Photojournalism At Its Best

December 22, 2005 4:46 AM

Reuters Pictures of the Year, 2005 If a picture is worth a thousand words then here's 40,000 words to remind you (if that's what you want) of 2005...
posted by benzo8 (48 comments total)

You can also see 51,000 more words in the 2005 Award Winners Gallery.
posted by keijo at 5:06 AM on December 22, 2005

I mean if 2005 wasn't enough to dampen the holiday mood.
posted by keijo at 5:12 AM on December 22, 2005

Some great photos but far from the best photography this year. The inclusion of a picture of Courtney Love is testament to that.
posted by fire&wings at 5:16 AM on December 22, 2005

The Bush/Putin picture has "wacky" written all over it. I picture them going on a road trip to bury Bush's cat.
posted by Sticherbeast at 5:22 AM on December 22, 2005

Quite a few of these are not so much great photos per se, but representative photos of the most newsworthy stories of 2005.
posted by you just lost the game at 5:25 AM on December 22, 2005

depressing
posted by lemonfridge at 5:33 AM on December 22, 2005

Loved them - thanks.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 6:01 AM on December 22, 2005

I was gonna say the same thing as fire&wings, but also include that Madonna picture.
posted by emptybowl at 6:02 AM on December 22, 2005

Man, what the hell is Courtney Love doing in this set.
And what the hell happened to her?
posted by c13 at 6:13 AM on December 22, 2005

I'm in favour of the Schroeder/Chirac picture, near the bottom of keijo's link.
Glad George isn't the only one who pulls faces.
posted by NinjaPirate at 6:14 AM on December 22, 2005

This is possibly outclassed by the World Press Photo Awards
posted by chill at 6:19 AM on December 22, 2005

indeed, if you look at the photos without reading the captions, maybe only half of them pass muster as photographic art. of those that do, there are some real standouts: the cyclists, the malnourished infant, the burning tires. thanks for the post.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:56 AM on December 22, 2005

Isn't it awful that the picture of the hanged Iranian serial child killer would make a good desktop wallpaper?

I mean, given it's composition, cropping, etc.
posted by sourwookie at 6:57 AM on December 22, 2005

I think I preferred the wildlife photos...
posted by kira at 6:57 AM on December 22, 2005

The juxtaposition of pictures 15 (dead Iraqi child) and 16 (Bush can't drive a car) sums up 2005 better than all the words on Metafilter.
posted by fungible at 7:01 AM on December 22, 2005

Courtney Love looking crazy. Man, that really is news.
posted by maxsparber at 7:04 AM on December 22, 2005

You know, if they published these in a small yearbook I'd probably buy it. It's an incredibly concise an evocative way to capture a slice of time.

(But: a motion-blurred shot of the Mallorca Challenge? What an odd choice to represent cycling in a year that had many astonishing achievements.)
posted by Wolfdog at 7:12 AM on December 22, 2005

Also: MSNBC's picks.
posted by Ljubljana at 7:14 AM on December 22, 2005

The one Katrina picture they used didn't seem to be the right one. There were so many powerful photographs that were overlooked in favor of one of many flooded living room photos.
posted by Alison at 7:21 AM on December 22, 2005

(But: a motion-blurred shot of the Mallorca Challenge? What an odd choice to represent cycling in a year that had many astonishing achievements.)

Nice to see a cycling photo in there among the track & field and soccer, but yeah. Mallorca Challenge = pretty minor race and it seems hard to believe that they couldn't have found a better cycling picture. yjltg nailed it, though.
posted by fixedgear at 8:04 AM on December 22, 2005

Wish you could link directly to the photos.

#34 reminds me of Orwell for some reason. I wonder why...
posted by delmoi at 8:06 AM on December 22, 2005

Enh. I wanted to love this, but they're not particularly powerful photos. I realize they're supposed to be summing up at year or what-have-you, but this was the best they could find?

(I agreed about Mallorca. Have something from the Tour at least, fergodssake.)

I won't dignify the Madonna and Courtney pictures with comment. Oh wait, yes I will - what the hell?
posted by kalimac at 8:31 AM on December 22, 2005

So, how much does a photographer make if they photograph a photo of merit like these?
posted by PHINC at 8:36 AM on December 22, 2005

I liked the MSNBC thing more, but it's wrapped in some kind of headache-inducing unstoppable "we gots ta stop tha Peeee-raates" slideshow. Would love to get those images separately.

Anyone who looked at the MSNBC editor's choice... what's the context of the woman crying in front of the troops? Was that during the Israeli settlers' eviction?
posted by selfnoise at 8:41 AM on December 22, 2005

a picture of Courtney Love

Seeing that picture inspired me to make a solemn vow, which I will share with you here: I'm going to marry that woman.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 8:42 AM on December 22, 2005

The one Katrina picture they used didn't seem to be the right one. There were so many powerful photographs that were overlooked in favor of one of many flooded living room photos.

I also thought it was odd that there was only that one Katrina photo; however, I recognized it immediately. If there was any one Katrina photo that stuck in my mind, it was that one. The other shots of pain and suffering all blend together — not because they are unimportant but because there were so many — but I remember thinking the shot of the Metairie guy was fun and a little wacky in the middle of all that devastation.
posted by brina at 8:57 AM on December 22, 2005

what's the context of the woman crying in front of the troops?

If you're looking at the pictures here, the one that shows a young woman in orange with a braid crying in front of some Israeli soldiers is labeled (look at the lower right) "Settler pleads to stay in Gaza..."
posted by pracowity at 9:01 AM on December 22, 2005

I have this cool book of Pulitzer Prize-winning photos, and they're all pretty great, but most of them are depressing. I guess depressing moments are more moving than happy ones, or as Tolstoy said, "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
posted by kirkaracha at 9:34 AM on December 22, 2005

What? Nothing from Lou?
posted by milnak at 10:01 AM on December 22, 2005

Thanks, Pracowity. Didn't even see the label.
posted by selfnoise at 10:10 AM on December 22, 2005

This is probably my favorite photo of the year.
posted by mr.marx at 10:17 AM on December 22, 2005

With you Marx.
posted by marvin at 10:48 AM on December 22, 2005

This is probably my favorite photo of the year.
Now that's an amazing photo.
posted by chill at 10:56 AM on December 22, 2005

Is it me, or does the "girl" with the eclipse on her tongue have a little bit of a goatee going?
posted by mfbridges at 11:08 AM on December 22, 2005

My housemate and I had too much fun with our own captioning contest.

For example, the Bush/Putin picture was "Nyet, nyet, is long pedal on RIGHT!"
posted by Samizdata at 11:20 AM on December 22, 2005

What I found bizarre is that Reuters included three pictures of Israelis protesting (two conservatives, one peace activist), but none of Palestinian or Iraqi protests - Certainly an interesting editorial choice.

Just one Katrina photo also shows Katrina's European bent. Also the inclusion of just one Tsunami photo was wierd.

Finally, why didn't the Madonna caption mention she's flippin' the bird? That symbol may not be understood by audiences around the world.
posted by slm303 at 11:52 AM on December 22, 2005

Just one Katrina photo also shows Katrina's European bent.

Should say: Just one Katrina photo also shows Reuters' European bent.
posted by slm303 at 11:53 AM on December 22, 2005

Madonna wants to be this generation's Johnny Cash?
posted by tracicle at 12:04 PM on December 22, 2005

Some exceptional photos in there, and thank you Mr.Marx for sharing that other one.
posted by Acey at 12:27 PM on December 22, 2005

Yeah, fuck you too Madonna.

The rest of the pics were quite moving. Thanks.
posted by blastrid at 2:07 PM on December 22, 2005

Should say: Just one Katrina photo also shows Reuters' European bent.

Meanwhile, Darfur and Uganda don't exist, and nor do 1001 other nasty civil wars, with the obvious exception of Israel / Palestine, which featured in 3-4 of the 40.

ok, using "civil war" loosely here...you know what i mean
posted by UbuRoivas at 2:59 PM on December 22, 2005

Give me a source and prove to me that picture isn't doctored, and we'll talk, mr.marx.
posted by TheGoldenOne at 3:52 PM on December 22, 2005

Talk to Daniel Berhulak, Getty Images.
posted by mr.marx at 4:02 PM on December 22, 2005

40,000 words?

Think I'll just skim the comments to get the gist...
posted by pompomtom at 6:36 PM on December 22, 2005

Yeah, most of the pics left me feeling "ehh..." but...

Holy Shit. The dead Iraqi child was exactly what I needed to snap out of my outrage fatigue. Is it wrong to show this to all my redneck, flag-waving, Bush-loving relatives when I visit them on Christmas?
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 7:10 PM on December 22, 2005

Thank you very much for the source, mr.marx. I would like you take note that in the first image you linked, a good portion of the city has been seriously dodged, confirming my suspicions. The original image, while still beautiful and other-worldly, is different from the picture to which you first linked.
posted by TheGoldenOne at 10:00 PM on December 22, 2005

I'm not sure which is worse, the dead Iraqi child held by his father or the newly orphaned children wailing about their murdered parents. The one-year-old boy in mini-Marine uniform stretching towards his father's casket is heart-rending too. I can't tell if I'm more sensitive to this kind of thing now that I have an adorable little boy of my own, or if news photos these days are more graphic.
posted by surlycat at 4:11 AM on December 23, 2005

#13 - the iraqi blindfolded in his car with reflection of a US soldier mirroring his posture (but with very different expression) is a really superb photograph.
posted by lapolla at 5:29 AM on December 23, 2005