Fisherman Omerserik Ibragimov heads out to put his nets in the water of the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan on Aug. 7. Click here for the full story. (Claire Harbage | NPR)
The events of 2024 unfolded around the world with experiences of resilience, celebration and grief. There has been devastation with the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, and the continued escalation of climate change.
Whether on the front lines of these pivotal stories or on the scene of quieter but no less momentous events, photographers have been there to bear witness. They shed light on the events that shaped the past year, often at personal risk.
Here is a selection of photography made and commissioned by NPR from 2024.
Camilo Garcia peeks through a curtain of his house on the morning of March 9, in the town of Juntas, Buenaventura, Colombia. The community gathers during Holy Week to celebrate the Manacillos festival, an ancestral ritual originating in the upper part of the Yurumangui River. Click here for the full story. (Nathalia Angarita for NPR)The crowd cheers at the Democratic Progressive Party’s Rally on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei, Taiwan, on Jan. 11. Click here for the full story. (An Rong Xu for NPR)Rachel Mukantabana talks about the legacy of the Rwandan genocide she survived, 30 years later, on April 8. Click here for the full story. (Jacques Nkinzingabo for NPR)Noor Assi, 15, sits on his bed while watched by his 5-year-old sister Jenna in the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan, Israeli-occupied West Bank, on Feb. 23. Click here for the full story. (Ayman Oghanna for NPR)Relatives of Amal Hassan al-Durr, a 5-year-old girl, lay her body to rest at the cemetery in Majdal Zoun, southern Lebanon, on Feb. 22. She lost her life during an Israeli attack. Click here for the full story. (Diego Ibarra Sánchez for NPR)Aviva Siegel, who was held hostage in Gaza for 51 days after the Hamas-led attack on Israel of Oct. 7, 2023, places a flower behind her eight-year-old granddaughter Yali Tiv’s ear as they go for a walk near Kibbutz Gazit on March 26. Click here for a full story. (Tamir Kalifa for NPR)Israelis shelter along a highway during a missile barrage from Iran on Oct. 1. Click here for the full story. (Maya Levin for NPR)Search-and-rescue teams carry a body recovered from the rubble at the site of an Israeli strike on a central Beirut neighborhood in Lebanon on Nov. 23. Click here for the full story. (Ali Khara for NPR)Jordanian air force personnel inside a C-130 aircraft after airdropping pallets of aid over Gaza on Feb.29. Click here for the full story. (Moises Saman for NPR | Moises Saman for NPR)A group of Syrian children with their parents return home in the cabin of a truck, after more than eight years taking shelter in the Rukban camp for displaced people in al-Tanf, Syria, near the border with Jordan, Dec. 14. Click here for the full story. (Manu Brabo for NPR)Rafaias Villan considered leaving his home on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela, following disputed election results on Aug. 7. Click here for the full story. (Marian Carrasquero for NPR)Members of bate-bola (“ball-beaters”) crew Bem Feito, wearing clown-like costumes, go out during Carnival celebrations in Pedra de Guaratiba, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Feb. 11. Read the full story here. (María Magdalena Arréllaga for NPR)Ilia Reyes Aymani, a researcher and teacher, has written short songs in Ckunsa, a once-extinct Indigenous language, to teach colors and numbers to the local children. She stands for a portrait in San Pedro de Atacama in Antofagasta, Chile, on April 15. Click here for the full story. (Cristóbal Olivares for NPR)A teacher leads a class at a school for girls administered but the main U.N. agency for Palestinian aid, UNRWA, in Qalandia refugee camp, near Ramallah, in the West Bank, on Nov. 14. Click here for the fully story. (Afif H. Amireh for NPR)A police officer looks through damage caused by a shell at the Omdurman Maternity Hospital in Omdurman, Sudan, on Sept. 7. Click here for the full story. (Luke Dray for NPR)A Ukrainian man from the city of Pokrovsk goes to board a bus in Pavlohrad, Ukraine, to seek safety in the western part of the country or elsewhere in Europe, on Oct. 19. Click here for the full story. (Michael Robinson Chávez for NPR)An aerobics class is in session on Aug. 17 at a Ukrainian sanatorium, where the focus is not just on fitness, but also on finding moments of normalcy and joy amid challenging times. Click here for full story. (Simona Supino)Yulya Dmytrieeva and her husband Vadym, who have been together for over a decade, embrace in the snow in Sloviansk, Ukraine, where they spend a few days together while he has a break from the trenches on the front lines in February. Click here for the full story. (Claire Harbage | NPR)After rocket strikes, workers at a Ukrainian thermal power plant repair the facility to restore power as temperatures drop, Oct. 4. Click here for the full story. (Simona Supino for NPR)After a rehearsal, members of the Hutsul Theater troupe have drinks and share some meats and cheeses together on Nov. 3 in Krasnoillya, Ukraine. Click here for the full story. (Claire Harbage | NPR)
The February 2022 protests, dubbed the Freedom Convoy, were sparked by a Canadian government vaccine mandate for truck drivers crossing the U.S.-Canada border.
South Korea's Constitutional Court removed impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol from office on Friday, ending his tumultuous presidency and setting up an election to replace him.
A growing number of states are moving to ban or restrict cellphones in schools. The push has been fueled by concerns that phones are a distraction in the classroom and that screen time and social media have a negative impact on mental health.
The lawsuit is the fourth legal challenge against Trump's executive order on voting. The attorneys general argue the order is "an unconstitutional attempt to seize control of elections."
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg Thursday pushed, once again, the Justice Department to explain its use of the Alien Enemies Act and provide key details and the timeline of the flights.
