NGS: 2008 Photos of the Year

The National Geographic's Editor in Chief Chris Johns selects some of his favorite photographs published in the magazine in 2008.

The French believe, rather surprisingly, that tastes and colors are not issues to be discussed, and being certain that there were much more arresting photographs published in the 2008 NG magazines, I wholeheartedly agree in this case. To each his own.

If you expect detailed descriptions and explanations as to how each photographer captured the images shown in this clip, you'll be disappointed. It's aimed at readers of the National Geographic magazines who like photography, rather than serious or advanced photographers.

Paul Panayiotou: Vietnam

Image © Paul Panayiotou-All Rights Reserved
I had quite a bit of trouble choosing which of Paul Panayiotou's galleries would I feature on The Travel Photographer blog. Would it be his work on Cuba, Egypt (very tempting) or Vietnam? And how could I leave out Cambodia, Spain and Cyprus? Finally, I decided on Vietnam...it's my blog after all.

Paul is a freelance travel photographer based in London, and whose work appears in The Observer, The Guardian, the Sunday Telegraph, as well as TIME magazine, Four Four Two, Rough Guides, nationalgeographic.com and Fodor's.

The above photograph is of Cao Dai adherents in Tay Ninh.

Ivan Gonzalez: Devil Dancers of Naiguata

Image © Ivan Gonzalez-All Rights Reserved
Here's an audio slideshow with the photographs of Venzuela photographer Ivan Gonzalez of the Devil Dancers of Naiguata. This is a Venezuelan traditional ritual celebrated during the Roman Catholic feast day of Corpus Christi, and symbolizes the victory of good over evil. Its audio track is only in Spanish, but the purpose of the dancing is obvious.

Ivan Gonzalez has worked as a photojournalist since 1998, collaborating with Associated Press (AP) and Spanish agency EFE news service, among other local Venezuelan magazines and newspapers. He worked as top photo editor at Venezuela's 'El Nacional' newspaper, and currently directs the photo reporting at 'El Cadena Global' daily newspaper.

I have previously posted on this Afro-Venezuelan tradition near Venezuela’s Caribbean coast which has been practiced since the late 18th century.