“These photographs humble me.”

That’s the opening sentence to writer and curator John Edwin Mason’s Forward to The Best of Photojournalism 2023, just released by the National Press Photographers Association, and when I came to that line, I felt it in my gut.

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“The Best of Photojournalism 2023″, edited by Sue Morrow
Published by NPPA, 2024
review by W. Scott Olsen

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Yes, I thought. Absolutely. These photographs humble me as a photographer and as a human being. These images are evidence of how wonderful and how horrible we are as a species, and the witness they give is essential for any type of informed life.

The Best of Photojournalism is a series with a long history. I believe the oldest one on my shelves is from 1979, The Best of Photojournalism 5 (back when they were numbered that way). The series has gone through changes in publishers—from Missouri to Running Press and now NPPA—but every year produces an astounding and often gut-wrenching anthology, which, when brought together, distills something true and profound about humanity.

The cover of this year’s edition is the justly famous image by Lynsey Addario of a Ukrainian school teacher weeping as she holds the gun and sits with others in a truck on her way to go defend her country. I’ve seen this image a hundred times now, and it still turns my heart over every time I see it. That’s the genius of the photojournalist—to find that image which reveals the soul of a moment.

To be clear, The Best of Photojournalism 2023 contains a great deal more than conflict photography. There is as much love as there is pain. The back cover, an image by Luis Tato, shows elephant calves walking in a sanctuary in Kenya. There are images of Black Rinos nuzzling each other, drug addicts in prison, a farmer tending peas, high school prom, a boy getting a haircut, volleyball during the European championship, and a woman cradling an urn that contains the ashes of her daughter. Every image, well, let me say it again—is humbling.

These images call for sympathies I’m glad to be reminded I am still capable of feeling.

In the forward, Mason goes on to say,

“The dangers that photojournalists faced when simply doing their jobs is especially visible in the first weeks of 2024 as I work on this essay. In December 2023 the International Federation of Journalists, (IFJ) reported that 94 journalists had been killed in the first 11 months of the year, up from 47 in 2021. The war between Hamas and Israel accounted for 68 of those deaths…

Images will be immensely valuable primary sources, the raw material from which histories are written. Historians and everyday people will learn things about the present from them that mere words cannot fully convey and other things, such as many emotions, for which there are no words at all…That’s the future. It’s important to remember, however, that these photos have already done at least half their job. They’ve borne witness. To bear witness, to impart information about our world is one of photojournalism’s most important roles, and one that becomes too easy to dismiss…At its best photojournalism motivates us to see our interconnectedness and to work toward ending the harm that we do to each other.”

In her Editor’s Note, visual journalist and editor Sue Morrow adds,

“As an editor, I live vicariously and reflect a lot on the photographers who place themselves in grave danger. Without your eyes, we would not see. Without your courage, we would not feel. Without your dedication, we would not understand…Escape, healing and recovery are themes that permeate the pictures of the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas Elementary School, and the unconscionable brutality that photographers documented in Ukraine (and still are), Yet the graphic imagery of the discovery and transfer of bodies to respectful resting places somehow resurrects a scintilla of human dignity.”

The book is organized by the award series, so there are sections given to Photojournalist of the Year—Large Market, Photojournalist of the Year—Small Market, Sports Photojournalist of the Year, and so on. An index in the back of the book gives the entire list of awards, winners, and judges. The list is impressive in scope and a reminder how much work is being done every day.

There are also Sony Best of Show awards. This year, Lynsey Addario won for Still Photojournalism, and Anne Herbst won for Video Photojournalism.

The book contains thematic sections called Slice of Life, Politics, Ukraine War, International, Science, and Sports.

Unlike so many other awards, The Best of Photojournalism is not a celebration of celebrity. Yes, it recognizes the men and women who are doing extraordinary work. But it’s the stories that matter. This book insists we look at who we are and what we’re doing and celebrates both the looking and the insight we can gain. Not surprisingly, the captions, which are excellent, are without exception about the stories inside the pictures. There is essential context to understand the image. There is a narrative. No diatribes. Nothing about gear or the challenges the photographer faced. Instead, there is depth.

While there are names in here I have known for some time—Lynsey Addario, Peter Turnley, Evgeniy Maloletka, among others—there are many photographers whose pictures I have not seen before, and I am glad to know their work.

There are images in this book which will be forever seared into my consciousness, such as an image by Carol Guzy which shows volunteer grave diggers using a door and a crane to lift corpses from a mass grave in Ukraine. This is not something I would have chosen to see. But it’s something I know I need to see. There is so much more to the world, both good and evil, than my limited ability to imagine it.

The Best of Photojournalism 2023 provokes love, anger, regret, and hope all at the same time. This is the work of people at the top of their game, and I am grateful for it. The stories they tell reveal us to ourselves to celebrate what is good with the hope of changing what is not.

A note from FRAMES: Please let us know if you have an upcoming or recently published photography book.