Picks of the bunch: Huck’s top ten photo stories of 2018

Picks of the bunch: Huck’s top ten photo stories of 2018

Best of the year — From the cab driver who documented NYC for 30 years, to secret snapshots of Tokyo street life: we look back at our most popular photography stories of the year – as chosen by readers.

It’s been a good year for photography on Huck.

We’ve seen shots from inside Europe’s largest alternative-living community, uncovered the internet’s forgotten shit pics and laughed at photos of really – really rich people getting drunk.

And that’s before mentioning our annual celebration of visual storytelling: Huck 67 – an all-woman photography special. Featuring the likes of Susan Meiselas, Kendrick Brinson and Mikiko Hara, it’s a spotlight on the women breaking new ground in the photography world.

Looking ahead to next year, here are the ten most popular photo stories of 2018 – as chosen by readers.

The photographer capturing subcultures that refuse to die

For the past six years, Owen Harvey has been finding out why people are drawn to styles from a bygone era – and developing some unexpected perspective on his own life in the process.

© Owen Harvey

Photos that flip the way we view sex, violence and women

Pooling influence from Hollywood, old advertisements and porn, visual artist Camille Mariet uses explicit, bold photography to subvert sexist stereotypes.

© Camille Mariet

Life inside Europe’s biggest alternative-living community

The ZAD is a micro-society in rural France where activists, farmers and free-spirits live in harmony. Photographer Kevin Faingnaert tried to find out why.

© Kevin Faingnaert

The Congolese dandies who see fashion as a way of life

‘La Sape’ is a lifestyle built on a simple set of values: dress sharp, act with integrity and inspire others. This is why they do what they do.

© Alice Mann

Inside the hotel that symbolises South Africa’s past

Celebrities, politics, murder: Johannesburg’s Carlton Hotel has seen it all. But as two artists sneak into its now-abandoned halls, taking pictures as they go, the emptiness speaks volumes.

© Yvonne Mueller and Leif Bennett

A cab driver captures 30 years of New York after dark

Street photographer Ryan Weideman drove a New York City cab for decades. With one eye on the road and a camera in his hand, every passenger became a story, every trip a wild ride.

© Ryan Weideman

Secret snapshots of Tokyo’s vivid street life

Mikiko Hara doesn’t need a viewfinder. Instead the Japanese street photographer shoots from the chest, allowing the camera to capture happy accidents that come as a surprise – even to her.

© Mikiko Hara, courtesy of Osiris

The internet’s forgotten shit pics are accidentally amazing

To relieve the boredom of his day job, Doug Battenhausen has been mining defunct websites for years – harvesting long-discarded gems from the bottom of the web.

© Doug Battenhausen

Pictures of really, really rich people getting drunk

Throughout the ’80s, photographer Dafydd Jones captured the well-heeled hedonists of England’s upper classes. ‘It was another world going on behind closed doors,’ he remembers.

© Dafydd Jones

Dystopian photos of London’s bankers in meltdown

Ten years after the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, Stephen McLaren’s photos remember the fear, helplessness and demented ambivalence in the City of London at that time.

© Stephen McLaren

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