AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHY, 29.

The beauty and chaos of 2012 is documented in American Photography 29, the latest in a series of celebrated annuals. Only 229 images were selected by a jury of creative professionals to represent the best images of the year from over 9,000 entries submitted to the competition. Produced in a large-format, hardcover, deluxe, boxed slipcase, and designed by Robert Festino of Men’s Health, the book is generously laid out with many images running across double-page spreads and features two different cover images that offer a stark contrast in subject matter and tone. From the presidential election to the Olympic summer games, Hurricane Sandy to the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, American Photography 29 records, in full-color reproductions, the achievements, aspirations, heartaches and moments that linger in our collective memories, also offering a who’s who of the world’s top photographers, and the publications that insist on commissioning only first-rate, original work. An image index includes the captions and creative credits listing the publications, schools, agencies and clients who commissioned and utilized the winning photographs. American Photography 29 celebrates the emerging and up-and-coming photographers (including two students) along with masters like Cindy Sherman, Christopher Anderson, Platon, Martin Schoeller, Richard Barnes, Martine Fougeron, Benjamin Lowy, Mario Sorrenti, Dan Winters and Jill Greenberg.

AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHY remains a valuable cross section of editorial practice. (Vince Aletti Photograph Magazine)