Photographers' favourites: What moved us in 2022

Fara Phoebe Zetzsche

picture editor.

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"On forays through the city of Frankfurt, which I don't know much about, I made a detour to the zoo - actually to photograph people looking at animals.

That 's when I encountered this situation.”

“I chose the recording because it shows a moment of joy and is dedicated to beauty and lightness.

This is not necessarily what a photographer expects when traveling to Ukraine.

The girl who uses the head of the decapitated Russian-Ukrainian brother statue in Kiev as a gymnastics device shows the child's ability to win something playful out of almost every difficult situation in life.”

“For Frankfurt, winning the Europa League final for Eintracht was one of the biggest events of the year.

Frankfurt followed the transmission from Seville in the packed Waldstadion.

Photographers captured every imaginable emotion right up to the end of the penalty shoot-out.

Aside from the boundless joy at the final whistle, the image of a spellbound fan in the first row stuck in my mind.”

“In the photo we are in Berlin, in a tent of the Feminista protest camp.

Out of solidarity with the revolution in Iran, activists have been demonstrating in front of the Green Party headquarters for more than two months.

After the protests in the Kurdish areas of Iran were brutally suppressed and more and more terrible news got through, Shirin, herself a Kurd and LGBTIQ+ activist, decided to cook and sell food to donate money for urgently needed medicines to Kurdistan.

I had met a very worried Shirin the day before because her sister is also in Kurdistan.

When she arrived at the camp the next evening with the dolma, a traditional dish (stuffed vegetables), the tent not only filled with the smell of good food, but also with a genuine, human warmth.

the power

I really admire the fact that you continue despite everything, that you convert your own grief into energy and ideas.

Iranians in the diaspora have drawn together in the days of resistance in their homeland.

They share the pain, but also the hope for a different future.

Shirin's warmth also brought back memories of my own trips to Kurdistan and of a good friend there, who I hope is well."

"On a very sunny Sunday morning, I was on the roof of the Main Tower to photograph some sports maniacs doing physical exercises there.

Along the way, I then discovered this spectacle: The ECB, shrouded in golden light, and behind it a power plant that smokes, visible from afar.

You can also take the picture symbolically and hope that next year will bring us some relief with regard to the issues of energy and inflation.”

“This is Ingrid Baumgärtner.

She's a sculptor, incredibly friendly and works a lot with clay.

She makes heads, busts and figures and I really like her work.

Here she is with a tape head under her arm in her studio – a dance hall in a former inn and it looks a bit like she is dancing there herself.”

"A yellow-striped swift (Battus polydamas) rests on the empty shell of a pupa from which it may have recently hatched itself.

This butterfly is unpalatable to predators, as the caterpillars of this species eat the leaves of the Easter Luze family (Aristolochiaceae), which contain poison.

In the butterfly house of the Palmengarten Frankfurt he doesn't have to fear any predators anyway.

With ideal conditions of 24 degrees Celsius and 80 percent humidity, the butterflies can hatch indoors and are then supplied with self-made nectar mixtures of honey, pollen and sugar or fruit.

New dolls are delivered by air freight every one to two weeks.

They come from breeding farms in countries in the tropical distribution areas of the butterflies, such as Costa Rica.

“I chose this photo of the Iran demonstration as it shows an act of solidarity between two groups of people who are under war and oppression.

At first glance, their fight seems incoherent, yet both the man on the pillar waving the Shah-era Ukrainian and Iranian flags and the woman in the foreground, covered in a blue and yellow flag, have meaning decided to support a fellow human being in need.”

“It is considered the coat of arms of the wealthy.

For some a symbol of wealth, ostentation and luxury for others a trophy of provocation.

The Mercedes star was introduced as a radiator ornament around 1910.

For punks it was considered good manners to remove it.

Today there are hardly any hood ornaments on electric cars and fewer punks in pedestrian zones.

In 2022, however, the worlds met again on Sylt.

While Christian Lindner celebrates his wedding behind the dunes, the punks camp in front of the Kurhaus under the motto "Sylt for everyone".

While the world is slowly sinking, you can still find the last traces of a bygone era on the beach in Westerland.”