Best of 2021: Photos

Here are my favorite New Yorker photos of 2021:

1. Jerome Strauss’s photo for “Above & Beyond: The Annual Arrival of Cherry Blossoms,” April 19, 2021 (see above);

2. Amy Lombard's portrait of Jake Paul for Kelefa Sanneh's "Punching Down" (November 8, 2021);

3. Brian Emfinger's photo for Heidi Julavits's "The Fire Geyser" (August 23, 2021);

4. Lakin Ogunbanwo's portrait of El Anatsui for Julian Lucas's “Structure and Flow” (January 18, 2021);

5. Gus Powell's photo for Hannah Goldfield's "Tables for Two: Smashed NYC" (June 7, 2021);

6. Thomas Prior's portrait of Kate Orff for Eric Klinenberg's "Manufacturing Nature" (August 9, 2021);

7. Naila Ruechel's photo for Judith Thurman's "Eye of the Needle" (March 29, 2021);

8. William Mebane's photo for Hannah Goldfield's "Tables for Two: Dame" (January 25, 2021);

9. Sofia Yates's photo for Hannah Goldfield's "Tables For Two: Rolo's" (February 8, 2021);

10. Phyllis Ma's photo for Hannah Goldfield's "Tables For Two: The New Carry-Out Cuisine" (June 21, 2021).

March 29, 2021 Issue

Carnal sentences are a particular fetish of mine, as you likely know, if you follow this blog. A line such as this one, from Hannah Goldfield’s delectable “Tables For Two: Peter Luger Steak House,” in this week’s New Yorker, delights me immensely:

At my table, in the shadow of the historic Williamsburgh Savings Bank building, I ordered another wedge salad (rapture, again) and a burger, a beautiful mass of luscious ground beef whose iodine tang played perfectly off a sweet, salty slice of American cheese, a fat cross-section of raw white onion, and a big, domed sesame bun.

That “whose iodine tang played perfectly off a sweet, salty slice of American cheese, a fat cross-section of raw white onion, and a big, domed sesame bun” is ravishing! 

Goldfield’s food descriptions are not the only literary source of carnal satisfaction. Judith Thurman’s clothing depictions do it for me, too. This one, for instance, from her excellent “Eye of the Needle,” also in this week’s issue: 

One of the earliest garments with an “Ann Lowe” label is now at the Met Costume Institute: a sublime wedding dress from 1941, with the silhouette of an Erté Tanagra. Embroidered trapunto lilies, bedewed with seed pearls, cascade down the bodice; molten satin bubbles at the hem like a pool of candle wax.

A special shout-out, as well, to Naila Ruechel, for her wonderful photos of Lowe dresses, illustrating Thurman’s piece. I think my favourite is this beauty:

Best of 2020: Photos

Photo by Joseph Michael Lopez, for "April 15, 2020"

Here are my favorite New Yorker photographs of 2020:

1. Joseph Michael Lopez’s photo for “April 15, 2020,” May 4, 2020 (see above).

2. Naila Ruechel’s photo for Hannah Goldfield’s “Tables For Two: EMP To Go” (November 23, 2020).

3. Dina Litovsky’s photo for Helen Rosner’s “What We’re Buying for the Quarantine” (March 18, 2020).

4. Paolo Pellegrin’s photo for Ben Taub’s “Five Oceans, Five Deeps” (May 18, 2020).

5. Collier Schorr’s photo for Amanda Petrusich’s “Opened Up” (October 19, 2020).

6. Andre D. Wagner’s photo for “April 15, 2020” (May 4, 2020).

7. Caroline Tompkins’ photo for Hannah Goldfield’s “Table for Two: Aquavit” (January 27, 2020).

8. Christaan Felber’s photo for “This Week” (April 27, 2020).

9. Christopher Payne’s photo for his “Vital Vessels” (December 7, 2020).

10. Heami Lee’s photo for Hannah Goldfield’s “Tables For Two: Edy’s Grocer” (December 7, 2020).

November 23, 2020 Issue

Three striking artworks in this week’s issue:

1. Sergiy Maidukov’s portrait of Grace Jones for Sarah Larson’s “Podcast Dept.”

2. Naila Ruechel’s photos for Hannah Goldfield’s “Tables For Two: EMP To Go."

3. Andrea Ventura’s portrait of Paul Celan for Ruth Franklin’s “A Word, a Corpse.”

Maidukov and Ventura are established New Yorker illustrators. I’ve long admired their work. But Ruechel’s bold, color-drenched photography is new to me. I look forward to seeing more of it in the magazine.