As 2016 comes to an end and a new year approaches, the editors at PDN look back on some of the top Photo of the Day articles throughout the year. PDN Photo of the Day features work from photographer’s personal series, unpublished works, commissions and assignments, exhibitions, and published books.
Photography featured on our blog is selected by PDN editors, however, the top Photos of the Day of 2016, was selected by you. The above slideshow features one image from each of the 16 most-popular posts from the year. Below are links to each full gallery and article.
1. The Secret Life of Icelandic Teenagers
Camila Svenson found universal teenage moments in an Icelandic village, embedding herself to record the isolation and strong bonds that define small town life.
2. Modern Anxieties, in Miniature
Using photographs of modern men and women, Sinan Tuncay constructs scenes from traditional Turkish weddings in the style of Miniature paintings.
3. David Attie’s Lost Photos of 1950s Brooklyn
When David Attie’s son discovered negatives from one of his first assignments, they revealed the surprising role Truman Capote played in launching his career.
4. Aiming to Stay Neutral While Picturing Open Carry Laws
Neil DaCosta documents a range of armed groups and individuals as they take their guns out in public, in a study of open carry laws that seeks to stay neutral.
5. Nighttime Rituals of the Meatpacking District
Dina Litovsky explores outdoor nightlife in New York’s Meatpacking District, recording the hyper-sexualized interactions of young women and the men they attract.
6. Capturing the World’s Best Dancers in a Living Room Studio
Shooting in their Brooklyn loft, Ken Browar and Deborah Ory photographed top dancers from around the world, recording the current state of a fleeting art form.
7. Blue Is the Warmest Color
Sasha Rudensky’s images of post-Soviet life split the difference between documentary and staged portraits, showing a blue-tinged word of isolation and artifice.
8. An Anxious Swan Song for Childhood’s Grace
In Isabel Magowan’s carefully staged “Cygnets,” pretty girls and boys wrestle with perfection and power in moments of self-awareness and oblivion.
9. Street Photography on Venice Beach
Dotan Saguy found his voice as street photographer while documenting the wild culture of Venice Beach.
10. The Secret Lives of Drummers
Deirdre O’Callaghan documents “the most unique drummers in the world today,” photographing and interviewing celebrated musicians playing in their home studios.
11. Contemplating Death by Mousetrap
Phil Underdown’s portraits of the mice killed by traps around his house raise questions about our relationship with nature and death.
12. The Beginning of Diane Arbus
A Diane Arbus show collects many of her earliest, unshown pictures, offering a look at how she built images from the connections she made with odd subjects.
13. The Skin of the Earth
Conceived as a fine art series and ad campaign, Vincent Dixon’s project for a French cosmetics company transforms sleek bodies into landscapes.
14. Standing at Standing Rock
Josué Rivas has been photographing at Standing Rock since August, making images that he hopes serve as a record and a bridge between indigenous communities.
15. A Deep Look into NASA’s Apollo Photo Archives
A new book collects quirky outtakes from The Apollo Project, surreal images of moon landings and earth rises shot by of astronauts using Hasselblads.
16. Street Photography in a Virtual World
Sylvain Entressangle uses a virtual video game city as a place to practice street photography, making dark, moody image inspired Walker Evans and André Kertész.
