Each year, Time Magazine curates the top 100 photographs captured throughout the 12 months preceding. The images that make the cut are chosen for their heartbreaking, confronting, uplifting or influential nature. From the US presidential election to the conflict at Standing Rock and Brexit, the Syrian refugee crisis, the rare supermoon or eagles fighting drones in mid air, Time Magazine’s Top 100 provides a
well rounded and impactful snapshot of the year. Below are our top 21 picks from the images that made the cut.
Reuters
People on a fair ride are silhouetted against the moon a day before the “supermoon” spectacle in London, on Nov. 13, 2016.
Andrew Testa, The New York Times/Redux
An eagle from Guard From Above, a security company training eagles to intercept drones, tackles a drone in the air, in Katwijk, Netherlands, on May 31, 2016. The birds of prey learn to intercept small, off-the-shelf drones of the type that can pose risks
to aircraft, drop contraband into jails, conduct surveillance or fly dangerously over public events.
Scott Kelly, NASA
The massive snowstorm that blanketed the East Coast from Washington, D.C., to New York City is seen from the International Space Station, on Jan. 23, 2016.
Mohammed Badra, EPA
First-responders attempt to stop Abu Soubhi from entering his home following an airstrike in the rebel-held area of Douma, on the outskirts of Damascus, on Sept. 11, 2016.
Aris Messines
Migrants wait to be rescued by members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO in the Mediterranean Sea, some 12 nautical miles north of Libya, on October 4, 2016. At least 1,800 migrants were rescued off the Libyan coast, the Italian coastguard announced, adding that similar operations were underway around 15 other overloaded vessels.
Noel Celis, AFP/Getty Images
Inmates sleep on the ground of an open basketball court inside the Quezon City jail at night in Manila, Philippines, on July 19, 2016. There are 3,800 inmates at the jail, which was built six decades ago to house 800 people.
Meridith Kohut, The New York Times/Redux
Jose Villarroel waits for hours in an emergency operating room at Luis Razetti Hospital in Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela, on April 15, 2016. The economic crisis in this country has exploded into a public health emergency; part of a larger unraveling that
has become so widespread it has prompted President Nicolas Maduro to impose a state of emergency, raising fears of a government collapse.
Cameron Spencer, Getty Images
Usain Bolt of Jamaica competes in the Men’s 100 meter semifinal on Day 9 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug. 14, 2016.
Armend Nimani, AFP/Getty Images
Kosovo police officers wearing gas masks inspect the parliament, after tear gas was launched by opposition lawmakers, disrupting the first parliamentary session of the year in Pristina, on Feb. 19, 2016. Angry over a government deal with Serbia and demanding snap elections, the united opposition has effectively blocked parliamentary proceedings since October with their tear gas protests.
Evan Vucci, AP
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to an overflow crowd during a campaign rally in Greenville, N.C., on Sept. 6, 2016.
Brian Snyder, Reuters
Hillary Clinton and her husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton eat breakfast at the Chez Vachon restaurant in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Feb. 8, 2016.
Noah Berger, AP
Embers from a wildfire smolder along Lytle Creek Road near Keenbrook, Calif., on Aug. 17, 2016. Firefighters had at least established a foothold of control of the blaze the day after it broke out for unknown reasons in the Cajon Pass near Interstate 15,
the vital artery between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Five years of drought have turned the state’s wild lands into a tinderbox.
Wei Liang, Reuters
A salt lake, which is separated by a road, shows parts of it in different colors due to algae, in Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, China, on Sept. 25, 2016.
Marco Longari, AFP/Getty Images
The flash of an exploding stunt grenade is seen while a student from University of Witwatersrand jumps on a falling policeman while another policeman shoots his rubber bullets during a demonstration in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Oct. 4, 2016. Authorities tried to re-open the prestigious Wits University after weeks of demonstrations over tuition fees.
Daniella Zalcman
Lakota riders Alex Romero-Frederick (left) and Greg Grey Cloud (right) confront a line of North Dakota State Police the day that construction crews began work on the Dakota Access Pipeline just outside of the Standing Rock Reservation, on Aug. 15, 2016.
While the riders did push the police line back after a tense standoff, the display was part of a ceremonial horse introduction meant to be peaceful. For the Standing Rock Lakota, the pipeline represents a major environmental and cultural threat, as
well as a violation of treaty land.
Logan R Cyrus, The New York Times/Redux
A young man is attended to as he lies on the sidewalk after being shot in front of the Omni Hotel in downtown Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 22, 2016. The day after Keith Scott’s death at the hands of police triggered a night of violent clashes, Charlotte’s
leaders urged calm and contested accounts that Scott was unarmed and holding only a book when he was killed.
Carla De Souza, AFP/Getty Images
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta set fire to the world’s biggest ivory bonfire at Nairobi National Park, after demanding a total ban on trade in tusks and horns to end “murderous” trafficking and prevent the extinction of elephants in the wild, on April
30, 2016.
Adina Xinhua, Eyevine/Redux
An employee conducts fumigation to prevent the Zika virus in the Carabayllo District, Lima Province, Peru, on Jan. 29, 2016. The Health Ministry of Peru held fumigation campaigns to prevent the spreading Zika virus, according to local press.
Jonathan Bachman, Reuters
A demonstrator protesting the shooting death of Alton Sterling is detained by law enforcement near the headquarters of the Baton Rouge Police Department in Baton Rouge, La., on July 9, 2016.
Pete Souza, The White House
In this official White House photograph, Prince George meets President Obama during a trip to London, on April 22, 2016.
Carolyn Drake, Magnum Photos
Gerry Hann holds up the front cover of a newspaper in Liverpool Street train station in London the day after Britain voted to leave the EU, on June 24, 2016. “I think we’re doomed and the country is only going to go backwards,” Hann said. See the whole collection here.