Review of the Year 2022: Top 25 Photography

If there was ever something to get people clicking, it’s a conspiracy theory – and click you did. The most-read photography article on the site this year came from the photography duo Orejarena and Stein who travelled the world to find “real-life glitches”. And, as always, photography provided a means to explore complex topics. Brandon Tauszik’s Facing Life project shone a light on the pervasive issues caused by mass incarceration, while in a feature we asked: Should only working-class photographers take pictures of working-class people and places?

Meanwhile, the personal work of Abdulaziz Al-Hosni, Gabriel Lopez, Thy Tran, Mia Vasquez and Lydia Metral explored notions of belonging, and the indomitable Micaiah Carter and Salomé Gomis-Trezise turned the lens on family life in all its many forms. Exploring old school aesthetics and subcultures, Alex Huanfa Cheng reflected on the decline of alternative aesthetics in China, Francesca Rowse created a y2k-inspired prom wonderland in her Cornish hometown, while Callum O’Keefe explored the psychological reasons behind compulsive collecting. There was, of course, a little bit of humour sprinkled in there too: Max Siedentopf’s campaign showcasing Gucci for pets saw dogs dressed in the most high-fashion outfits, KesselsKramer photographed people sleeping from below (drool and all), while Francois Prost snapped France’s happy campers coming out of their mobile homes. What a treat.