The most powerful news photos of the year

• Getty Images released its top 100 most powerful news photos of the year.

• Photos show key moments in the 2024 presidential election and conflicts in the Middle East.

• Photographers captured the aftermath of natural disasters and phenomena like the solar eclipse.

Getty Images released a compilation of the most powerful news photos taken by their photographers in 2024.

Throughout the year, photojournalists captured the defining images of the biggest news stories related to politics, military conflicts, natural disasters, and other global issues.

“Regardless of the assignment, Getty Images photographers and videographers produced honest, moving, and gripping images of humanity at its highest and lowest moments and painted a picture of the world in all of its complexity without bias or manipulation, producing a trusted and memorable historic document of 2024,” Sandy Ciric, senior director of news photography at Getty Images, told Business Insider.

Here are 30 of the best news photos of the year.

On January 10, Ukrainian soldiers fired an 82mm mortar in Kreminna.

Mortar platoon soldiers endured temperatures of -15 degrees Celsius while holding their positions.

Palestinian children played in the ruins of Rafah in Gaza on January 31.

Mahmoud Al-Durra and his children were displaced from Gaza City amid the Israel-Hamas war.

On February 8, Pakistani citizens attended an event at the Pakistan Muslim League party office ahead of the general elections.

The elections were held two years after Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote.

San Francisco Drag Laureate D’Arcy Drollinger officiated the wedding of a same-sex couple on Valentine’s Day at San Francisco City Hall.

The event marked 20 years since the first same-sex marriages in San Francisco.

Multimillion-dollar mansions were left precariously perched on a cliff on February 27 after a landslide in Dana Point, California.

On February 4, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties after heavy rainfall caused flooding and mudslides.

Around 65 migrants crossed the English Channel on an inflatable dinghy on March 6.

According to data released by the UK’s Home Office, 33,684 migrants arrived in the UK on small boats in 2024 as of December 1.

A cargo ship struck Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, causing it to collapse.

Six maintenance workers died as a result of the bridge collapse.

On April 8, a solar eclipse was visible above the Washington Monument in Washington, DC.

Many traveled to watch the solar eclipse in the “path of totality” in parts of the US, Mexico, and Canada.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators barricaded themselves inside a building at Columbia University amid rising campus tensions on April 30.

In April, Columbia University’s then-president Nemat Minouche Shafik announced that the institution would not divest from Israel and said students remaining in a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus would be suspended. Student protesters then barricaded themselves inside the university’s Hamilton Hall, resulting in 300 arrests.

Employees at the Hidden Sanctuary Resort in the Philippines dumped blocks of ice into the water during a heat wave on May 4.

Temperatures in the Philippines hit 53 degrees Celsius, or around 127 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mourners attended the funeral of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran on May 22.

Raisi died in a helicopter crash in the mountains near the border with Azerbaijan. Iran’s foreign minister and a provincial governor also died in the crash.

A wind turbine in Prescott, Iowa, lay toppled after tornadoes ripped through the area on May 22.

Iowa experienced a record-high number of 122 tornadoes in 2024.

The Sundhnúkur volcano near Grindavik, Iceland, erupted on May 29.

Iceland’s famous Blue Lagoon was evacuated ahead of the eruption.

June 6, 2024 marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

The Normandy British Memorial hosted an installation titled “Standing with Giants” as part of the official D-Day commemoration.

On June 27, President Joe Biden faced off against former President Donald Trump during the first presidential debate in Atlanta.

The presidential debate proved disastrous for Biden. His poor performance panicked Democrats, ultimately leading to his withdrawal from the 2024 election.

On July 13, former President Donald Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Photographers on the campaign trail captured images of Trump’s bloodied face as he held a fist in the air, which quickly became iconic photos.

Oil slick from the sunken tanker MT Terra Nova muddied the waters of Manila Bay in the Philippines on July 29.

The oil tanker was carrying 1.4 million liters, or around 400,000 gallons, of fuel when it sank during Typhoon Gaemi.

One year after the Maui wildfires, damage remained visible in an aerial photo taken of Lahaina on August 4.

The Maui wildfires killed 102 people.

A firefighter battled flames from the Park Fire in Mill Creek, California, on August 7.

The Park Fire, the fourth-largest fire in California’s history, burned over 400,000 acres.

Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden embraced at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 19.

Biden endorsed Harris after he dropped out of the race.

In his speech at the Democratic National Convention, Biden spoke highly of Harris, saying that choosing her as his vice president was “the best decision” he’s made in his career.

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my career, but I gave my best to you,” he said in his speech.

Debris from Chimney Rock, North Carolina, littered the shores of Lake Lure in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on September 28.

Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 storm, left 3 million homes in five states without power and caused widespread flooding and damage.

Israelis marked the first anniversary of the October 7 terrorist attacks in which Hamas militants killed around 1,200 people and took 254 hostages.

Around 60 hostages remain in Gaza, though it is unknown how many are still alive.

Israel’s counteroffensive airstrikes and military actions in Gaza have resulted in over 45,000 Palestinian fatalities, according to figures provided to the United Nations by the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces reported that 17,000 of these fatalities were Hamas militants.

Two weeks after Hurricane Helene, another storm pummeled the region when Hurricane Milton made landfall on October 9.

Hurricane Milton slammed into southwest Florida with winds of up to 120 mph and left 3.3 million homes and businesses without power.

Trump worked the drive-thru at McDonald’s on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania on October 20.

Pennsylvania was a crucial battleground state in the 2024 election where both Harris and Trump campaigned heavily.

October 31 was the latest date in 130 years that Japan’s Mount Fuji had not received any snowfall.

Mount Fuji’s snowless top raised concerns about the impact of the climate crisis on weather patterns.

Trump won the 2024 election and declared victory in the early hours of the morning on November 6 in Palm Beach, Florida.

Trump won 312 electoral votes to Harris’ 226. Republicans also won majorities in the House and the Senate.

Harris delivered her concession speech at Howard University on November 6.

“In our nation, we owe loyalty not to a president or a party but to the Constitution of the United States,” Harris said in her speech. “And loyalty to our conscience and to our God. My allegiance to all three is why I am here to say, while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.”

A door at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, was damaged when South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law on December 3.

Members of South Korea’s Parliament convened for an emergency vote to reverse Yoon’s declaration, barricading themselves inside the National Assembly as soldiers forced their way in.

Lawmakers voted to end martial law, and Yoon relented after six hours of chaos.

Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old suspect in the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, appeared in court in Pennsylvania on December 10.

Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania and agreed to be transferred to New York, where he faces federal charges of stalking, murder through the use of a firearm, and a related gun charge.

On December 11, a woman took a selfie in front of a destroyed tank after Syrian rebels deposed longtime ruler Bashar Assad.

Assad fled Syria and has reportedly taken refuge in Moscow.

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