The Year in Pictures

Until 1910, The New York Times never ran photographs on its front page. Until 1997, those photos were always black and white.

For the last several decades, however, photography has been central to our journalism. And the internet has allowed us to show readers more photos than we ever could in print alone. Photography shapes most major parts of our report, including this newsletter.

A signature part of our coverage is our Year in Pictures feature, published every December. The 2023 version is now available. As Marc Lacey, one of The Times’s two managing editors, writes in an introduction:

Every year, our photo editors try to capture the best photojournalism in one intense presentation. The Year in Pictures is a way to commemorate the big news events from January to December: the ones that traumatized us — and there are many of those — mixed in with some moments of bliss.

Below are a selection of 10 photos from the Year in Pictures, with brief captions.

Evgenia Simanovich ran to her home’s concrete shelter in Ashkelon, Israel, moments after a rocket siren sounded on Oct. 7.

Palestinian children playing in a courtyard in Gaza City paused to look skyward at the sound of airstrikes on Oct 7.

Caitlyne Gonzales, 11, danced to Taylor Swift songs at the grave of her friend Jackie Cazares, who was one of the 19 students killed last year in a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

Fans dressed in their “Renaissance” best, right down to the manicure, for the Beyoncé concert at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 30.

The Brooklyn Bridge, along with much of the Midwest and East Coast, was shrouded in reddish haze from wildfires in Quebec and Ontario on June 7. New York experienced its worst air quality on record.

Ukrainian soldiers rested inside a destroyed building on the outskirts of Blahodatne on June 15. The newly liberated but desolate village was one of a handful that Ukraine said it had retaken during the first weeks of its counteroffensive against Russia.

From left, Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy were among the seven candidates who sparred in the second Republican presidential primary debate in Simi Valley, Calif., on Sept. 27.

Hundreds of migrants at a makeshift camp waited to be processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection during a wind storm on May 10.

Migrants from Afghanistan passing the Statue of Liberty en route to Ellis Island to fill out asylum applications on Aug. 16. Arezo Mohammadi, at rear in a white head scarf, texted her sister, “She’s very big, you can see her, she’s incredible.”

Visitors admired the sunset at Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park on Nov. 1. A lake formed in the normally dry salt bed earlier this year when Tropical Storm Hilary dumped 2.2 inches of rain, the most that had ever fallen in the park in a single day.

You can find the rest of the Year in Pictures here.

THE LATEST NEWS

Israel-Hamas War

Here’s a column by Paul Krugman on the economy.

MORNING READS

A cosmic Christmas: How astronomers find holiday cheer — and scientific wonder — in the cosmos.

Late-night leftovers: Researchers say it’s worth reconsidering your midnight snack.

In memoriam: The first female Supreme Court justice and a convention-flouting Brazilian musician are among the notable figures who died this year. See the full list.

Lives Lived: Jeanne Hoff, perhaps the first openly transgender psychiatrist, shared the experience of her transition in a documentary to encourage her patients, many of whom were also transgender, to live openly and confidently. She died at 85.

SPORTS

N.F.L.: The Seattle Seahawks scored in the last minute to hand a third straight loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Soccer: The National Women’s Soccer League expansion draft for its two new franchises is drawing ire from stars and coaches.

College football: Dylan Raiola, a top quarterback prospect, flipped his commitment from Georgia to Nebraska, where he has family history.

Wartime satire: For two years, during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, Curt Bloch, a German Jew, lived in a tiny crawl space of a Dutch home. In addition to food and care, his helpers also provided him with pens, glue and newspapers. Bloch used the materials to create 95 issues of a satirical poetry magazine called Het Onderwater Cabaret, or The Underwater Cabaret, between August 1943 and April 1945, when he was liberated. Now, decades later, the magazine will be exhibited in a museum in Berlin.

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