Singletrack reader Awards 2015: Best Published Image

Alfred Stieglitz said, “In photography there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality.”

And we’re looking for photos so stunning that they capture the essence – the hyperreality, almost – of what mountain biking means to us. The shots that make us want to take up our bikes, and ride and ride and ride – or the shot that you want you show to friends who *don’t* ride, and say: “This. This is why.”

The finalists this year are…

Singletrack Issue 96 Contents Page: Iceland by Harookz
Singletrack Issue 98 Contents Page: Loam by Sam Needham
Singletrack Issue 95 Cover Shot: Jerome Clementz by Jeremie Reuiller

With pics like this, there’s no point in descriptions (they’re all stunning) – so here they are in all their glory. Clicky to embiggen:

Iceland by Harookz

Loam by Sam Needham

Jerome Clementz by Jeremie Reuiller

Click here to cast your vote

Barney Marsh

Barney Marsh takes the word ‘career’ literally, veering wildly across the road of his life, as thoroughly in control as a goldfish on the dashboard of a motorhome. He’s been, with varying degrees of success, a scientist, teacher, shop assistant, binman and, for one memorable day, a hospital laundry worker. These days, he’s a dad, husband, guitarist, and writer, also with varying degrees of success. He sometimes takes photographs. Some of them are acceptable. Occasionally he rides bikes to cast the rest of his life into sharp relief. Or just to ride through puddles. Sometimes he writes about them. Bikes, not puddles. He is a writer of rongs, a stealer of souls and a polisher of turds. He isn’t nearly as clever or as funny as he thinks he is.