If you want to avoid the gruesome in the year’s photographic bests then it’s worth a visit to the National Geographic Photocontest 2014 site.  I am hugely taken by Grand Prize and People Winner “A Node Glows in the Dark” by Brian Yen, taken in the Hong Kong subway.  It speaks of isolation and at the same time connectedness, and certainly reflects on modern social norms.  The glow of the woman’s cell phone pictorially emphasizes her as if to cast a spotlight.  She is occupied at least in some form of social interaction. The other passengers bear the see-through-you stare of well-trained subway riders. And the ethereal blue glow creates a science fiction tone to the image.  Are we in the subway or perhaps on “The Matrix?“ Indeed, the concept of each of us being a node in a massive communication network is the central theme here.  In intimate contact, but all alone.  It is the strange ambivalence of modernity.