The Best WIRED Photo Stories of 2018
Kai Loeffelbein01[The Hellish E-Waste Graveyards Where Computers Are Mined for Metal](https://www.wired.com/story/international-electronic-waste-photographs/). Ever wonder where your old batteries, phones, and light-up toys wind up? The answer is dumps like this one in Ghana, China, and India. Kai Löffelbein took us there in his eye-opening book *CTRL-X: A Topography of E-Waste.*
Park Jongwoo02[A Rare Look Inside the Korean DMZ, the 'Scariest Place on Earth'](https://www.wired.com/story/inside-the-korean-dmz/). The 155-mile Korean Demilitarized Zone contains one of the largest concentrations of soldiers and artillery in the world. Park Jongwoo received rare permission to photograph inside the zone—accompanied, of course, by a squadron of soldiers.
Laurence Stephens03[Hilarious Images of Bored Tourists From Around the World](https://www.wired.com/story/bored-tourists-photo-gallery/). Each summer, travelers descend on Europe to see the same churches, museums, and landmarks as everyone else. Laurence Stephens is often right there with them, photographing them as they photograph everything else. His images appeared in a fun [new book](https://www.hoxtonminipress.com/products/bored-tourists) this year.
Tadashi Ono04[Ominous Views of Japan's New Concrete Seawalls](https://www.wired.com/story/photo-gallery-japan-seawalls/). Gray walls now line the coast of northeast Japan, where entire villages were destroyed by the 2011 tsunami. Tadashi Ono documented these imposing structures, which shut out any view of the sea.
Jorge Taboada05[Aerial Views of Mexico's Dystopian Housing Developments](https://www.wired.com/story/mexico-housing-developments/). The US's southern neighbor has spent more than $100 billion on sprawling housing developments. Photographer Jorge Taboada calls them "sinister paradises," and his mesmerizing aerial photographs reveal why.
Rachael Talibart06[You've Never Seen Waves Like This Before](https://www.wired.com/story/wave-photography/). Rachel Talibart's incredible photographs freeze waves in action, letting you appreciate every ripple and splash.
Arnau Rovira Vidal07[Want to Take Stunning Photographs? Turn Your Camera Upside Down](https://www.wired.com/story/upside-down-double-exposures/). You can't tell where one building starts or ends in Arnau Rovira Vidal's mesmerizing series Reform. Taken with a Lomo camera, they combine two exposures to form one trippy shot.
Nick Ballon08[Bolivia Is Landlocked. Don't Tell That to Its Navy](https://www.wired.com/story/bolivian-navy/). Bolivia lost its coastline to Chile more than 100 years ago, but its sailors continue to navigate water wherever they can. Nick Ballon's wonderful series captures their resolve.
Louis de Belle09[The Secret Tools Magicians Use to Fool You](https://www.wired.com/story/magician-secret-tools-photo-gallery/). Fake thumbs. Silicone eggs. Funkenrings. Louis de Belle exposed these gimmicks for what they are in his clever new book *Disappearing Objects*.
Jim Lo Scalzo10[Inside the US Military's Secret Doomsday Defense](https://www.wired.com/story/us-doomsday-defense-photos/). Jim Lo Scalzo documented the secret bunkers, missile silos, and other Cold War-era infrastructure scattered around the US. It'll make you look twice at that old "water tower."
Simone Tramonte11[Intimate Glimpses of Ordinary Life in Iran](https://www.wired.com/story/photo-gallery-everyday-life-iran/). Teenagers skateboarding, couples taking selfies, kids riding in shopping carts—these vignettes of the day-to-day in Iran by Simone Tramonte are beautiful and refreshing.
Terri Loewenthal12[Can You Spot the Hidden Images in These Psychedelic Landscapes?](https://www.wired.com/story/psychscapes-photo-gallery/). Terri Loewenthal photographed rugged landscapes with colored filters and reflective optics to produce these trippy scenes.
Simon Roberts13[Why We All Take the Same Travel Photos](https://www.wired.com/story/why-all-travel-photos-are-the-same/). Geotagging has made it clear just how redundant all our snaps of the Golden Gate Bridge, Buckingham Palace, and the Taj Mahal are. But we still take them. This essay explored why.
Francois Prost14[Side-By-Side Photos of Paris and Its Chinese Knockoff](https://www.wired.com/story/paris-of-china-photo-gallery/). Residents of the Chinese city of Tianducheng don’t have to board a plane to visit the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, or the gardens of Versailles. But Francois Prost, a photographer who actually lives in Paris, did for his fascinating series *Paris Syndrome*.
