Best of 2019/Decade Lists

Well it’s that time of the year. Time look back on the best photography produced by the finest visual journalists in the industry. Because there will be new lists coming throughout the month of December and January, check back here often to see when new lists are added. (New lists will be at the top of the page.)

The best photographs of 2019 – and the stories behind them, The Guradian

2019 The Year in Photos, Wall Street Journal

A good collection of imagery from throughout the year. The overall collection features some similar big hitter images featured in other articles with some images that reflected the world of finance.

2019 Chicago Tribune photos of the year, Chicago Tribune

A good collection of the year’s focus from a local market, Chicago.

Magnum Pictures of the Year 2019, Magnumphotos.com

An eclectic series of images from the Magnum photo archives, many of which I haven’t seen anywhere else and tha fully lacking the same cookie cutter shots from previous years.

The Most Powerful Moments in Photojournalism in 2019, Artsy

A smaller collection of images but with more story and context as to why they were chosen.

The Decade in Pictures, New York Times

A well put together collection of high impact representational imagery from the decade featuring some of the most important moments. The presentation is also very well refined much like their photos of the year.

Photos of the Decade: 2010–19, The Atlantic

Wrapping up the decade in 55 images is never easy but the Atlantic does it well. The fact that it hides the caption unless you expand it is an interesting UI element.

2019: A Year in Stories, Pulitzer Center

The best science images of the year: 2019 in pictures, Nature.com

The Best New Yorker Photography of 2019, The New Yorker

The Year in Pictures 2019, Hartford Courant

TOP 100 PHOTOS From the Editors of TIME, Time
One of the “big boys” in the news industry and imagery space, in my opinion, Time weighs in on their top imagery from the year, whittling it down to the expected 100 images. One hundred is a nice round number and helps give the editors both a goal and a limitation. For the most part, this list hits on the same images and moments from many of the other lists, but offers different perspectives on some of the more popular ones. For example, the shot of Megan Rapinoe celebrating a score is different from all the other lists. I wonder if this decision was made deliberately as the editors were able to see other lists and therefore choose images from other photographers from the same event. While I think the image they chose is probably not as good as the one chosen by others, it’s good to see other perspectives and good to give other photographers a chance to be in the limelight. Also, can’t help but call out the now perennial Stephanie Keith for being featured yet again. Looks like we might have a winner for the most featured of the year, beating out Noah Berger. Gabriella Demczuk was featured twice, both from images of political figures at major milestone events showcasing the politics of our nation. Finally, Tom Brenner is recognized for a quiet image of the president and the first lady, focuses solely on their hands. It’s an interesting pick in a world of bombastic and loud imagery that usually accompanies the president.

Best of 2019: Top 50 Photographs From Around the World, My Modern Met
Justin Mott gets on this list of 50 photographs from around the world as chosen by My Modern Met. The website is more focused on the artistic side of things and that shows in their collection of images which veer mostly on the artistic side. While I have seen some of these images on other lists, the focus here is mostly images that show the beauty of the world, rather than strictly a news focus. There are a few shots that highlight important issues in the world, I’d say Justin’s photo is very relevant at highlighting the plight of endangered species and the efforts to protect them, but this list is primarily one filled with feature and pictorial photos. This isn’t a knock, though, it falls in line with the site’s mission and helps act as a pallet cleanser to the harsher sets from other sites. Congrats Justin!

Memorable moments: See a photo from each day of 2019, USA Today
When I first saw this list I was like “OMG, 345 photos!” This is going to be the biggest, and probably most over saturated list in the series. But then I looked deeper and noticed this list represented a photo a day. So you should definitely go into this list knowing that every photo you see isn’t the most dramatic, or powerful, or moving or emotional, but if your looking for a comprehensive snapshot of the top images of each day of the year, this list will do the job. This list is an interesting counter to something like the People list with 15 images or the Atlantic list with 25 images. I wonder how people will view this list compared to others featured here.

Reuters pictures of the decade, Reuters
Reuters posted their top photos of the decade as a video. While I like this in concept, as it’s different from other lists, taking the photos out context is a little confusing at times. I remember some of these images and who shot them, but without any caption information you’re just taking them at face value. It was a quick way to absorb the images, but I wonder if it’s the best way. Also, since the editor wanted the images to fill the screen they’re probably cropped from their original format, and I wonder how many verticals made the list. Overall, though, a comprehensive collection of the decade’s best, but I think more lacking than Buzzfeed’s list, at least in terms of subject variety.

2019: The year in pictures, CNN
CNN put out their top of the year list and decided to divide the list into categories: News, Sports and Entertainment. The News category featured many of the same shots, and types of shots, I’ve seen from other lists, so their editorial team is definitely in line with other publications. I felt like this list featured more user submitted content and screen grabs than other lists. While I know these lists in general will more and more rely on non-professional content, it’s a bit disconcerting to see it in such proportion. Perhaps their should be a category of top images in 2019, and then they can be anything, photos or otherwise, or perhaps a best user-submitted, non-professional category. Perhaps CNN’s status as a television news organization made these images more prominent. The Sport category featured some very high-impact, perfect-moment images. Finally, the celebrity category was fine, just fine. I’m not a big fan of celebrity as a concept, or our insistence as a culture to prop and highlight these people, but the images here are fine.

While I like the UI and image layout of the page, I wasn’t a fan of the overall formatting. Because the web designer set the photos to take up the width of the page you end up not being able to see the whole photo. In certain cases this is fine, and helps push important parts of the image to the forefront and fill the screen. On the other hand, it’s kind of annoying not being able to see the whole photo and, I think, does a disservice to the photographer in representing the image they were trying to capture it. Props to Sarah Silbiger, Stephanie Keith, Scott Heins, Andrew Harnik, and Gabriella Demczuk for making the list.

Top 25 News Photos of 2019, The Atlantic
Another more conservative list in number featured by the Atlantic. It’s interesting which outlets put artificial restrictions or don’t on their selections. I think 100 is a good round number, but I can see the argument for 25. I think you start to see the same general subjects when you go for 100 or more in a year end review and that boils down to what you’re trying to do with your list. If you want to express certain themes or stories, I think you can get away with only 25. You know the old saying “seen one protest, seen ’em all.” I think the Atlantic has chosen a good mix to represent the year even if they had to be a bit more selective. The list checks all the boxes, diplomacy, climate change, protests, quiet moments, etc. Sad that Noah Berger didn’t make the list, gotta step up dude, if you’re not on every list next year I’ll be truly disappointed.

2019: The Year in Pictures, People
People published a paltry 15 photos to represent the year that was. The selection mostly includes lifestyle shots of celebrities, but does some real world issues by highlighting images from major news stories. Still, with only 15 images, it’s definitely the lightest list on this list.

The Year in Pictures 2019, New York Times
The New York Times, one of the papers of record, released their carefully curated list of the most newsworthy and impactful photos of 2019 in a well designed website with a strong emphasis on the chronological presentation of photos. While I doubt few lists featured here would present their images in a non chronological format, the New York Times reminds you of exactly when the photos were taken, month by month, on the left hand side of the screen as your viewing the photos. I think this is a great user interface concept and am glad to see it integrated. The overall aesthetics of the page shows care in its craft and construction and gives thought to how the images are presented to ensure maximum impact to the view. This list, as expected, focuses almost solely on images that relate to the news and news stories, with very few straight portraits and feature images. Most images are from throughout the world and focus on the ravages of war, crime, devastation and destruction, with little to no lighter moments. The few portraits featured here are primarily from the portrait series featuring women in Congress that Elizabeth Herman talked about on episode 204 of Around the Lens. Stephanie Keith also made an appearance on the list for her work covering Jeffery Epstein protests.

Women Photograph: 2019 Year in Pictures, Women Photograph
The Women Photograph website posted their top 100 photographs from women photographers in 2019. This list presents a different perspective on the year in photos, focusing more on personalty driven stories, portraits and human moments then traditional lists which are usually culled from major news events, disasters or wars. This list also features two AtL panelists, Elizabeth Herman and Melissa Golden. Great job you two! Keep up the good work. I hope we can have many of the women featured on this list on episodes of the show in 2020.

Here Are The Most Powerful Photos Of The Decade, Buzzfeed News
We’ve talked about this already, and it’s the first list I saw that wrapped up the entire decade, or attempted to anyway. It’s difficult to distill an entire decades work in 76 photos, but I think Buzzfeed did an admirable job representing some of the biggest moments, and photos associated with those moments, of the decade. I feel the collection is a little on the down side, focusing mostly on death, destruction, war and chaos, but it’s a pretty accurate reflection of the world these past 10 years. This image set featured an image by our very own Zach Roberts for his work in Charleston, David Becker for the Vegas shooting, Stephanie Keith for her work on the travel ban reaction and Josh Edelson for the Paradise wildfire coverage. Great group, great list, here’s to the next decade!

The Best Photos of 2019, National Geographic
Nat Geo condensed the year into a top 100 list based on the work of 106 photographers covering 121 stories that in total make up about two million photos. I take about two million photos a year, so I know that’s a quite a bit :P. The collection present an eclectic mix of some of the best imagery created by some of the best photographers showcasing scenes of nature, wildlife, science and foreign cultures. While there are some shots that are a little on the macabre side (the person coated in resin stuck with me) this list thankfully lacks the depressing edge seen in most lists of the type, instead focusing on what makes the world beautiful and interesting. Don’t get me wrong, there are some important issues tackled through these images, like the showcase of plastic residing in oceans, but for the most part you can use this list as your eyewash from some of the more gruesome and graphic lists out there.

A remarkable year in photographs, Washington Post
This list starts with a bold choice, an out of focus shot of the president. But it’s done on purpose, to showcase the rising storm clouds brewing behind him. While this list has a heavier focus on photos featuring politics and political figures, it still showcases diversity. There is good mix of human tragedy and human triumph, war and peace, beauty and ugliness. This list featured panelists Melina Mara, Noah Berger, Lorenzo Tugnoli and, our newest co-host, Evelyn Hockstein either one or multiple times. Well done team, keep it up!

Top AP photos of 2019 range from the epic to the intimate, Associated Press
I think Noah Berger is going to take the trophy for appearing on the most lists this year. Way to go Noah, not only was your work again recognized for it impact and beauty, but multiple shots made this list. Eventually I want every photo to be from you, so get on it. Of course we can’t forget that David Goldman also made the list. From one Dave to another, you’re awesome! Overall, another well thought out list from the AP. I think the biggest difference I saw in this list was a focus on more sports photos. It’s easy to forget about all the historic and beautiful human achievements in sports throughout the year, but great to see them represented here.

DoD in Photos: 2019, Defense.gov
We have to give props to our courageous men and women in the armed forces risking life and limb on a daily basis to bring us some of the best photos from around the world. The Department of Defense chose their best of 2019 and of course the list is biased towards coverage of the military (duh). Don’t come here looking for your typical shots of death and destruction, instead expect to see some of the most beautiful images of military equipment and personnel doing what they do best. There are quite a few wallpaper worthy photos in this collection. Great to see Chris Muncy represented not once, but twice. Way to go buddy! One thing I’m not clear on is the fascination with drones. There are two shots of drones in this collection, and they aren’t even high-speed military attack drones, their off the shelf consumer drones meant primarily for photo and video. Of all the equipment to focus on, it seems funny to focus on these drones because it is near-impossible to use them on most military bases. Still a great collection of images none-the-less.

Publications we’re still waiting on lists from: The Guardian, My Modern Met, Reuters, Bloomberg, Weather.com, Business Insider, The Boston Globe, Metro US, BBC News, USA Today, TheWeek.com.

If there are any publications you know that make top of the year/decade lists, let us know at info@aroundthelens.com so we can add them to this list.