Our top global photo stories from 2025: Fearless women, solo polar bear, healing soups

Marc Silver | December 27, 2025

In a world where video reigns supreme (hello TikTok and Instagram reels!), the still photograph still wields a special power. It freezes a moment in time and lets people take in that big picture but also gives them a chance to appreciate tiny details that might not be noticed at first.

For Goats and Soda, photography is an important part of our coverage of the daily life, of the joys and strife, of the Global South. Here are our top photo-driven stories of 2025.

Polar bear, Dalian Forest Zoo, China. As this zoo, the polar bear is confined to space far smaller than its range in the wild, which can reach 31,000 square miles.
Polar bear, Dalian Forest Zoo, China. As this zoo, the polar bear is confined to space far smaller than its range in the wild, which can reach 31,000 square miles. (Zed Nelson/Institute | INSTITUTE)

Mother Nature must be really annoyed at our fakery
A polar bear in a zoo, a hotel balcony overlooking elephants, a tree mural shrouded by haze: They’re images from the new book The Anthropocene Illusion, about the way humans are remaking Earth.

The photo exhibit Sahy Rano, on display at the Photoville Festival in Brooklyn, New York, this summer, draws its title from a Malagasay phrase translated in a wall label as 'someone who is not afraid to dive into the water, even if there is a strong current.' The photographer wants to bring attention to female genital schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease caused by a waterborne parasitic infection, whose symptoms can be stigmatizing because they resemble symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases. From left to right: former patients Rahama Abdallah, Sylvia Razanaparana and Suzanie Yolandrie. They were photographed in September 2024 in the district of Ambanja in Northern Madagascar.
The photo exhibit Sahy Rano, on display at the Photoville Festival in Brooklyn, New York, this summer, draws its title from a Malagasay phrase translated in a wall label as “someone who is not afraid to dive into the water, even if there is a strong current.” The photographer wants to bring attention to female genital schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease caused by a waterborne parasitic infection, whose symptoms can be stigmatizing because they resemble symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases. From left to right: former patients Rahama Abdallah, Sylvia Razanaparana and Suzanie Yolandrie. They were photographed in September 2024 in the district of Ambanja in Northern Madagascar. (Miora Rajaonary/The End Fund)

Why it took courage for these women to pose for the camera
Wearing traditional cosmetic face masks from their homeland of Madagascar, they agreed to be photographed to take a stand. They posed for photographer Miora Rajaonary for a project to raise awareness of female genital schistosomiasis (FGS), a disease transmitted by parasitic worms that, according to the World Health Organization, afflicts an estimated 56 million women and girls, mainly in Africa — and that is often mistaken for a sexually-transmitted disease.

Artisanal coal miner Emmanuel Siyabonga hauls a sack of coal to a client's car at the abandoned Golfview coal mine in Ermelo, South Africa. The work is grueling and hazardous but is one of the few viable means of making a living in a town with widespread poverty and high rates of unemployment.
Artisanal coal miner Emmanuel Siyabonga hauls a sack of coal to a client’s car at the abandoned Golfview coal mine in Ermelo, South Africa. The work is grueling and hazardous but is one of the few viable means of making a living in a town with widespread poverty and high rates of unemployment. (Tommy Trenchard for NPR)

The perilous lives of men who salvage coal from abandoned mines
It’s a grueling and risky life for these miners, known as zama zamas, an isiZulu phrase translating loosely as “those who take a chance.” Says one: “Bit by bit it’s killing something inside me.”

Angela Farre Palacin, 87, adds thyme to boiling water for sopa de farigola, a traditional soup in Catalonia, Spain. This blend of thyme, day-old bread, eggs and olive oil is considered a remedy for all sorts of ailments. And we've got the recipe.
Angela Farre Palacin, 87, adds thyme to boiling water for sopa de farigola, a traditional soup in Catalonia, Spain. This blend of thyme, day-old bread, eggs and olive oil is considered a remedy for all sorts of ailments. And we’ve got the recipe. (Matilde Gattoni for NPR)

Thyme for some healing soup recipes from around the world
Every culture has its own special soup. The belief is that a bowl will make you feel better if you’re feeling under the weather, hung over or just in need of a pick-me-up.

On April 3, Ben de la Cruz of NPR photographed Catherine Mwaloe of Zambia for a story on the impact of U.S. aid cuts. The 16-year-old, who contracted HIV from her mother at birth, said she had only one month's supply of the medicine that keeps the virus at bay — a result of a shutdown of the clinic, funded by U.S. aid, that had provided free medication. After NPR's story published, the Zambian government investigated and set up a new system that enables Mwaloe and others to obtain the drugs they need. But the teenager still worries about getting enough food, previously provided through a U.S. program.
On April 3, Ben de la Cruz of NPR photographed Catherine Mwaloe of Zambia for a story on the impact of U.S. aid cuts. The 16-year-old, who contracted HIV from her mother at birth, said she had only one month’s supply of the medicine that keeps the virus at bay — a result of a shutdown of the clinic, funded by U.S. aid, that had provided free medication. After NPR’s story published, the Zambian government investigated and set up a new system that enables Mwaloe and others to obtain the drugs they need. But the teenager still worries about getting enough food, previously provided through a U.S. program. (Ben de la Cruz/NPR)

Portraits: A 10-year-old, a house painter and a mom who are running out of HIV pills
HIV medications were supposed to be exempt from U.S. aid cuts. In Zambia, for example, those on the ground say otherwise.

Children gather inside a traditional tent, known as an ortz, in the Siberian taiga of northern Mongolia, watching a documentary about a Norwegian reindeer herder who was visiting to learn about the lifestyle of the region's nomadic Dukha reindeer herders. Despite the community's remote location deep in the forest — accessible only by horseback or reindeer — families stay connected with the outside world with solar panels, car batteries and the occasional wi-fi connection.
Children gather inside a traditional tent, known as an ortz, in the Siberian taiga of northern Mongolia, watching a documentary about a Norwegian reindeer herder who was visiting to learn about the lifestyle of the region’s nomadic Dukha reindeer herders. Despite the community’s remote location deep in the forest — accessible only by horseback or reindeer — families stay connected with the outside world with solar panels, car batteries and the occasional wi-fi connection. (Claire Thomas)

Prize-winning pictures: Images from this photo contest show tech changing the world
The website Rest of World got entries from 45 countries for a photo contest focusing on technology. Here are their top picks — from facial scans for migrants to kids in a Mongolian tent transfixed by a film.

Soon-ja Hong, 69, is one of the female divers of Jeju Island, South Korea. The women are known as the Haenyeo — 'women of the sea.' Starting in the 17th century, the island's women took over the breadwinning task of deep-diving to the ocean floor. There they gather mollusks, conch, seaweed and other seafood, poviding food and income for their families and their communities. The custom was to start training from an early age. In today's industrialized agricultural world, though, the number of Haenyeo has steadily declined from tens of thousands to just a few thousand, and most of those who remain are in their 60s or older.
Soon-ja Hong, 69, is one of the female divers of Jeju Island, South Korea. The women are known as the Haenyeo — “women of the sea.” Starting in the 17th century, the island’s women took over the breadwinning task of deep-diving to the ocean floor. There they gather mollusks, conch, seaweed and other seafood, poviding food and income for their families and their communities. The custom was to start training from an early age. In today’s industrialized agricultural world, though, the number of Haenyeo has steadily declined from tens of thousands to just a few thousand, and most of those who remain are in their 60s or older. (© Alain Schroeder/© Alain Schroeder)

Portraits of women who ‘shine a light’: from an ‘analog’ astronaut to a watermelon farmer
The Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky, has a new photo exhibit in honor of International Women’s Day: “Iconic Women: From Everyday Life to Global Heroes.”

Awinash Kulkarni, 56, became a paraplegic at the age of 21, when he fell 50 feet from the wall of the Bhushi Dam in Lonavala. In this photo from his work, he shows a young person entertaining folks with a high-wire act. Kulkarni says he fears for the safety of this young daredevil.
Awinash Kulkarni, 56, became a paraplegic at the age of 21, when he fell 50 feet from the wall of the Bhushi Dam in Lonavala. In this photo from his work, he shows a young person entertaining folks with a high-wire act. Kulkarni says he fears for the safety of this young daredevil. (Awinash Kulkarni)

Here are 8 photography winners with disabilities who show the world their perspective
A little boy balancing precariously on a rope, a colorful bird perched on a tree, and fishermen at twilight all have one thing in common: They caught the attention of a photographer with a disability.

 

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