The Top 10 Orion Covers Since 2013

I N AUGUST 2020, we asked you, our readers, one simple question: what were your favorite Orion covers since 2013? Over 1,200 readers responded, voting on a scale from one to six. Here, in descending order, are the top ten best covers of the past seven years, as decided by you, our Orion family. Thank you for all those who participated! 

 

#10: Little Egrets | Lake Victoria, Usenge, Kenya
Photograph by Ian MacLellan | March/April 2013

 

#9: Spectacled spiderhunter (Arachnothera flavigester) | Borneo
Photograph by Bjorn Olesen | Spring 2018

“We had spent the whole morning,” says the photographer, “trying to capture some photos of this species. Just before packing up, we heard a ‘chi-chit’ call from a shady collection of fern and pine trees. We went over to investigate, and there we saw a newly fledged spectacled spiderhunter trying to attract the attention of its parents above.”
— A Visual Celebration of Borneo’s Wildlife, by Fanny Lai and Bjorn Olesen

 

#8: Twin Oaks, 1979 | Northwestern Connecticut
Photograph by Tom Zetterstrom | January/February 2016

“The sentinel white oaks on this parcel of land in northwestern Connecticut were preserved by generations of farmers, who valued their function as pasture trees providing shelter from sun. In the 1990s, the land was acquired by a developer, but then rescued by local land trusts.”

 

#7: Dandelion, 2018. 14k gold on paper, 11 x 14 inches | Western Massachusetts
Illustration by Margot Glass | Summer 2019

“I have always appreciated ornamental plants, the beauty of planned gardens and parks. But I just find my eye always goes to the plants popping up on the margins, in between things. I appreciate the ‘accidental beauty’ of what’s growing in the places where no one tinkers. We live in a place where we have altered our landscape in large and small ways, and I want to highlight the beauty of the more modest plants underfoot.”
— Margot Glass, in “Behind the Cover,” Summer 2019.

 

#6: Green Turtle and Remoras
Getty/Barcroft Media | November/December 2016


 

#5: Muskox, 2014 | Dovrefjell National Park, Norway
Photograph by Matthew Polvorosa Kline | November/December 2015


 

#4: Tropea Luna
Photograph by Jo Whaley | May/June 2017 (Available as Poster)


 

#3: Red Fox, 2010 | The Netherlands
Photograph by Roeselien Raimond | November/December 2014


 

#2: Cloud of Tadpoles, 2012 | Cedar Lake, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Photograph by Eiko Jones | July/August 2013

 

#1: Fiddlehead Mantis | Borneo
Photograph by Eco Suparman | May/June 2013

 

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Comments

  1. Besutiful and inspiring work! I am happy to see several of my favorites made the final ten.

  2. They are so gorgeous..
    They are EARTH in her natural beauty.
    Thank you for giving me the chance to enjoy these scenes.

  3. This was such a glorious way to celebrate Orion artists. The cover art is always something I look forward to receiving in the mail and having it sit on couches, tables, counters, beds and generally everywhere I call home so that I keep my belief in the human spirit of art in perception alive and well as a harbinger of hope. Thank you for giving us this playful opportunity to act together and express our pleasures.

  4. Thank you for lifting my heart in these dismal days. I wish I could wallpaper my office with Orion photos. I bet you could sell prints every month if you wanted to make a little side money. I wish I had a lot of money to give you.

  5. Isn’t this interesting that they all relate to wildlife! I admit, some of my favorites aren’t here, as I also chose some with introduced artistry. I hope these choices do in some way translate to support for wild lands and habitat.

  6. Fabulous images. If you made these top ten available as posters as you did with the Luna moth cover a few years ago, it might prove a good fundraiser for Orion. I know I’d purchase three more to go with the one I already framed.

  7. Thank you for the inspiration the covers have given.
    Their beauty online reminds me that I want the hard copies in my home on my tables, desks and on the coffee tables again.

  8. Thank you kindly for being courageous stewards of photography in the most global sense! Your publication is truly an inspiration for my own self on any given day. I covet opportunities to share your work with others, when they are open, and often find inspiration in your uplifting, and most honest messaging. Walking past the print editions that hold space in my humble home, I feel often connected to those far afield from where I sit.

  9. Beauty surely does lift the spirits and is transformative. The wonderful writing and authors we can trust are treasured by me.

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