Favorites, 2009 (Part 2, Scenes)

Sometimes, a single snapshot of a particular place can convey so much about that place or time. Here are some of my favorite photos from last year that seem to have done the trick.

I snapped this photo on a bus tour through San Francisco. I just loved how this mural seemed to envelop the entire building. (May 2009)

The clear-blue sky just seemed to melt into the glittering ocean near Waimea Canyon, Kauai. (July 2009)

I loved how this family in Amsterdam repurposed these clogs into decorative flower holders. (August 2009)

In Strasbourg, France, you can just walk along a street and—all of sudden— you might just find yourself at a beautiful cathedral. (August 2009)

Beit Shean, ancient Roman ruins in Israel, are lit up at night. (September 2009)

Thoughtful graffiti in Akko, Israel (September 2009)

Lanterns in Israel (September 2009)

Candles in the Old City of Jerusalem (September 2009)

Textiles in the Old City of Jerusalem: I loved how colorful they were. (September 2009)

Jaffa, an artists’ colony just outside of Tel Aviv, felt like a little microcosm unto itself. (September 2009)

An interesting building in Tel Aviv (September 2009)

The Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe at sunset (December 2009)

A guestroom decoration from The Peninsula Tokyo: The contrast between the gilded leaves and red backdrop was stunning. (December 2009)

The bamboo grove in Kyoto’s Arashiyama neighborhood. I couldn’t keep my camera still or in focus because my hands were shaking—it was so cold! (December 2009)

Same goes for this snapshot, taken as we crossed the Togetsukyo Bridge by rickshaw. (December 2009)

I took this photo as Eliot and I made our way up to the Senko-ji Temple in Kyoto. (December 2009)

Eliot and I literally stumbled onto the Rakkudo Temple after making a quick pit stop at a Starbucks in Kyoto. (December 2009)

Visiting the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima (December 2009)

It was so moving to see all these thousands of paper cranes at the site of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. The cranes became a symbol for peace in Hiroshima in honor of Sadako Sasaki, a girl who developed cancer from the bombing. She attempted to fold 1,000 cranes as she was dying from her cancer, in the belief that if she could accomplish such, she would be granted her wish. (December 2009)

It was equally heart-wrenching to walk around Imjingak, South Korea, where families have left photos and mementos of loved ones who never came back from the north. (December 2009)

On our last night in Seoul, we went up to Namsan Tower where we saw thousands of literal locks of love. (January 2010)

(All photos © Deanna Ting)