpotts<\/h2>\n
<\/a>\u00a9 Simon Phillpotts<\/em><\/p>\nPaul Nuttall (Online Production Editor) \u2013 ‘Christ the Redeemer’ by Yasuyoshi Chiba<\/h2>\n
<\/a>\u00a9 Yasuyoshi Chiba\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\nJonathan Devo (Technical Writer) \u2013 ‘U Bein Bridge in Mandalay, Myanmar’ by Shuo Huang<\/h2>\n
<\/a>\u00a9 Shuo Huang<\/em><\/p>\nAndy Westlake (Technical Editor) \u2013 ‘Comet on 4 November’ by NavCam<\/h2>\n
<\/a>\u00a9 European Space Agency \u2013 ESA<\/em><\/p>\nPhil Hall (Features and Technique Editor) \u2013 ‘C\u00f4te de Buttertubs’ by James Maloney<\/h2>\n
<\/a>\u00a9 James Maloney<\/em><\/p>\nChris Cheesman (News Editor) \u2013 ‘Looking down Artillery Lane towards Artillery Passage’ by Charles Mathew<\/h2>\n
<\/a>\u00a9 Copyright Bishopsgate Institute, courtesy of www.elevenspitalfields.com<\/em><\/p>\nMichael Topham (Deputy Technical Editor) \u2013 ‘Wildebeest Migration’ by Chi Hung Cheung<\/h2>\n
<\/a>\u00a9 Chi Hung Cheung<\/em><\/p>\nNigel Atherton Editor \u2013 ‘Monkey Selfie’ by David Slater\/a monkey<\/h2>\n
<\/a>\u00a9 Courtesy of David Slater<\/em><\/p>\nCallum McInerney-Riley (Technical Writer) \u2013 ‘Norway \u2013 A Time-lapse Adventure’ by Morten Rustad<\/h2>\n
<\/a>\u00a9 Morten Rustad<\/em><\/p>\nJon Stapley (Staff Writer) \u2013 ‘Untitled’ by Hairul Azizi Harun<\/h2>\n
<\/a>\u00a9 Hairul Azizi Harun<\/em><\/p>\nAndrew Sydenham (Studio Manager) \u2013 ‘Le Visiteur’ by Horst Kistner<\/h2>\n