Any "best of" list must surely be subjective. This one is no different. Choosing the best photographs of the year is an enormously difficult task, with many terrific photographs slipping through the cracks. But with major news events as a guide, and with single images I fell in love with throughout the year forcing their way into the edit, I look at my favorite pictures from the first four months of the year. Two main stories dominated headlines in the first part of the year: the Japan earthquake and tsunami, and the rising of the Arab Spring. The protests in the Middle East would spread to Greece, Spain, and eventually inspire the Occupy movement in Western nations. Other stories included a historic wave of tornados in the U.S., a Royal wedding in London, and the creation of the world's newest nation in South Sudan. Images from the rest of the year will follow in posts later this week. -- Lane Turner (36 photos total)
A wave caused by a tsunami flows into the city of Miyako from the Heigawa estuary in Iwate Prefecture after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck Japan March 11, 2011. (Mainichi Shimbun /Reuters)
- Abdul Ridha Mohammed
- ABIDJAN
- Adnan Abidi
- Afghanistan
- afghanistan africa
- Ajdabiyah
- Alaska
- Amr Abdallah Dalsh
- Anderson/Christchurch Press
- Andrea Comas
- Android
- Anja Niedringhaus
- Associated Press
- Athens
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Ben Curtis
- Bob Hallinen
- Bosnia
- Brega
- Bridesmaids Grace Van Cutsem
- Cairo
- Cambodia
- Cambridge
- Chicago
- Chinese new year
- Chittagong
- Chris Hondros
- Christchurch
- Cote d'Ivoire
- David Guttenfelder
- David Mdzinarishvili
- Delhi
- Democratic Rally party
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Dimitri Messinis
- Egypt
- Family
- Faye Hyde
- Felipe Dana
- Georgia
- Getty Images
- Goran Tomasevic
- Greece
- Guardian.co.uk
- Heigawa estuary
- Hosni Mubarak
- India
- iPhone
- Iwate
- Iwate Prefecture
- Japan
- Jeff Roberts
- John Kirk
- John Moore
- Kazuhiro Nogi
- Kevin Frayer
- Khaled Desouki
- Khartoum
- Kirillov
- Kochi
- Lane Turner
- Laurent Gbagbo
- Libya
- Local media
- London
- Mainichi Shimbun
- Malkiya
- Margarita Armstrong-Jones
- Middle East
- Mikhail Voskresensky
- Miyagi
- Miyako
- New Zealand
- North Korea
- NY Times Co.
- Nyiragongo Crater
- Occupy
- Okurayama Hill
- Olivier Grunewald
- Pavel Rahman
- Periyar river
- Peter Macdiarmid
- Pinares
- Pripyat
- Pyongyang
- Ras Lanuf
- Rebecca Blackwell
- religion science society sports technology
- religion science society sports technology
- Reuters
- Rio de Janeiro
- river Turag
- Russia
- San Bartolome
- Sapporo
- Sergey Ponomarev
- Sierra Goldsmith
- Siverskoye Lake
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Tbilisi
- Thailand
- The Anchorage Daily News
- The Birmingham News
- the Cricket World Cup
- the World Cup
- Tom Shaw
- Tongi
- Tsiuri Kakabadze
- Tunis
- Tyrone Siu
- United States
- William
- Yomiuri Shimbun
- Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali
The best photos of 2011 from around the globe. Warning: All images in this entry are shown in full, not screened out for graphic content. Some images contain dead bodies, graphic content and tragic events. We consider these images an important part of human history.
- Adam Pretty
- Afghan air force
- Afghanistan
- Africa
- Ahmed Madobe
- Air Force Academy
- al-Qaeda
- al-Shabab
- Amy Winehouse
- Anders Behring Breivik
- Andrew Smith
- Anupam Nath
- Argentina
- Arkansas
- Ascot
- Athens
- Australia
- Aviation Regiment
- Barack Obama
- Barcelona
- Bashar al-Asad
- Beverly Winans
- Boston Bruins
- Brian Dennison
- British Columbia
- Brittany Viola
- Bronte Beach
- Bruce Bennett
- Bryan Denton/The New York Times
- Buckingham Palace Garden Party
- Bureau of Meterology in Sydney
- Business
- Cameron Spencer
- Canada
- Cape Canaveral
- Captured
- car stands
- Champions League
- Champions League
- Charles
- Charlie Company
- Charlie Riedel
- China
- Chris Graythen
- Christchurch
- Christian Riguccini
- Christopher Furlong
- Colombia
- Colorado
- Colorado Springs
- Czech Republic
- Dan Kitwood
- Daniel Ochoa de Olza
- Dare County
- Darlington
- David Boudia
- David Brodeur
- Debbie Surlin
- Denis Doyle
- Dhobley
- Dominique Strauss-Kahn
- Edinburgh
- Elizabeth Brodeur
- Elizabeth II
- Emilio Morenatti
- Eric Shanteau
- Ernest Hemingway
- Europe
- Ezequiel Farelle
- Farne Islands
- Florida
- Formula One Grand Prix
- Freeskier Chris Booth of Australia
- Gareth Cattermole
- Georgia
- Germany
- Getty family
- Getty Images
- Getty Images
- Grant
- Great Britain
- Greece
- Hama
- Hassan Ammar
- Head hill
- Hemsby
- Illinois
- India
- Indonesia
- Inner Farne
- International Monetary Fund
- Iraq
- Jaime Adame
- Jakarta
- Jamie McDonald
- Joe Biden
- Joe Raedle
- John Moore
- Jonathan Mintz
- Joplin
- Julian Finney
- Kennedy Space Center
- Kentucky
- Kerala
- Kevin Frayer
- Kill Devil hill
- Kitty Hawk
- Kyle Busch
- Lewere
- Lewis Hamilton
- Libya
- Libya's government
- Logan
- London
- Louisiana
- Madrid
- Maeve
- Manchester United
- Mario Tama
- Mark Duggan
- Mark Thompson
- Martin Hunter
- Mass media
- Matt Dunham
- Meaghan Benfeito
- Michelle Obama
- Milos Bicanski
- Misrata
- Mississippi
- Mississippi River
- Mississippi River tributaries
- Missouri
- Mogadishu
- Moises Saman/The New York Times
- Mount Albert
- Nags Head hill
- Nags hill
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Trust
- New York City
- New Zealand
- Nick McCrory
- Norfolk
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- North Carolina
- Norway
- Nuba Mountains
- Nuerburg
- Oriental Sports Center
- Osama bin Laden
- Palm Beach
- Pamplona
- Pep Guardiola
- Pete Souza
- Peter Macdiarmid
- Philip
- Philip Scott Andrews/The New York Times
- Prince
- public services
- Raskamboni
- Rebecca Butterfly
- Richard Drew-Pool
- Riot police
- Rock 'n' Roll
- Ruth Fremson/The New York Times
- Ryan Pierse
- Sanjit Das/The New York Times
- Scott Olson
- Sebastian Vettel
- Shanghai
- Shark Island
- Somalia
- South Carolina
- Spain
- Stanley Cup
- Stefanie Gordon
- Stephen Dickson
- Stock photography
- Sudan
- Sven Torfinn/The New York Times
- Sydney
- Syria
- Ted Davenport
- telephone poles
- Tennessee
- the New York Times
- the 2011 NHL
- the Bahamas
- the Champions League final
- the Guwahati-Puri Express
- the Madrid Open
- the NASCAR Nationwide Series
- the Stanley Cup
- the Stanley Cup Finals
- The Sun Also Rises
- Thiruvananthapuram
- Transitional Federal Government
- Tripoli
- Tyler Clary
- Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
- United Kingdom
- United States
- United States Army
- Valencia
- Vancouver
- Vancouver Canucks
- Vicksburg
- Virginia
- Wales
- Wanaka
- White House
- Wilkinson County
- Yazoo City
- Yazoo County
- Yazoo river
- Zintan
The best photos of 2011 from around the globe. Warning: All images in this entry are shown in full, not screened out for graphic content. Some images contain dead bodies, graphic content and tragic events. We consider these images an important part of human history.
- 87th Infantry Regiment
- Abottabad
- Afghanistan
- Africa
- Ahmed Farhan
- Ajdabiyah
- Al Faisaliyah Center
- Alex Wong
- Ali Salem el-Faizani
- Alpine FIS
- Andrea Bruce/The New York Times
- Andy Murray
- animal feeds producers
- Antonio Cromartie
- Argentina
- Army
- Ashley Gilbertson/The New York Times
- Assam
- Australia
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Barack Obama
- Beatrice
- Ben Jawat
- Benghazi
- Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis
- Brazil
- Brega
- Britain
- Bryan Denton/The New York Times
- Cairo
- Calama
- California
- Cambridge
- Canterbury
- Captured
- Cathedral Church of St. John
- Catholic Church
- cement plants
- Chicago
- child miners
- Chile
- Chris Hondros
- Chris Hondros
- Christchurch
- Cleveland State University in Cleveland
- Clive Rose
- coal mining towns
- Colorado
- Congress
- Dan Kitwood
- Dan Vardamis
- Daniel Berehulak
- David Ferrer
- David Guttenfelder
- David McNew
- Dean Mouhtaropoulos
- Domain Tennis Centre
- Doug Mills/The New York Times
- Ed Ou/The New York Times
- Edinburgh
- Egypt
- Elstorf
- Equine Centre
- Europe
- fatty proteins
- Festival of colors
- Flavia Pennetta
- Frank
- Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
- Garmisch-Partenkirchen
- Gea/The New York Times
- Germany
- Getty Images
- Getty Images
- Ghana
- Glasgow
- Great Britain
- Gregory Shamus
- Guastavino Company
- Hanah Yaa Appiah
- Harles
- Heads of state
- Hizb ut-Tahrir
- Hobart
- Hosni Mubarak
- Hosni Mubarak
- Impulse
- India
- Isaac Brekken
- Italy
- Jaintia Hills
- Jaintia Hills
- Jaintia Hills
- Japan
- Jeff J Mitchell
- Jentsch
- Jinan Hussein Jweil
- Joao Pina/The New York Times
- John Moore
- Juan Pedrero Garcia
- Jujuy
- Julian Finney
- Justin Sullivan
- Kabul
- Kandahar
- Katie Orlinsky
- Kelly James
- Kofi Sylvester Dwemoh
- Kunduz Province
- Kyrgyzstan
- Lance Sergeant Matthew Else
- Las Vegas
- Latyrke
- Lee Mason
- Libya
- Libya
- Libyan government
- Lindsay Lohan
- London
- Los Angeles
- Loveland
- Majid Saeedi
- Manama
- Mansoura
- Marc Piscotty
- Mario Tama
- Mark Baker
- Marry Me
- Matthew Lloyd
- Meghalaya
- Melbourne
- Mewelde Moore
- Michael Appleton/The New York Times
- Michael Katsidis
- Middle East
- Misrata
- Misrata April
- Misurata
- Mitsubishi
- Miyagi
- Miyagi
- Muammar al-Gaddafi
- Muammar Gaddafi
- Muammar Gaddafi April
- Natacha Pisarenko
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- natural gas facility burns
- Nederland
- Neena Sasaki
- Nepal
- New York
- New York
- New York City
- New York Jets
- New Zealand
- Newmarket
- Newmarket Equine Hospital
- Nicky Perry
- Nigeria
- Ohio
- Osama bin Laden
- Pakistan
- Paul Wright
- Paula Bronstein
- Pennsylvania
- Perton
- Peter Fill
- Peter Macdiarmid
- Pittsburgh
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Politics
- primitive tools
- Ras Lanuf
- river Thames
- Riyadh
- Robert Guerrero
- RPG
- safety equipment
- Samantha Stosur
- San Francisco
- Saudi Arabia
- Scotland
- Scott Barbour
- Sendai
- Shyam Rai
- Sitra
- Spain
- Spring Festival
- Staten Island
- Stock photography
- Taliban
- Tennessee
- the New York Times
- the 2011 Australian Open
- The Human Condition
- Tunis
- Tunisia
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Valentine's Day
- Valentine's Day
- Venice
- Vrindavan
- Warrick Page/The New York Times
- Washington
- Washington, DC
- Watertown
- White House
- William
- Willie Kennedy
- Windsor
- Wolverhampton
- Youssef Haddad
2011 was a year of global tumult, marked by widespread social and political uprisings, economic crises, and a great deal more. We saw the fall of multiple dictators, welcomed a new country (South Sudan), witnessed our planet's population grow to 7 billion, and watched in horror as Japan was struck by a devastating earthquake, a tsunami, and a nuclear disaster. From the Arab Spring to Los Indignados to Occupy Wall Street, citizens around the world took to the streets in massive numbers, protesting against governments and financial institutions, risking arrest, injury, and in some cases their lives. Collected here is Part 1 of a three-part photo summary of the last year, covering 2011's first several months. Be sure to also see Part 2, and Part 3 of the series - totaling 120 images in all. [40 photos + 1 more]
A wave approaches Miyako City from the Heigawa estuary in Iwate Prefecture after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck the area March 11, 2011. The earthquake, the most powerful ever known to have hit Japan, combined with the massive tsunami, claimed more than 15,800 lives, devastated many eastern coastline communities, and triggered a nuclear catastrophe at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station. (Reuters/Mainichi Shimbun)
- Abbottabad
- Ajdabiya
- Ali Abdullah Saleh
- Allison Shelley
- Alvin Drew
- Amr Abdallah Dalsh
- Andy Page
- Angela Lewis
- AP Photo/Chattanooga Times Free Press
- Argentina
- Arica
- Arous Burn and Trauma Center in Tunis
- Asahi Shimbun
- Asahi Shimbun
- Asia Pacific
- Athens
- Barack Obama
- Ben Curtis
- Black Mountain
- Britain
- Cairo
- California
- Cambridge
- Catherine
- Central Intelligence Agency
- Chattanooga
- Chattanooga Times Free Press
- Chile
- Chris Hondros
- Christchurch
- David Wethey
- Davis Mountains
- Dimitri Messinis
- Dominique Faget
- Dylan Martinez
- Dylan McCord
- Earthquake engineering
- Egypt
- Eric Boe
- Florida
- Frank Cianciolo
- Georgia
- Getty Images
- Goran Tomasevic
- Grace van Cutsem
- Greece
- Hazard prevention
- Heads of state
- Heigawa estuary
- Hillary Clinton
- Hosni Mubarak
- Hosni Mubarak
- India
- Indranil Mukherjee
- Iquique
- Iwate
- Iwate Prefecture
- Japan
- Japan Coast Guard
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Joe Biden
- John Moore
- Juan Pedrero Garcia
- Katie Orlinsky
- Kim Shiflett
- Kyodo News
- Libya
- London
- Lowe's
- Madrid
- Mahendra Singh Dhoni
- Mainichi Shimbun
- Manila
- Manuel Balce Ceneta
- Margarita Armstrong-Jones
- Mark Baker
- Michael Barratt
- Michael Gonzales
- Misrata
- Miyagi
- Miyagi Prefecture
- Miyako City
- Mohamed Bouazizi
- Mohammad Zubair
- Mohammed Abou Zaid
- Muammar Qaddafi
- Muhammed Muheisen
- Mumbai
- NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- NASA's Kennedy Space Center
- Natacha Pisarenko
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Natori City
- Nature
- New Year's Day
- New Year's eve
- New Zealand
- Nicole Stott
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- North Carolina
- Osama bin Laden
- Pacific Ocean
- Pakistan
- Pasadena
- Pedro Armestre
- pet carrier
- Pete Souza
- Philippines
- Physical oceanography
- Port-au-Prince
- Prevention
- Prince
- propaganda tool
- real car still balancing
- Reuters
- Reuters/Kamaishi Port Office
- Reynaldo Dagsa
- Robert Gates
- Rosemond Altidon
- RPG
- Ryo Taira
- Sanaa
- Sanford
- Sendai
- Sendai
- Sidi Bouzid
- Spain
- Specialists Tim Kopra
- Sri Lanka
- Steve Lindsey
- Sudan
- Tennessee
- Texas Forest Service
- the Cricket World Cup 2011
- The News & Observer
- the World Cup
- Thomas Babb
- Tim Kopra
- Tom Pettifer
- Toru Hanai
- Toshiyuki Tsunenari
- toy car
- Toya Chiba
- Trenton
- Tsunami
- Tunisia
- United States
- United States Navy
- Washington
- White House
- William
- Yemen
- Yuvraj Singh
- Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
IN EFFIGY: An antigovernment protester held up an effigy of Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh as demonstrators demanded his resignation in San’a, Yemen, Friday. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press)
BENDING OVER BACKWARDS: Bridgette O’Brien performed yoga at the capitol building Friday in Madison, Wis., as people camped out in protest of Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s bill to eliminate collective bargaining for the state’s public employees. Mr. Walker asked Democratic senators to vote on the bill. (Andy Manis/Associated Press)
IMPROVISING; A man washed his dishes on a street in Christchurch, New Zealand, Friday. The death toll rose to 113 and hundreds remain missing three days after the earthquake. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
VIEW FROM THE TOP: A child slept in a hammock at a railway station in Hyderabad, India, Friday. (Krishnendu Halder/Reuters)
IN DISTRESS: A woman used a cellphone after climbing out of a vehicle that had crashed into a guardrail on Interstate 295 during a snowstorm in Cumberland, Maine, Friday. Maine was expecting to get between 4 and 14 inches of snow. (Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press)
LITTLE SOLDIERS: Children dressed in army uniforms sat atop a military vehicle in Cairo’s Tahrir Square Friday. Tens of thousands of protesters pushed Egypt’s military rulers to carry out reforms and to call for the dismissal of holdovers from the regime of ousted President Hosni Mubarak. (Khaled Desouki/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
- Ali Abdullah Saleh
- Cairo
- Cameron Spencer
- Christchurch
- Collaboration
- Communication
- Community websites
- Digg
- Egypt
- Getty Images
- Getty Images
- Hosni Mubarak
- Hyderabad
- India
- Khaled Desouki
- Madison
- Maine
- MySpace
- New Zealand
- Politics
- San’a
- Scott Walker
- Social bookmarking
- Stock photography
- StumbleUpon
- Uncategorized
- VIEW FROM THE TOP
- Wis
- World Wide Web
- Yemen
PUSHING ON: A man pushed a woman in a wheelbarrow as they fled a suburb of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Thursday. Heavy fighting over the country’s disputed election may augur a return to civil war, the United Nations warned Thursday. (Issouf Sanogo/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
ARMED AND READY: A police officer patrolled in Baghdad Thursday. (Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters)
SHOUTING OUT: A protester shouted slogans during a demonstration demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in San’a, Yemen, Thursday. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press)
ON A MISSION: A rescue worker stood atop debris in Christchurch, New Zealand, Thursday. A massive search is under way to find victims of Tuesday’s earthquake, with hopes fading for hundreds still unaccounted for in the rubble. (Hannah Johnston/Getty Images)
A SLEEP-IN: Demonstrators slept in the rotunda of the state capitol in Madison, Wis., in protest of Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s attempt to pass a bill that would restrict collective bargaining. Democrats in the state Assembly agreed to a deal, but Democratic senators remain unavailable. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
- ABIDJAN
- Ali Abdullah Saleh
- Baghdad
- Christchurch
- Collaboration
- Cote d'Ivoire
- Digg
- Getty Images
- Getty Images
- Hannah Johnston
- Madison
- massive search
- MySpace
- New Zealand
- Politics
- San’a
- Scott Olson
- Scott Walker
- Social bookmarking
- Social information processing
- Stock photography
- StumbleUpon
- StumbleUpon
- Uncategorized
- United Nations
- War
- Wis
- World Wide Web
- Yemen
Police in Christchurch, New Zealand, are rejecting suggestions that rescuers have abandoned hope of finding more survivors of Tuesday’s devastating earthquake.
But they are calling it a recovery operation now.
At least 75 people were killed in the quake and some 300 remain missing. Authorities say no trapped survivors have been found since 2 p.m. Wednesday. It’s [...]
- Anglican Church
- AP Photo/New Zealand Herald
- Asia
- Auckland
- Avon River
- Brett Phibbs
- Canterbury
- Canterbury, New Zealand
- Captured
- car parking building
- Chinese Methodist Church
- Christchurch
- Christchurch
- ChristChurch Cathedral
- Colombo
- CTV
- CTV building
- David Wethey
- Denis Callesen
- Disaster
- Donna
- Earthquake
- Environment
- frantic search
- Geography of New Zealand
- Getty Images
- Getty Images
- Glacier Explorers
- Hagen Hopkins
- Hannah Johnston
- John Key
- Kelly James
- Kyodo News
- Libby Manning
- Logan McMillan
- Lyttelton
- Manchester
- Mark Baker
- Mark Mitchell
- Martin Hunter
- Marty Melville
- massive search
- metal
- Murray James
- National Geographic
- Neil Struthers
- New Zealand
- New Zealand
- Pyne Gould Corporation
- Retail shops
- Rob Griffith
- Russell Gibson
- Sam
- Sarah Ivey
- Search teams
- Search teams using dogs
- Sharon Davis
- Shuzo Shikano
- South Island
- Sydney
- Tasman Lake
- thermal imaging camera looks