Each day, 95 million photographs are uploaded to Instagram alone. This insane amount of imagery living in the cloud makes it impossible to see all of them, and we know that we miss out on witnessing quite a few spectacular photographs. We are well aware that a small percentage of these are analog-based images; however, even if we assume .01% of these images uploaded every day are film-related, that is 3,467,500 images. With 2022 coming to a close we decided to present to you Analog Forever Magazine’s Top 40 images for your viewing pleasure. These images are curated by our staff and represent the images that made an impact on us throughout the last year. By no means do they represent the “best” images ever created, but are simply our favorites that we felt the need to shed some light on. Please enjoy our “Top 40” picks for 2022!

As you scroll through these images we encourage you to visit every one of these photographers’ websites to learn more about them and their work. We also challenge you to pick your favorite photograph and reach out to the artist who created it, with the goal of offering them encouragement or to simply say hello. I promise you this will be the best part of their day and you will make a profound difference in how we interact as a community. Please make sure to leave your comments at the bottom of this page and discuss which images are your favorites and why!

Michael Behlen’s Top 10

This year, like every year, I am having trouble deciding which 10 images will be selected as my favorite. It’s not that I haven’t seen 1000s of excellently made photographs, probably more than that. But this year, I decided to focus more on the experience each image provided to me. So I went through the 500+ photos I had saved this year and whenever I crossed paths with one of the following images there was an invisible tractor beam that brought my eyes to them and kept me there. Though it’s often subjective and personal, which images speak to us, I believe the below photographs each have a unique perspective to bring to the world. Either with their blatant beauty or ingenious construction. Please enjoy my top 10 photographs of 2022!

Michael Kirchoff’s Top 10

2022 was an incredible year, and I believe I’ve looked at more photographs this year than any other. Between the portfolio reviews, submissions, exhibitions, books, social media, and emails, it was a very eclectic year. So in order to mirror that properly, I’m presenting an equally diverse selection of imagery to represent my year. No theme or concept, just pure love for the photographic object. And as always, please dive a little deeper with these artists beyond this single photograph.

Niniane Kelley’s Top 10

I’m sitting on my couch going back and forth between staring vacantly out the window and staring vacantly at this word document trying to come up with an interesting way to say, “Wow, it’s been another year already, here are some pictures I liked.” Sometimes as an artist, as a writer, as a person, you just get stuck. Sometimes, as with Dana Stirling’s deer figurine, things go wonky and you topple over. I wanted to highlight a few images from the submissions to my “Self Beyond the Selfie” show that didn’t end up in the exhibition but managed to stick in my brain for half a year. Going through the hundreds of submissions again I stopped at Dana’s image and thought, “I really relate to that deer right now.” Hopefully in these images we’re sharing you find something you relate to, something that inspires you, something that surprises you.

Lisa Toboz’s Top 10

2022: A year of easing into “normality” after two years of chaos. It has not been a smooth transition, going from pandemic life to everyday life, especially when the everyday has changed so drastically. I buried myself in work in order to make sense of (or hide from) what the future holds for me. For the world. And what has anchored and provided me solace through dark, uncertain times is art, especially the 10 photographers’ works I chose for this year’s Top 40 Photographs. I am moved, in awe, wishing slightly that I had created these photos myself. But only slightly. Because their artistry is such an inspirational gift, their bravery and brilliance, vulnerability and vision make it so much easier to look ahead into the light. 

ABOUT ANALOG FOREVER MAGAZINE

Founded in 2018, Analog Forever Magazine is an online and print publisher of contemporary analog photography. Our mission is simple: we want to provide a global audience to photographers who use analog processes and techniques for their photographic work by giving them a voice via a biannual print photography journal, online features and interviews, book reviews, and online exhibitions. Our goal is to highlight the best of the best from the analog photography industry including artists, projects, galleries, and curators.

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