Editor’s note

Like any other morning, a new day starts, we spend our day at work, and return for a quiet evening. The seasons change as the days come and go, and we spend the year enjoying the seasons changing around us. Never has something as ordinary as this felt so precious to us all than this year. So much has happened around us.

A job as a photographer can not make us remain mute to what is happening in the world and to the thoughts of people. It probably is natural that the kind of works I want to continue creating have changed greatly.

At the same time, I am sure a lot of other photographers have also spent the year reflecting on what they could do as an individual. Everyone hopes to engage in creative activity that serves to influence how one hopes to see the environment and society evolve into. Whether the subject be animals or humans, there is no difference, as “photographing” them means “living with” them.

With such thoughts in mind, the flow of a single day and the flow of seasons have become central themes for this year’s “Nature Photo Annual 2012.” I was greatly comforted and encouraged by the works sent to me for the annual, from the spring blossoms and chirping birds to the bright red autumn leaves that covered the mountains.

I was also attracted more so than usual to the images of ties between parents and children, and the tranquil expression of animals. If the photographs included here managed to offer a moment of comfort to the readers, then the book has served its purpose, even if that may not have been the thoughts or through the skills of the photographers themselves.

Due to such an editorial policy, there were numerous first class works sent to me by various photographers that I had, to my strong regret, excluded from the annual. I offer my sincere apologies to the photographers who had sent me such works and ask that they continue to participate in this project in the future.

Lastly, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all the photographers who participated in this year’s project.

Hiroya Minakuchi