We previously brought you our picks for the top 10 breakthrough artists of the year and now it's time to turn our attention to the photographers. Out of the hundreds of photographers we featured on My Modern Met this year, these ten stood out for either their overall unique style or their highly creative photo project. Not only were they the most viewed photographers on our site, they were also the most loved and appreciated. While some are already masters in their field, still others are just starting to make a name for themselves. May all of them inspire you to pick up your camera and find your own passion project this upcoming year.
(Make sure to click each picture to learn more about these photographers and to see more of their work.)
10. Laura Peralta
New York-based model Laura Peralta showed us how an inked up body could be beautifully displayed as art. Her series of self-portraits were not only breathtaking, her masterful use of shadows of light helped tell an emotionally charged story.
9. Sander Koot
Photographer Sander Koot created a series called Back from the Future where he placed old photographs of people next to pictures of their present selves. It was an interesting look at how we age and it gave a new definition to the phrase “reliving the moment.”
8. Kristian Schuller
Fashion photography came sudden alive thanks to photographer Kristian Schuller. His signature style includes flowing dresses and fantastic poses that look like something out of a dream.
7. Karla Read
She's a young ingenue that's one to watch. Karla Read only picked up photography in 2008 but she's since made a name for herself for her refreshingly honest style. Her photos tell stories about a young woman's longing to be different and free.
6. Sacha Goldberger
Though Sacha Goldberger first busted onto the scene last year with his superhero series featuring his grandmother, he continued to impress us in 2011 with his before and after shots of joggers. In it, he stopped joggers, asking them if they would sprint for him and then pose right after for his camera. He then asked these same people to come into his professional studio exactly one week later. Using the same light, he asked them to pose the same way they had before.
5. Martin Schoeller
Well-known photographer Martin Schoeller has an outstanding portfolio that includes some of the wackiest celebrity portraits you'll ever see. No doubt it's his unique flair that captured our attention and has us eternally wondering where he's going to take his photography next.
4. Ulric Collette
Undoubtebly the most creepiest yet coolest photo project we came across this year was from Canada-based Ulric Collette. Exploring the genetic similarities between different members of the same family, he split up their faces in half and then spliced them together, creates interesting new people that were sometimes quite normal looking and other times far from it. He called this fascinating series Genetic Portraits.
3. Alex Stoddard
Alex Stoddard is a talented teenage photographer whose amazing self-portraits were unlike anything we'd ever seen. Full of drama and mystery, they made us believe in the power of perseverance and that creative ideas could flourish at any age.
2. Samuel Bradley
If you thought photography had to fit inside a neat box to be beautiful then you haven't seen the work of Samuel Bradley. His incredibly interesting photos even featured taxidermy to portray the gap between humans and animals.
1. Natsumi Hayashi
Who wasn't enamored by the girl who loves to levitate, Natsumi Hayashi? On our site alone, over a million of you got to know this sweet-looking Japanese girl whose sole aim was to help people feel “an instant release from their stressful days.”
Which of these photographer did you love the most?
