As we approach the end of 2012, at the cusp of a new year, I always look back through the months to review the images that I have taken to see what has transpired photographically for me, personally. I have selected 20 instead of 15 in 2011, having taken more images this year. I am currently working on a series which I will announce perhaps in the new year, but still lacking in numbers for now, so it is shelved until Spring comes round. Commonscapes, a series of landscapes photographed in close by Wimbledon Common was started when I discovered that I actually like walking, (and contemplating) with dog in tow. I can see myself shooting MF not too long. If only there was a digital square medium format camera to use which doesn’t cost the Earth and more.

Photography today more than ever, takes on a new meaning for me. I still like shooting street images, but because I have seen so many street images that lack intent and story lately, I focus now more on humour and irony rather than drama and contrasts. I go through phases in my photography, like reading books. I am into crime novels at the moment.

2012 has been a challenge in many respects, what, with the rise in prominence of Instagram and smartphone images to a new level, and the slow death of DSLRs  caused by the onslaught of compact interchangeable lens formats, will surely be an interesting story to follow. Now that more and more photographers are composing through LCD screens rather than viewfinders, it would be worthwhile to examine if there are any compositional differences that may be gauged collectively in the kind and style of images that are produced throughout the world.

Here are my Top 20 for 2012 :

1. Chinese tourists on the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral, London

2. Height of Summer, Hyde Park, London

3. Orang Asli mother and her children, ‘Magick River’, Perak, Malaysia

4. By ‘Magick River’, Perak, Malaysia

5. Butcher, ‘Little Burma’, Kuala Lumpur

6. Cult revelers, Notting Hill Carnival, London

7. Street pose, Notting Hill Carnival, London

8. Christmas display, Kuala Lumpur

9. Waiters waiting, San Marco, Venice

10. Sami, Tunisian, Venice from series Merchants of Venice

11. Wheatfield, Burgundy, France

12. Tourists, Piazza del Campo, Siena, Italy

13. Fairground boy, Wimbledon Common

14. Wild flowers, Tuscany, Italy

15. Dinosaur Coast, Brook Chine, Isle of Wight

16. Wimbledon Common pond, from series Commonscapes

17. Untitled 1 from series Commonscapes

18. Veteran and his medals, Remembrance Sunday, London

19. Winter walkers, Wimbledon Common

20. Volunteer harvester, Bothy Vineyard, Oxford

See my 2011 Review here