We all take photos. Constantly. From Instagram to PhotoBooth to personal cameras, nothing is safe from our amateur snapshots. These are my friends. This is my bowl of cereal in the morning. We share the photos we love in albums on Facebook, upload them to Twitter or Flickr and send them in text messages.

But once upon a time, the Greeks coined the word that originates our present understanding of photography. That word means “drawing with light.”

This issue of The Statement is about such drawings. It's about the best photos in The Michigan Daily this year. The people who took the photos are artists whose brush strokes are lens snaps and paints are light.

Perhaps it's because of our societal obsession with documenting that we often overlook those ephemeral moments that can't be Instagrammed and sent along in a few hundred pixels. They're moments like an athlete humbled by praise, the aftermath of a natural disaster or a candlelight vigil.

To capture these moments with resonance and integrity requires the discerning eye of an artist. It's this artistry we're honored to share with you here.