Photo District News announces “the innovators who made the year in photography.” Erwin Olaf and Michael Schnabel were recognized for their advertising work, Stephen Wilkes was honored for three of his editorial pieces, and Stewart Cohen’s and Joel Meyerowitz’s photo books were lauded. Pictured above is Olaf’s “Voltaren” campaign with agency Saatchi & Saatchi. The campaign illustrates that with Voltaren gel, the elderly can become flexible as flexible as a ballerina, dancer, or yoga instructor. Creative Director: Magnus Olsson. Art Directors: Alexander Lagoet, Rick Coolegem.

Photographer: Michael Schnabel
Category: Advertising
Client: O2
Agency: VCCP Berlin
Creative Team: Lars Wohlnick, Michael Milczarek

While the chairs may appear to rest on snow, they are actually sitting in a white sand desert in South Africa. The tagline for the campaign reads “Creating new paths, so that you have it easier,” showing that O2 is willing to go the extra mile for the consumer. Learn More

Photographer: Stephen Wilkes
Category: Editorial
Publication: The New York Times Magazine
Director of Photography: Kathy Ryan
Photo Editor: Clinton Cargill
Design Director: Arem Duplessis
Deputy Art Director: Gail Bichler

The dancers of Moses Pendlton’s troupe Momix grace the cover of “The Green Issue.”

Photographer: Stephen Wilkes
Category: Editorial
Publication: New York Magazine
Photography Director: Jody Quon

Wilkes took a time-lapse photo of Washington Square Park in New York City, capturing the park from day to night.

Photographer: Stephen Wilkes
Category: Editorial
Publication: Vanity Fair
Photography Director: Susan White
Assistant Photo Editor: Dana Kravis

Wilkes’ image appeared in the story about Bernard Madoff’s wife Ruth, “Ruth’s World.” Ruth appears in her Manhattan penthouse prior to her eviction by Federal Marshals.

Photographer: Joel Meyerowitz
Photo Book: Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New york City Parks
Editor: Lesley A. Martin
Forward: Phillip Lopate
Production: Matthew Pimm
Designer: Francesca Richer
Creative Director: Peter Buchanan-Smith
Publisher: Aperture Foundation

Not since the 1930s under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s WPA campaign has a photographer attempted to document the nearly 9,000 acres of parks in New York City’s five boroughs. Commissioned by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, renowned photographer Joel Meyerowitz celebrates the beauty of New York’s City’s parks in the publication of Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks.

Photographer: Stewart Cohen
Designers: Todd Hart, Zech Bard/focus2
Copywriter: Bill Baldwin
Publisher: Dream Editions Press

Stewart Cohen’s book Identity examines a series of subjects and what makes them unique as individuals. The monograph is compromised of 50 portraits, to which each person Cohen poses the question, “What makes you unique as an individual?” The hand-written answers are displayed on the facing page, giving each portrait a personal touch.

“Starburst: Color Photography in America 1970-1980″ is showing now at the Cincinnati Art Museum, featuring artists such as William Eggleston, Stephen Shore, Mitch Epstein, and Joel Meyerowitz. Starburst takes viewers on a journey through the explosion and development of color photography in America. Once considered less of an art form than black and white photography, the color photography in Starburst addresses the initial controversy surrounding color film and how pioneering artists turned it into high art. In case one can’t make it to the midwest, the work of Stephen Shore, Joel Meyerowitz, and William Egglestone will also be on view at the Edwynn Houk Gallery starting Thursday, February 25th.

Curator Kevin Moore writes, “Color photography of the 1970s happened in a starburst… an intensely destructive and creative environment.” Meyerowitz, along with Shore, Eggleston, and others, laid the groundwork for the growth and acceptance of color photography. At the Cincinatti Art Museum and the Edwyn Houk Gallery, people can see where it all began.

Interested viewers are invited to attend the following events:

Pioneers of Color:
Stephen Shore
Joel Meyerowitz
William Egglestone
Edwynn Houk Gallery
25 February – 24 April 2010

Thursday, 25 February, 6-8pm – Opening Reception and Book Launch for Starburst: Color Photography
By Kevin Moore with essays by James Crump and Leo Rubinfien

Starburst: Color Photography in America 1970 – 1980
Cincinnati Art Museum
February 13 – May 9, 2010

Read more on The Daily Beast
JM Colberg’s review of Starburst: Color Photography in America
PDN’s legends online: Joel Meyerowitz
View Joel Meyerowitz’s portfolio

Not since the 1930s under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s WPA campaign has a photographer attempted to document the nearly 9,000 acres of parks in New York City’s five boroughs. Commissioned by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, renowned photographer Joel Meyerowitz celebrates the beauty of New York’s City’s parks in the publication of Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks.

LEGACY launches October 7, 2009, 6:00 – 8:00pm
Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street
New York, NY

RSVP@mcny.org by October 5th.

More images from the book after the link.