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With only a few more days before the year ends, and coming off from the first five in the series, here then are the rest of the entries for the top photography posts of 2012.


5) Ansel Adams - A Different Kind Of Landscape
Ansel Adams has become a byword for great landscape photography and black-and-white photography in general. His images have become icons for the natural landscape of North America, while his technique proved to be the cornerstone for beginner photographers looking to get a grasp of the rule of thirds and the zone system. While new photographers have produced refreshing landscape pictures, Adams' name still remains at the top of the list of best landscape photographers of all time.


4) Anne Geddes - Babies, Babies Everywhere!


Anne Geddes has remained popular name on this blog ever since her photography was featured over a year ago, and for the simplest reason: babies. Geddes' photography portrays newborns both in their natural state as innocent and fragile beings, and in a more creative setting as flowers, animals and other cute creatures. It's amazing how such a simple concept can remain so popular, but Geddes manages to remain relevant with new images year after year.


3) Henri Cartier-Bresson - Looking Back


Henri Cartier-Bresson's entry in this blog was nothing more than a short description followed by a few examples of his street photography, but it has garnered a surprising number of views. Cartier-Bresson's works have stood the test of time, displaying a timeless sense of timing, emotion and geometry that can only be captured with patience and passion. Cartier-Bresson's photography prove that he truly is the father of modern photojournalism and the master of street photography.


2) Shirin Aliabadi and the Iranian Girls


Shirin Aliabadi's curious portraits of modern, teenage Iranian women has attracted attention for their surreal quality. Aliabadi wanted to document how today's generation of females raised in Iran have different perceptions of the West, and how they flaunt these beliefs through their outrageous clothing and make-up. Aliabadi's images prove just how powerful photography can be when used to document a world that's rarely seen by others.


1) A Royal Portrait: Queen Elizabeth II by Annie Leibovitz


Annie Leibovitz's magnificent portraits of Queen Elizabeth II have garnered the most number of views by a wide margin. The photographs were taken in 2008, just before Her Majesty's state visit to the United States, but they became even more timely during the Queen's 60th anniversary celebrations of her monarchy earlier this year. The subdued tone of the portraits set against the lavish setting of Buckingham Palace served to create some of the best portraits of any monarch in modern history.


These five top off the most popular photography posts for the year. Three out of the five were portrait series focusing on totally different subjects, with one entry in the landscape category, and another in the street photography category. This just goes to show that photography can be as diverse as they photographer wants it to be. Be sure to also check out the previous entries in The Top Photography Post of 2012 (Part 1).

Yes, you're seeing double, but that's because that's what the photographer intended. With the week's theme on self-portraits, it would be a nice touch to end it with a more personal look at the method and process. In this case, photographer Nazee Abbassi shows her take on her own identity as she photographs herself for a self-study, in effect giving viewers a glimpse of her self-portraits of the East and West.


Nazee Abbassi became internet famous a few weeks ago due to her thought-provoking pictures and is now somewhat known as the Iranian girl with self-portraits of her Iranian and American selves.

She explains that, "This project is a series of self portraits exploring who I am, both as an American and as an Iranian, through photographs. It has always been a struggle for me to explain myself, who I truly am, and how I should or shouldn’t act in given situations. I feel that maybe these photographs will answer some questions. Questions people might have, or even questions I have for myself as a person who has lived with two cultures her whole life. Sometimes I feel confused, proud, and sometimes even awkward about how to simply deal with the differences of the two parts that make me."



While there are obvious differences in her Iranian and American personas, the collection succeeds in bringing out some subtle distinctions apart from her attire. Take for example the picture of Abbassi in her car; her Iranian self sits in the back seat while her American self is in the driver's seat. In another image, the American character toasts with what looks like champagne while the Iranian character prefers soda. These small but powerful differences make these photographs into real portraits.


Contrary to what you might think at first, the differences presented in the images don't break-up her identity but instead makes them clearer for the viewer. While portrait photography strives to capture the real essence of the subject, even the best portraits can't contain the subject's whole self, only an image of the person at the split-second the shutter is pressed.

In Abbassi's case, her different personas captured in one frame helps viewers see her true self.


Nazee Abbassi's self-portraits of her East and West can be found on her blog. The full set of her self-studies are here. And while on the topic of Iranian women, check out this fanciful look at some Iranian teenage girls' fashion choices as photographed by Shirin Aliabadi over here.