AN ICONIC MAGAZINE cover showing a spooky blackout in Manhattan in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy has been named as the best magazine cover of 2012.

New York Magazine’s imagine showed most of lower Manhattan without electricity following the flooding and high winds of the storm in late October.

Photographer Iwan Baan had taken to a helicopter for the snaps – and tried thousands of times to capture the essence of how the city was left powerless (in more ways than one) by the storm.

“I shot between 2,000 and 2,500 shots – 80 per cent of the shots are a blur, 10 per cent are maybe useable, and 1 per cent were really sharp,” he said back in November.

Such were the weather conditions in the city that Baan had to rent a helicopter from Long Island – taking an hour to get to Manhattan, offering 30 minutes for photographs, and taking an hour to return.

The lighting conditions also presented challenges: the poor light meant Baan had to shoot with a long shutter speed, which requires a very steady hand. Shooting from a helicopter, therefore, was not the easiest.

The shot has now been recognised by the American Society of Magazine Editors, which described it as a “true viral phenomenon”.

“The image became an instant icon of the event [...] In fact, a poster version was offered for sale by the Museum of Modern Art,” it said in its citation.