Tragedy and Triumph: 80 Powerful Photojournalism Images from 2013

Photography News

The strongest storm ever recorded devastates the Philippines, killing 6,000. Pope Benedict XVI resigns, shocking even his closest advisers. A young Pakistani girl rises up against her oppressors and captivates the world. Like every year preceding it, 2013 was a year wrought with tragedy and triumph, a product of some of the brightest human accomplishments and heroic acts of all time, as well as some of the harshest demonstrations of nature’s fury and the darker side of humanity.

The following video features 80 of the most powerful images taken by photojournalists throughout 2013, which have been pieced together into a photo slideshow by The Atlantic’s Alan Taylor:

WARNING: PHOTOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC OR OBJECTIONABLE CONTENT:

This body of work serves as a profound reminder of the potency and necessity of photojournalism.

“How could anyone with a shred of humanity reach for a camera rather than the hand of a suffering fellow human?” many ask, but the photojournalist’s answer thunders back in response: “Because someone has to make sure that we remember.”

And, hopefully, change.

On April 15, 2013, two explosions erupted at the Boston Marathon finish line in Boston, MA. Three people were killed and more than 250 people, including Jeff Bauman, the injured man pictured here, were hurt. Bauman provided police with an eyewitness account that helped authorities catch the bombers. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Heavy rain in Athens, Greece, and its surrounding suburbs caused massive flooding on February 22, 2013. In this image, a man rescues a woman caught in the deluge. (Reuters/John Kolesidis)

To find out more about any of the photographs in the video, see Taylor’s 3-part breakdown: January – April, May – August, and September – December.

Credit: The Atlantic‘s “The Most Powerful Images of 2013”

On October 20, 2013, a gasoline and oil shop in Aleppo’s Bustan Al-Qasr neighborhood, Syria, exploded, causing locals to flee. According to witnesses, the explosion was caused by one of President Bashar al-Assad’s snipers. (Reuters/Haleem Al-Halabi)