So I wanted to make a list of the ten best things in photojournalism in 2009, but I thought seven is much better number – not as symmetrical, clean and boring as ten, but with a lot of tension, power and at the same time harmony. It feels like the number closest to the golden ratio so I thought that was a good number for a list related to photography. (And, well, I haven’t come up with more.) Here they are:
# 7: Platon
Photos: Platon/ The New Yorker
I could listen to Platon telling the anecdotes he has collected over the years photographing the famous and powerful for hours. Check out the series of portraits of world leaders he did for the New Yorker. Unfortunately, Angela Merkel is missing – I would have loved to see her in there, but it wouldn’t have been her style. To make a bet: Platon’s work will be awarded in the World Press Photo Contest.
# 6: New German Photojournalism
Andy Spyra's website
Photojournalism in Germany in the last years has been heavily influenced by Ostkreuz an agency from Berlin. To sum up its style: brownish, desaturated medium format photography – rather unemotional. I feel that there’s been a new trend recently, I can connect better with.
To see what I mean, check out Andy Spyra’s work. He comes from a small, boring and probably really uninspiring town in Germany – yet he produces very inspiring photography. He has devoted himself to documenting life in the Indian part of Kashmir and has been quite successful. He has been shortlisted for the Magnum Expression Award and received the Getty Images Grant. But most importantly he has photographed one of my favorite images of all time.
