Best of the best

I was in the middle of putting together some links to sites that were featuring Best Photos of 2005 until John Gushue linked to this wonderful site which is busily putting together a list of the all the Best of the Year lists. Not just photos, but movies, TV, music, etc.

Maybe if I'm feeling motivated I'll add some of my favourite things from 2005. We'll see.

I have to say, of the Best Photo sites, USA Today had the best photos. Also, much to my surprise, no one image grabbed me this year. You can say many things about 2005, but few of them good (I got married, some of my friends got married. The list gets pretty thin for me after that). Hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and lots and lots of death.

When it's a bad year for humanity, it's normally a very good year for photojournalists. By the way, I don't envy them the job. You have to go terrible places and capture the horror of the moment in an image that will grab people. It's not an easy job to do and I can't imagine the toll it takes on their humanity. I hated taking photos of car crashes. I can't imagine going to a place like New Orleans after Katrina and capture some of the images you see on the sites.

Still, I look at them because I've always thought a good photo is worth more than hours of video tape. And because I've never had any formal photo training and I don't have the best equipment, but I still want to know "how the hell did they get that shot?" The shot that makes you stop and call out to a loved one to "come take a look at this" and you marvel at the image. I figure if I stare at it long enough, maybe I'll figure it out.

I think I've taken a few good photos over the years, but nothing like what you will see on some of these sites. It's worth going there and taking a look. I said no one image grabbed me; I didn't say there weren't a lot of excellent photos.

Here's hoping photojournalists have a really crappy 2006.

Last 5 on iPod
1. Get back - The Beatles (Let it Be)
2. Sulky girl - Elvis Costello (The Very Best Of...)
3. It's not a fashion statement, it's a deathwish - My Chemical Romance (Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge)
4. Mohammed's radio - Warren Zevon (A Quiet, Normal Life)
5. Go back to your woods - Robbie Robertson (Storyville)