How to choose just one picture from thousands
Jaime Rojo has been visiting the mountains of central Mexico for nearly two decades, and recently captured these majestic images of monarch butterfly-blanketed fir trees.
When photo editor Anne Farrar considers images for publication, she says, “I’m looking for special. I’m looking for unique.” Farrar found that quality in spring 2023 when Jaime Rojo submitted tens of thousands of recent images of monarch butterflies.
For almost 20 years, Rojo has been visiting the forested mountains in central Mexico where North America’s eastern populations of the migratory insect spend winters. The photographer is “immensely knowledgeable about this location and the butterflies themselves,” Farrar says, and that familiarity helps his pictures outshine those of tourists allowed a few minutes at the site. After reviewing every one of Rojo’s images and consulting with him, Farrar arrived at about 20 final images for a story in next month’s issue and the selection below for the 2023 Pictures of the Year feature.
