Holding the Image Still. Photography and Art in Year-in-Review Formats.

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Why we still need year-end reviews

The end of the year is a moment when visual culture briefly slows down. Summaries appear — selections, rankings, lists of the best photobooks, the most significant exhibitions, images that remained. In a system driven by constant updates, year-end reviews function as a pause. They do not simply close the year; they allow us to see it as a whole.

Yearly reviews are not objective maps. They are choices of perspective. And precisely for that reason, they remain necessary.

Photography in a mode of selection

In photography, annual reviews act as filters of attention. They separate what was highly visible in circulation from what resonated beyond a single season. Editorial and curatorial choices rarely align fully with the popularity of images in social media feeds.

This tension can be productive. It reveals the difference between visibility and meaning. In many cases, year-end reviews restore weight to long-term projects, photobooks, and exhibitions that required time and sustained focus.

That is why photography books and albums are increasingly treated as durable traces of a year rather than disposable statements. Both classic and contemporary photography books continue to appear in year-end selections as counterparts to exhibitions.

Art between event and duration

In contemporary art, year-end reviews play a slightly different but equally important role. They organise excess. Festivals, biennials, group and solo exhibitions overlap throughout the year, often without clear hierarchy.

Rather than declaring what was “the best,” reviews tend to trace lines of tension: recurring themes, emerging aesthetics, gestures that gained particular resonance. This approach is visible in annual summaries published by institutions and media such as The Guardian — Art & Photography and Tate.

Review as an act of responsibility

In an age of algorithmic selection, year-end reviews become acts of editorial responsibility. Someone assumes the burden of choice. The risk of omission. The need for justification. A well-prepared review does not close discussion — it reopens it, allowing overlooked works to return into view after the rush of daily premieres.

Silence after the image

Notably, reviews in photography and art increasingly replace spectacle with restraint. Fewer “top 10” lists, more context. Less sensation, more reflection. This shift signals fatigue with sensory overload and a parallel effort to recover a calmer relationship with images. Perhaps this is why year-end reviews still make sense — as moments of pause, not forced conclusions.

Instead of a conclusion: recommended reviews of 2025

Year-end reviews are not final verdicts. They are proposals for looking. Reminders that visual culture requires not only production, but also memory and selection. Photography and art, seen from the perspective of an entire year, begin to speak in a different register — quieter, more balanced, and often more visible because of it.

The Best Art and Photography of 2025 — The Guardian — an annual overview of key exhibitions, works, and visual moments, curated by critics from one of the most influential cultural media outlets.
Photographic Publication of the Year 2025 – Fotofestiwal Łódź — a prestigious competition and exhibition highlighting outstanding photobook publications that combine visual narrative with book design.
Review of the Year 2025: Top 25 Photography — It’s Nice That — a selection of 25 notable photography projects, viewed through the lens of contemporary creative practice.
Best Photography Books of the Year 2025 — Aperture — an annual editorial selection that approaches the photobook not as a ranking, but as a medium of narrative and visual memory.
The Photographers’ Selection: 2025 — Magnum Photos — a curated review of the year’s photographs and projects, selected by Magnum photographers from the perspective of documentary and long-term practice.