The Top Photography Posts of 2012 (Part 2)

With only a few more days before the year ends, and coming off from the first five in the series, here then are the rest of the entries for the top photography posts of 2012.


5) Ansel Adams - A Different Kind Of Landscape
Ansel Adams has become a byword for great landscape photography and black-and-white photography in general. His images have become icons for the natural landscape of North America, while his technique proved to be the cornerstone for beginner photographers looking to get a grasp of the rule of thirds and the zone system. While new photographers have produced refreshing landscape pictures, Adams' name still remains at the top of the list of best landscape photographers of all time.


4) Anne Geddes - Babies, Babies Everywhere!

Anne Geddes has remained popular name on this blog ever since her photography was featured over a year ago, and for the simplest reason: babies. Geddes' photography portrays newborns both in their natural state as innocent and fragile beings, and in a more creative setting as flowers, animals and other cute creatures. It's amazing how such a simple concept can remain so popular, but Geddes manages to remain relevant with new images year after year.


3) Henri Cartier-Bresson - Looking Back

Henri Cartier-Bresson's entry in this blog was nothing more than a short description followed by a few examples of his street photography, but it has garnered a surprising number of views. Cartier-Bresson's works have stood the test of time, displaying a timeless sense of timing, emotion and geometry that can only be captured with patience and passion. Cartier-Bresson's photography prove that he truly is the father of modern photojournalism and the master of street photography.


2) Shirin Aliabadi and the Iranian Girls

Shirin Aliabadi's curious portraits of modern, teenage Iranian women has attracted attention for their surreal quality. Aliabadi wanted to document how today's generation of females raised in Iran have different perceptions of the West, and how they flaunt these beliefs through their outrageous clothing and make-up. Aliabadi's images prove just how powerful photography can be when used to document a world that's rarely seen by others.


1) A Royal Portrait: Queen Elizabeth II by Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz's magnificent portraits of Queen Elizabeth II have garnered the most number of views by a wide margin. The photographs were taken in 2008, just before Her Majesty's state visit to the United States, but they became even more timely during the Queen's 60th anniversary celebrations of her monarchy earlier this year. The subdued tone of the portraits set against the lavish setting of Buckingham Palace served to create some of the best portraits of any monarch in modern history.


These five top off the most popular photography posts for the year. Three out of the five were portrait series focusing on totally different subjects, with one entry in the landscape category, and another in the street photography category. This just goes to show that photography can be as diverse as they photographer wants it to be. Be sure to also check out the previous entries in The Top Photography Post of 2012 (Part 1).

The Top Photography Posts of 2012 (Part 1)

The year 2012 is about to draw to a close, so it's fitting to look back through the past 12 months and see what viewers have been looking for in photography and the visual arts. While this blog features different photographic styles and mediums, most of the popular posts seem to share a common theme. Here then are the top photography posts of 2012.


10) Howard Schatz and Beverly Ornstein - The Different Body Types of Olympic Athletes

Howard Schatz and Beverly Ornstein collaboration on athletes from different Olympic events is an eye opening presentation on the beauty and marvel that is the human body. One portrait on one athlete from one event can already make for a great image, but the variety presented by the photographers just goes to show amazing human are when it comes to physical adaptations. Truly, photography series was a fitting entry in time for the 2012 London Olympics.


9) Chuck Close - Not So Typical Daguerreotypes

Chuck Close's use of the century-old photography technique called the daguerreotype process proved to be a refreshing introduction into the medium. Following the same pattern as his gigantic paintings, Close's daguerreotypes are close-ups of his artists friends. He also made portraits of a few celebrity faces, but the daguerreotype process he used presented these familiar faces in a new light.


8) Sally Mann - The Beauty of Family

Sally Mann's beautiful black-and-white portraits of her immediate family have been a topic of conversation for photographers and artists ever since she published these photographs. No doubt the controversial nature of photographing her nude children helped bring her to the spotlight, but after all the hubbub and racket, her intimate portraits are worthy of the highest praise.


7) Martin Schoeller - Up Close and Personal

Martin Schoeller's dramatic close-ups have been featured on magazine covers and posters around the world. The photographer has used his unique style to capture everyone from female bodybuilders to tiny twins, but it's his celebrity portraits that have made him famous. Schoeller's use of hard light and shallow depth-of-field highlights every nook and cranny of his celebrity sitters, making them instantly captivating.


6) Platon - The Power of the Portrait

Platon's portraits are also quite dramatic, but in a different way. As with Chuck Close and Martin Schoeller, Platon uses extreme close-ups to present familiar faces in a new way, but his style is more subdued than Schoeller, and more modern than Close. Platon uses the same philosophy as Henri Cartier-Bresson in that he waits for that perfect moment before clicking the shutter. Based on his portraits, he's found that perfect moment every single time.


These five entries make up the tail-end of the top photography posts of 2012. Interestingly enough, most of them feature photographers who specialize in studio portraits, and three out of the five use extreme close-ups for their work, a technique that has proven popular in the last decade, especially for magazine covers and the like. Check back in a few days for the top five entries of the year.