World Photography Day: 5 of the year’s best photo series

Whether showcasing new work or delving into their archives, these five photographers demonstrate the diversity and vibrancy of the medium, bringing together images from Mexico, Nigeria, England and beyond.

Justine Kurland’s “Girl Pictures” imagines runaway girls roaming the American landscape in a sylvan utopia where girls make their own rules. Taken between 1997 and 2002, but released as a book this year, the images offer a nostalgic glimpse of a bygone era and an exploration of timeless themes such as defiance, self-actualization and female sexuality.

“I had this desire to make this girl world, this feminist utopic solidarity between (young) girls and teenagers,” Kurland said. “But between women, really.”

Read the full story here.

Although perhaps best-known for war photography and his famous “Afghan Girl” portrait, Steve McCurry has a lesser known passion: animals. His recently-published book brings together some of his best images, from cats in Myanmar to cows in Nepal (pictured at the top of this article).

“Animals are in constant motion, have a mind of their own and rarely pay any attention to directions from a photographer,” McCurry said. “Understanding animal behavior is essential to making good animal photographs, just as understanding human behavior can help with taking someone’s portrait.

Read the full story here.

For his latest project, Oye Diran looked to images from Nigeria in the 1960s to 1980s — including old family photos — for inspiration. The resulting series “A Ti De” (We Have Arrived) recreates the era’s aesthetic through the elegant clothing his parents used to wear, including his mother’s classic Nigerian “iro” and “buba” (a wrapped skirt and tailored top).

“I was struck by how appealing and rich these outfits looked and was reminded of how well my parents and their friends were attired when I was young,” Diran said. “The relevance of iro and buba doesn’t dissipate over time, so I came up with this story to shed light on the beauty of my heritage to the world.”

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A cheese-rolling competition (pictured above) and an annual “bottle-kicking” are among two of the odder pastimes captured by Orlando Gili, who set about documenting how the English have fun. Inspired by the divisions caused by Brexit, his series “Trivial Pursuits” captures a humane portrait of a nation navigating its history and place in today’s world.

“We are really more similar than we like to think,” he said. “And going to all these different types of events, and seeing different sections of society having fun, you see essentially the same things being played out.

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Tania Franco Klein’s ongoing series “Proceed to the Route” combines dystopian unease with the warmth of nostalgia. At first glance, one might not think that the Mexican photographer is examining our modern digital age, but she wields ambiguity to examine our relationship with — and reliance on — digital technology.

“You cannot fully escape and fully disconnect from everything,” she said. “But how can you (find) balance?”

Read the full story here.