YJL

1   The Big Picture of Boston.com

The Big Picture was my first counter with this type of website, a page with relatively big enough, quality photos and simple summaries about current events or specific topics. It started in May, 2008, so it has long history with 720,000+ subscribers according to Google Reader.

The amount of posts is less than one post a day, unlike some other Big Pictures, which have more than one post a day. Its style is focusing on the photos themselves, no lengthy article except the introduction at the beginning and well-chosen photos. It doesn’t use any Flash to show the photos, supports jk navigation.

2   Framework of Los Angeles Times

Framework is one of the bests among Big Pictures. First and a shallow reasons for that are it’s white-on-black design like this wiki. But seriously speaking, the quality of the posts are at top notch and categories of posts are not limited to still photos. It’s heavily about things around Los Angeles, of course, right?

For a record, literally, it likes to dig up Los Angeles Times archive and re-introduce to readers after decades have passed like 1910/1931 Los Angeles aerial photos, it’s not only giving you one but a combination of two, which two decades apart and we read it a century later. They don’t just throw some snapshots, they rediscover the stories and share with readers.

It also publishes some unusual posts but still photography-related like Looking for an Instagram alternative?, a post about options after Instagram TOS incident. I’ve also seen camera and app recommendations from Framework, or gift ideas for Christmas.

Unavoidably, heart-breaking articles like An inside look at prescription drugs or Death with dignity are very common, it’s definitely worth viewing through photos or watching the videos, and reading these short articles.

As you can see the last link, it’s with a video. Sometimes, Framework posts content in video, either slideshows or short films, with well-scripted narration like Parker Center: Los Angeles’ historic police headquarters shuttered after 57 years on the beat as another example.

It started in late June, 2010, quite young. Besides those above, it also posts on regular daily basis like photos of the day, highlighting what’s going on every day. It also shares readers’ photos, you may want to check out L.A. Times Community if you have great photos to show and have chance to be on Framework with your photos.

3   In Focus of The Atlantic

In Focus is really like The Big Picture, focusing on current event and posting about four times a week. The interface is similar, too, jk navigation with arrow keys as additions. You can also choose from two sizes of photos to fit the photos into your computer screen for better viewing experiences.

The topic description is written briefly—around 50 to 100 words—and each photo is described clearly. In the end of photos, it also provides related links to news reports or websites such as official websites, Wikipedia page, Flickr, etc. Therefore, you can read further about the topic and not just viewing the photos.

It has some unique series like 50 Years Ago: The World in 1963¹, an annual series.

It’s started two years ago, in February, 2011. Quite a new one comparing to others, however it’s worth subscribing to.

4   Photo Journal of The Wall Street Journal

Photo Journal‘s style is a bit like The Big Picture, each photo with short summary, but not as good as The Big Picture. It posts daily photos and weekly photos of New York, well of course, since the famous Wall Street is in New York. Occasionally, when major breaking news happens, it publishes additional posts and some follow-ups. Rarely—like once a week, it has some bizarre or interesting photos like Giant Squid Captured on Film.

It started in August, 2008. For me, it’s light reading, not like some others with an article of hundreds of words or even more. Nonetheless, the story—sometimes as photo summary, sometimes as pieces of story—in between photos are well-written, clearly describing the photo or bridging between the photos.

5   PhotoBlog of NBC News

PhotoBlog is a very active source since November 2006, 82.6 posts a week according to Google Reader. But don’t let the number scare you if you want to skip it, it’s fairly a very light and quick reading place. Usually, it’s just one photo and a paragraph—around 50 words—from NBC News report with the link to the report. It only takes about a minute to read for most of its posts.

It doesn’t do daily, weekly, or monthly review. Just one post per news like That’s a powerful tree, basically. However, there are still some with longer length in story and multiple photos in one post like Back from Afghanistan, soldier finds comfort in daily chores of family life and Puppy training: Future service dogs head to maximum-security prison. It may also use news footage, therefore it’s not all photos but motion picture in a way of speaking.

PhotoBlog has a sister blog called Cosmic Log, you may be interested if you are obsessed with night sky or the last frontier.