Here we find ourselves once more, at the end of another megapixel-filled year, hoping that Santa (or whatever gift-bearing mascot or family member you choose to affiliate with) will stuff our stockings with digital frames, rechargeable batteries—maybe even the new Nikon D3X (I’m not holding my breath on that one, though maybe my husband actually does read my blogs like he says he does).

It’s been a challenging year, and rough times may still be ahead for many: We’ve officially been notified that we are indeed mired in a recession, and many around us have lost their jobs, tapped into their dwindling 401Ks, and been forced to cut back all around. In the spirit of the season and in an attempt to spread a little humor and good cheer during these difficult times, I leave you with my top 5 photo-related stories of 2008, stories that caught my attention either because of their inspirational nature or because of their inherent inanity or bizarreness.

5. Jill Greenberg, meet John McCain: The avant-garde New York City photographer made an international name for herself by manipulating photos of the Republican presidential candidate originally shot for “The Atlantic” magazine, with the intention to cast him in as unflattering a light as possible (and considering he most closely resembled the craggy-faced Emperor from “Star Wars,” it appears Greenberg fulfilled her mission). Whether you sided with Greenberg on the platform of free speech or rebuked her for unethical behavior unbefitting a professional photographer, everyone can agree that it resulted in some of the more passionate posts in the blogging community we’ve seen in a while—and passion in the photography industry is just what we need right now.

4. As homo sapiens, we tend to carry a bit of species-specific narcissism. But National Geographic’s Best Animal Wildlife Photos of 2008 reminded us of how dangerous and beautiful our creature companions can be—and that we share this planet with them.

3. You can mash them, dice them, bake them, even cut them into crinkles and fry them—but 2008 was declared the International Year of the Potato by the United Nations, so it naturally followed that there be a photo contest to document this titillating tuber.

2. Who can forget that iconic 1945 WWII photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt of a nurse being swept off her feet in Times Square by a sailor right after the surrender of Japan? Well, the Navy didn’t forget, honoring the young woman in the photo (the now-90-year-old Edith Shain) this past Veterans Day.

1.After the public outcry that took Annie Liebovitz to task for provocatively draping a nearly nude Miley Cyrus in nothing but a blanket for her Vanity Fair shoot, the teen phenom recently came out and said that she’d “love” to work with the “amazing” photographer again. No hard feelings, I guess—and who am I to argue with Hannah Montana?

This entry was posted on Monday, December 8th, 2008 at 11:30 pm and is filed under Jennifer Gidman. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.