Omerserik Ibragimov heads out to put his nets in the water for fish on the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan.
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.
Copyright 2025 NPR
Nathalia Angarita for NPR /
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.
An Rong Xu 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.
/ Jacques Nkinzingabo for NPR
/
Jacques Nkinzingabo 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.
Ayman Oghanna 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.
/ Diego Ibarra Sánchez for NPR
/
Diego Ibarra Sánchez 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.
Tamir Kalifa 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.
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.
Moises Saman for NPR / Moises Saman for NPR
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Moises Saman 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.
Manu Brabo 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.
Marian Carrasquero 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.
María Magdalena Arréllaga 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.
Cristóbal Olivares 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.
Afif H. Amireh 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.
Luke Dray 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.
Michael Robinson Chávez 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.
Simona Supino /
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.
Claire Harbage / NPR
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NPR
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.
Simona Supino for 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.
Claire Harbage / NPR
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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.
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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday condemned "lies and misinformation" that he said are undermining U.K. democracy, in response to a barrage of attacks on his government from Elon Musk.
The Minneapolis City Council on Monday approved an agreement with the federal government to overhaul the city's police training and use-of-force policies in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.
Rudy Giuliani was found in contempt of court for failing to properly respond to requests for information as he turned over assets to satisfy a defamation ruling granted to two Georgia poll workers.
