Buzz
2020 was a long, very long year, and we felt it was even longer with the shadows stretching across it. These shadows reached their peak, casting a visible pall over the world through many photos: The light & darkness of a makeshift morgue. Of a city street obscured by tear gas. In the twilight with smoke wandering from a forest fire, natural disasters... that humans panicked to confront throughout the year.
The news photos taken in 2020 - featured here in the list of 100 selected photos, not ranked, done annually by TIME - almost don't need timestamps, their appearance is so distinctive. It's a year with the color palette of the Arctic winter, the recurring transformation of darkness, the first time stalled by waves of social distancing making life estranged, then the realization that when it all ends, it will never be able to return to what was the past.
Considering, in the years to come, no one looking back at these images will have to question the timing of their arrival to scenes of a corpse and those in disaster on the streets, or the moment that photo was taken. Or the summer with two groups of men - one in police uniform - restraining the limbs of a young Black protester, surrounded by masked individuals. Exceptions might be the hellish scenes created by wildfires, especially the heartbreaking animal scenes, heard in Australia. Unless, 2020 is remembered, above all else, as the year the climate change frenzy - previously slow-moving - officially erupted.
Warning: Some of the following images are graphic in nature and may be disturbing to some viewers. Please check out part 1 with 50 photos:
Protester Ismail Bronson raises his fist in a peaceful demonstration at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on June 2, eight days after the killing of George Floyd.
André Chung
A volunteer firefighter - seen here dousing a wounded koala during the bushfires on Kangaroo Island, South Australia, on January 16. It was swiftly transported to a nearby shelter, along with hundreds of other animals in need of special care.
Adam Ferguson for TIME
A protester, wearing a shirt with the words 'Please Stop Violence', is pulled towards the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on May 29, four days after the killing of George Floyd.
Malike Sidibe for TIME
The night sky glows red from the Holser Fire in Piru, California, on August 17, as a helicopter drops water to contain the spread of the flames.
Robert Gauthier—Los Angeles Times/Shutterstock
The scene of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch, as seen from the UCF Knights stadium in Orlando on November 15.
Conor Kvatek—Collegiate Images/Getty Images
Following a massive explosion at the port in Beirut on August 4, Mustafa, Hoda Kinno's uncle, rushed to evacuate her. The Kinno family, hailing from Aleppo, Syria, was devastated by the blast. Hoda suffered a broken neck and other injuries, according to the Associated Press, and her 15-year-old sister, Sedra, tragically lost her life.
Hassan Ammar—AP
Doctor Joseph Varon comforting a patient in the COVID-19 intensive care unit during Thanksgiving at the United Memorial Medical Center in Houston on November 26.
Go Nakamura—Getty Images
President Trump and Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett, right, pictured in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on September 26, prior to the announcement in the Rose Garden. On October 2, Trump revealed that both he and First Lady Melania Trump, also present, had tested positive for the Coronavirus.
Doug Mills—The New York Times/Redux
Aerial view of five luxury cruise ships being dismantled for scrap metal at the ship recycling port of Aliaga in Izmir, Turkey, on October 2. As the global pandemic slowed the multibillion-dollar tourism industry and public confidence in post-pandemic vacations waned, some operators were forced to cut losses and retire ships earlier than planned. However, the crisis has led to an influx of vessels docking at this port.
Chris McGrath—Getty Images
The aftermath of a fire is seen at a Dollar Tree store in Minneapolis on May 28, following nights of protests and unrest in response to the police killing of George Floyd three days earlier.
Brooklynn Kascel—Polaris
On May 31, a protester in New York spray-paints a poster depicting Derek Chauvin's knee on George Floyd's neck. “Out of nowhere, this guy pulls out a purple spray can and starts writing on it,” the photographer recalls. “The women in the image are walking by and stop to look at it. They’re looking at it, like, 'Is this meant to attack us or to silence us?' ”
Malike Sidibe for TIME
A memorial erected at the George Floyd Memorial site in Minneapolis captured during a storm on August 14.
Brandon Bell
An aerial scene from a drone shows workers removing a statue of Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart from Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va., on July 7.
Jim Lo Scalzo—EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Three-year-old Merlin Coles watches horse racing at Royal Ascot from his home in Bere Regis, England, on June 17. He sits atop his own horse, Mr. Glitter Sparkles, with his dog, Mistress, as the races continue behind closed doors.
Paul Childs—Reuters
A healthcare worker checks the temperature and oxygen saturation of a woman in the Dhole Patil slum in Pune, India, on 10/8.
Atul Loke for TIME
The Atlantic Ocean floods a rental home on the beach in Avon, N.C., on September 22. Hurricane Teddy churns off the coast, causing higher-than-normal tides and tidal surges inundating low-lying homes and rental areas.
Daniel Pullen
A COVID-19 patient is anesthetized by a doctor at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, N.J., getting ready for intubation on March 31. This plastic tent helps prevent the virus from spreading while transporting patients between isolation rooms.
Danny Kim for TIME
Reina Mae Nasino, an activist detained, handcuffed, and wearing protective gear to prevent the spread of coronavirus, touches the coffin of her three-month-old daughter, River, during the funeral rites protected by armed escorts at the North Manila Cemetery on October 16. Last year, the 23-year-old was among three activists arrested at the office of a Philippines leftist group, AP reported, and was charged with illegal possession of explosives and firearms; their lawyers allege the weapons were planted by the police, a claim they deny. AP further notes, a court allowed Nasino three hours to attend the burial of her infant daughter who died of acute gastroenteritis, but critics criticized her treatment.
Aaron Favila—AP
Pro-democracy activists greet with three fingers in a protest at the Kaset Intersection, near Bangkok, on October 19. The protests have escalated demanding the resignation of the prime minister.
Sakchai Lalit—AP
An eerie emptiness blankets the area around the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque of Mecca, the holiest site in Islam, on March 6, as worshippers at Friday prayers are affected by COVID-19 protective measures.
Bandar al-Dandani—AFP/Getty Images
Attendees await President Trump's arrival at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla., on June 20. This marked Trump's first campaign rally in months since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S.
Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos for TIME
In Minneapolis on June 5, mourners embrace before a makeshift memorial at a temporary monument to honor those killed by police.
Joshua Rashaad McFadden—The New York Times/Redux
The Los Angeles Lakers pay tribute to Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi, two of the nine people killed in a helicopter crash, by illuminating two empty seats next to the court at the Staples Center on January 31.
Harry How—Getty Images
During the commemoration on June 16 in Tulsa's Greenwood district, where one of the worst episodes of racial violence in U.S. history occurred, Deshon and Omarion wear T-shirts depicting their grandmother Leslie Randle - who survived the 1921 massacre, when hundreds of Black people had homes and businesses in the area burned down and over 300 Black people were killed. Deshon said: “She told us the bodies were [Oklahoma State University] carried away and piled up on a hill.” Every time we hear those stories, it makes us uncomfortable. But she made us listen.”
Ruddy Roye for TIME
At a mosque in Tehran, on January 5, Iranian women mourn the death of Qasem Soleimani.
Newsha Tavakolian captures moments for TIME with her lens at the indoor swimming pool turned dining area in Moscow's Hospital No. 15.
An indoor drainage pool has been transformed into a dining area at Moscow's Hospital No. 15.
Nanna Heitmann's lens from Magnum Photos offers a glimpse into Moscow's Hospital No. 15.
Women fleeing conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region pray during Sunday Mass at a church near the Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, on November 29.
Nariman El-Mofty captures the scene for AP.
Colorful portraits in mourning at the printing press of L'Eco diBergamo in Erbusco in April; the newspaper devotes more pages to meet the demand for mourning notices corresponding to the COVID-19 death toll.
Lorenzo Meloni captures the scene for TIME.
A COVID-19 patient uses a ball for lung function exercises while recovering at a makeshift hospital in Mexico City on June 30.
Meghan Dhaliwal provides the imagery for The New York Times/Redux.
A patient's body, wrapped in a yellow infectious waste bag and paper, lies on a hospital bed awaiting entry into a hospital in Indonesia. The procedure, taking about an hour, is aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
Joshua Irwandi captures the moment.
An empty pathway at St. Mark's Square in Venice in March, as Italy became the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe.
Lorenzo Meloni's snapshot for TIME.
Officials in protective gear near an elderly man who collapsed and died near a hospital in Wuhan, China, on January 30.
Hector Retamal captures the scene.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron stand apart following social distancing guidelines while posing for a photo at 10 Downing Street in London on June 18.
Simon Dawson captures the moment for Bloomberg/Getty Images.
During a Black Lives Matter protest in London on June 13, protester Patrick Hutchinson carried an injured protester from the opposing side to safety near Waterloo Station.
Dylan Martinez captures the moment for Reuters.
Protesters embrace and console each other upon hearing the verdict from the grand jury, which found one of the three officers involved in Breonna Taylor's killing in March inside her apartment at 'unusual risk,' in Louisville, Ky, on September 23.
Brandon Bell snaps the scene for Getty Images.
Darlene Martinez from Maricopa County Council escorts a family out of their apartment after enforcing an eviction order for non-payment in Phoenix, Ariz., on September 30. Despite CDC's eviction moratorium, thousands of court-ordered evictions continue nationwide affecting pandemic-stricken renters.
Captured by John Moore for Getty Images.
People sleep in a parking lot in Las Vegas on March 30 after a temporary overnight shelter closed due to COVID-19.
Captured by Tod Seelie for The Guardian.
Two children walk past members of the Taliban Red Unit, an elite force, in Alingar district, Laghman province, Afghanistan, on March 13.
Photographed by Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times/Redux.
Transitioning equipment into the auditorium between shifts has reduced PPE usage from 20 or 30 per shift to just five or six, as mentioned by the photographer, at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, NJ. (A portion of this image has been blurred to protect the patient's identity.)
Captured by Danny Kim for TIME.
A healthcare worker checks the oxygen level of an elderly woman after receiving a call about a suspected COVID-19 case in the province of Bergamo, northern Italy.
Lorenzo Meloni—Magnum Photos for TIME
Government funeral organizers are seen covering the body of Arlen Laranjeira Bezerra, 39, near the Delphina Rinaldi Abdel Aziz Hospital in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, on May 5. Bezerra was hospitalized for COVID-19 treatment. After escaping from the hospital in the early morning, his body was found by family members about 200 meters away.
Edmar Barros—AP
Talona Hogan, a close friend of the family, receives a warm embrace as she faces the death of Calvin Munerlyn during his visitation in Flint, Mich., on May 8. Munerlyn, 43, was fatally shot at a Family Dollar store following a verbal altercation with a woman after telling her daughter she needed to wear a mask while inside.
Captured by Jake May for The Flint Journal/MLive.com/AP.
A man embraces a child while passing by a man wielding a pitchfork, gun, and tiki torch outside the Maricopa County election office in Phoenix, Ariz., on November 5.
Captured by Sinna Nasseri for TIME.
President Trump stages a dramatic comeback to the White House on October 5 after a day hospitalized with COVID-19.
Captured by Anna Moneymaker for The New York Times/Redux.
Kyle Edwards, 39, gathers lanterns from inside a makeshift morgue outside Wyckoff Heights Medical Center on April 22. Working long hours from 7 am to 10 pm, sometimes involved in moving COVID-19 victims' bodies to the morgue, he perseveres through the toughest times of the pandemic. Despite contracting the virus like many in his team, his family urges him to rest until it subsides. However, Edwards persists, even training his 5-year-old son not to hug him immediately upon returning home, teaching him about the importance of staying virus-free: “Dad has to clean off the coronavirus before hugging you,” the boy tells others.
Captured by Meridith Kohut for TIME.
Marsha Williams, left, a patient care coordinator at Wyckoff's women's health center, wipes away tears and holds hands with colleague Erica Davis at the funeral of union delegate Jacqueline Venner. (Due to social distancing restrictions, attendance is limited to 10 people.) Williams, whom Venner helped steer in her career, reveres her as “a big sister figure.”
Captured by Meridith Kohut for TIME.
A protester wipes tears off the face of a fellow marcher as they rally against police brutality in Minneapolis on May 29.
Photographed by Victor J. Blue—The New York Times/Redux.
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris are greeted by their spouses, Jill Biden and Douglas Emhoff, right after Biden accepts his party's presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Wilmington, Del., on August 20.
Captured by Erin Schaff—The New York Times/Redux.
Jeremiah Harrell, age 5, gazes up at the flag-draped casket of Representative John Lewis (D-Ga.) outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on July 28.
Captured by Michael A. McCoy—The New York Times/Redux.
Jacquelyn Booth lies on the ground outside the Supreme Court on September 26, mourning the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, while conservative women supporting the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ginsburg pray at the doorstep. A month later, Barrett was confirmed by the Senate in a vote of 52-48.
Captured by Erin Schaff—The New York Times/Redux.
Original link: https://time.com/5921202/top-100-photos-2020/
TIME's Top 100 Photos of 2020
