What your May 2022 looked like

i-D closed out 2020 with My Year in a Photo, a 12-month retrospective that brought in hundreds of incredible submissions from all over the world. We enjoyed it so much that from now on, we’ll be running it as a regular feature. At the end of each month, we’ll open our inbox to photographs from anyone and everyone — just email photography@i-d.co

Once again we received even more submissions than the month before, making the process of editing this story even harder. For anyone whose images did not make the cut, please do keep sending us your photography, as we’ve been overwhelmed by the quality of the submissions and want to keep sharing as much of it as possible.

photo of boy dressed in white against blue and white cloudy background

Dina Abd Alnaser Haider Al-Makhrami, 20, Oslo, Norway + Aden, Yemen

“Taken in Sri Lanka in small village called Dickwella, this young boy is a cricket player from an Islamic school. All the teachers work full-time with no payment to take care of kids that have lost their families, or come from low income families.”

a boy and girl seen from behind running in a parking lot at sunset

Dave Kinnaman, Stockholm, Sweden

“A night out.” @dave.kinnaman

A crowd shot at night some wearing face masks and waving flags

Elisa Aquino, 29, Manila, Philippines

“In the Philippines, a dictator’s son has been elected as president. In May, we have lived so many lifetimes. What started out as a season filled with hope is now a reality we all want to wake up from.” @elisabaquino

Three teenagers standing outside Value Village with a skateboard

Viva Egoyan-Rokeby, 18, Toronto, Canada

“The day was too lovely to stay in school.”

A superimposed image of a man at Isiokpo Masquerade festival

Olisa Tasie-Amadi Jr., 19, Rivers, Nigeria

“This image was taken after the Isiokpo Masquerade festival which serves as a community bonding experience, having all clans and groups in the village bring out their different masquerades, dancing, and enjoy recreational sports together.” @olisajr

Three girls seen from behind running up a sand dune in Melbourne

Mia Davidson, 23, Melbourne, Australia

“We are now free post-Covid, and it feels like we are ‘over the hill’ (more like over the dune lol).”

Tsuyoshi Kiritoshi, 27, Tokyo, Japan

“We’ve come so far and we still have so far to go, life is good.” @tsuyoshikiritoshi

A crowd of men shot over shoulder one with moustache one in blue checked shirt

Nastassia Isawi, 30, Palestine

“A massive crowd at the memorial for Shireen Abu Akleh in Ramallah.” @nas.around

A topless man with silver chain necklace watches TV in his living room while rolling tobacco

Rozano Johnson, 54, Panama City, Panama

“Jamaica was as litty as could be! This is Oral. From Red Ground Negril, Westmoreland Jamaica. Inside his spot. He rigged up cable and was able to watch BET and loves Black American culture. Him a roll him spliff star. It’s an art form that takes patience and good care! @shot_by_rozano

Black and white image of a brunette woman with fringe in her bedroom wearing a polka dot corset

Efron Danzig, 22, Philadelphia, USA

“I took this photo of myself in my room, the place I started my transition. I would photograph myself over time in the same location, to really see myself change/come into myself.”

A woman with short dark hair and nose ring in a floral shirt smiles at the camera on the beach at night

Louise Sinaga Helmfrid, 23, Stockholm, Sweden

“Me and my friend Marika drove out to the ocean and shot until the sun came down. This is her after a little swim in the Swedish waters.” @rohanasin

Image of a girl shot from behind in a garden holding a red lollipop

Christian Lanza, 27, California, USA

“Lollipop and watermelon in hand, a boy in the shade watches a kickball game. A day spent surrounded by love.” @christian____lanza

Image of the inside of a bus in Edinburgh, taken at night

Roxana, 20, Edinburgh, Scotland

“I was taking the bus home after hanging out with my friends one last time before everyone leaves for the summer.” @roxanamiia

A boy with red hair and nose ring sleeping on white sheets

Rosa Klijn, 20, Amsterdam, Netherlands

“My brother, sleeping through May.” @rosaklijn

A man in blue jeans and checked shirt stands outside a pharmacy in Ethiopia

Beza Denget, 21, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

“Before the morning chaos.” @bayzuh

Two teenage girls in red and yellow t-shirts shot from above lying on blue sheets

Sophie Altemus, 17, California, USA

“Minnie and Rosa, friends catching up after not seeing each other for a long time, on my other friend’s blue-sheeted bed.” @_shotbysophie

A black-and-white image of a little girl looking out the window of a vehicle

Kymbat Muktarbekova, Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan

“This Monday I came to my village to do some photographs. It started to rain so I was in a hurry, and I saw this cute girl in the car and took the shot. Even though she’s a kid, her eyes shows how mature she is.” @thekyrgyzdiary

A man in a blue top, grey track bottoms, Nike trainers and an LA baseball cap dances on asphalt

Maingaila Muvundika, 23, Lusaka, Zambia

“Band member dancing at art exhibition.” @theoddfray

A girl in a white t-shirt with heart necklace leans against a car window

Alexandra Blum, 19, California, USA

“Gas station vignette.” @shotbyalexandra

A man in a suit shot from behind in an art gallery as he looks at a photograph

Youngik Youn, 24, Seoul, South Korea

“May 5th is Korean children’s day. I saw a child in his excited eyes in front of the artwork.” @youngikyoun

A girl in a black Lacoste v-neck shirt with her red hair covering her face

Wiktoria Najgebauer, 17, Warsaw, Poland

“First breath of summer.” @wiktoria_najgebauer

A portrait of a woman with long dark hair in a black t-shirt on grey background

Kaja Sigvalda, 29, Reykjavík, Iceland

“I had a beautiful and inspiring session with the musician Sandrayati in my studio. We had almost finished our session when I saw how beautiful the window light and the hair fell on her face. I snapped the photo on my grandpa’s old 35mm Pentax.” @kajasigvalda

An overexposed image of a boy with long red hair with trees and blue sky in the background

Nicole Brandstaetter, 20, Vienna, Austria

“This is a guy I started dating recently. The night before we locked ourselves out of my apartment and we had to break the window to climb inside. This experience made us closer.” @nicolebrandstaetter

Image of two boys on the grass in blue jeans and shirtless, with the bottom half of a woman's body in the foreground

Nadine Zhan, 19, New York, USA

“Jamie and Declan prepare their chests for a birthday surprise.” @nadinezhan

warsaw train station 4 am paint in bw film.jpg

Diego Cadavid, Warsaw, Poland

“I travelled with Ukrainian refugees from the border on the Polish side to Berlin with my Pentax 67 film camera.” @cadavidmora

Credits

All images courtesy the artist