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NPR News

NPR photos around the world that moved us in 2024

NPR | By NPR Staff
Published January 5, 2025 at 1:06 PM EST
Omerserik Ibragimov heads out to put his nets in the water for fish on the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan.
Claire Harbage
/
NPR
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

Camilo Garcia peeks through a curtain of his house on the morning of March 29, 2024, 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.
Nathalia Angarita for NPR /
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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.
The crowd cheers at the Democratic Progressive Party's Rally on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei, Taiwan, on Jan. 11. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/01/12/1224044586/taiwan-presidential-election-kmt-dpp-tpp-china-rally-candidates"target="_blank" >Click here for the full story.</a>
An Rong Xu for NPR /
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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.
Rachel Mukantabana talks about the legacy of the Rwandan genocide she survived, 30 years later, on April 8. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/04/11/1243634497/rwanda-genocide-anniversary-reconciliation-remembrance"target="_blank" >Click here for the full story. </a>
/ Jacques Nkinzingabo for NPR
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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.
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.
Ayman Oghanna for NPR /
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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.
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. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2024/02/29/1233878458/photos-lebanon-israel-conflict-civilians-killed"target="_blank" >Click here for the full story.</a>
/ Diego Ibarra Sánchez for NPR
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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.
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. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2024/04/30/1245825060/israel-hostages-aviva-keith-siegel-gaza-hamas"target="_blank" >Click here for a full story. </a>
Tamir Kalifa for NPR /
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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.
Israelis shelter on the highway during a massive missile barrage from Iran on Tuesday.
Maya Levin for NPR /
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Israelis shelter along a highway during a missile barrage from Iran on Oct. 1. Click here for the full story.
Search-and-rescue teams carry a body recovered from the rubble at the site of an Israeli strike in a central Beirut neighborhood, Nov. 23.
Ali Khara for NPR /
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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.
Jordanian air force personnel inside a C-130 aircraft after airdropping pallets of aid over Gaza on Feb.29. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/03/01/1235277071/gaza-jordan-airdrop-aid"target="_blank" >Click here for the full story. </a>
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.
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. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/12/24/nx-s1-5235307/syria-displaced-camp-assad-isis"target="_blank" >Click here for the full story. </a>
Manu Brabo for NPR /
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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.
Rafaias Villan, 38, in La Guaira, Catia la Mar a barrio right outside of Caracas. Rafaias is considering leaving Venezuela following the disputed election results last month.
Marian Carrasquero for NPR /
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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.
Members of <em>bate-bola</em> ("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. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2024/02/16/1231398151/women-are-breaking-brazils-bate-bola-carnival-mold"target="_blank" >Read the full story here</a>.
María Magdalena Arréllaga for NPR /
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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.
Ilia Reyes Aymani(50), Kunza researcher and teacher, stands for a portrait in San Pedro de Atacama on Monday, 15th of April, 2024. Antofagasta, Chile.
Cristóbal Olivares for NPR /
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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.
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.
Afif H. Amireh for NPR /
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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.
A police officer looks through damage caused by a shell at the Omdurman Maternity Hospital in Omdurman, Sudan, on Sept. 7.
Luke Dray for NPR /
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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.
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.
Michael Robinson Chávez for NPR /
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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.
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.
Simona Supino /
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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.
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. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2024/02/14/1230982703/ukraine-love-train"target="_blank" >Click here for the full story. </a>
Claire Harbage / NPR
/
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.
Workers at a Ukrainian thermal power plant are repairing the facility after rocket strikes to restore power as temperatures drop, Oct. 4.
Simona Supino for NPR /
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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.
After rehearsal, the theater troupe has drinks and shares some meats and cheeses together.
Claire Harbage / NPR
/
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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