The most powerful news photos of the year
Talia Lakritz  Â
- Getty Images compiled its best news photos of the year.
- Photos show scenes from protests, war zones, and natural disasters.
This year, there was no shortage of headline-making events.
The best news photos of 2023, photographed and compiled by Getty Images photojournalists, feature a variety of historic moments, global conflicts, natural disasters, and other major news stories.
"Whether reporting on tragedy or triumph, heroism or humor, our photographers showed again and again the importance of visual journalism in helping us understand the world around us," Jay Davies, senior director of news photography at Getty Images, told Business Insider.
Here are 30 of the most powerful photos of the year.
Fireworks lit up the skyline in London, UK, just after midnight on January 1.
London held its first New Year's Eve fireworks display since it was canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Joe Biden walked to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on January 4.
Biden was on his way to northern Kentucky to speak about his infrastructure investments and economic plan.
On January 6, Rep. Katie Porter made a statement with her choice of reading material during the fourth day of elections for Speaker of the House.
It took 15 votes to finally elect Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy as House speaker.
US Navy officers recovered a high-altitude surveillance balloon on February 5 off the coast of South Carolina.
Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 pulled the balloon, which US officials said was a Chinese surveillance device, out of the waters of Myrtle Beach.
A woman walked on a street amid destroyed buildings after two earthquakes in Hatay, Turkey, in February.
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake on February 6 was followed by a 7.5-magnitude earthquake. The two quakes destroyed buildings in Turkey and Syria and killed over 40,000 people.
Snow covered mountains behind the Hollywood sign after a snowstorm hit Los Angeles, California, on March 1.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency due to winter storms in 13 counties, including Los Angeles County.
Drag queen Brigitte Bandit gave testimony at the Texas State Capitol on March 23 as lawmakers considered a bill that would regulate drag performances.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill banning "sexually oriented performances" in the presence of children into law in June. In September, a federal judge ruled that the ban was unconstitutional, CNN reported.
Riot police clashed with protesters over the French government's reform of the pension system on March 23 in Paris.
Over 1 million protesters demonstrated across France after the government pushed pension reform through parliament without a vote, raising the retirement age from 62 to 64.
Former President Donald Trump arrived for an arraignment hearing at the New York State Supreme Court on April 4.
Trump became the first former US president to face criminal charges following an indictment by a grand jury that heard evidence on hush money paid to an adult film star before the 2016 election. Trump has denied wrongdoing.
Indonesian Muslims celebrated Eid Al-Fitr on Parangkusumo Beach on April 21.
Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting.
In Kampala, Uganda, a member of the LGBTQ community prayed during an evangelical church service.
Uganda criminalizes LGBTQ identities and sexual activity with sentences ranging from prison time to execution.
On April 27, Biden celebrated Take Your Child To Work Day with children dressed as Secret Service agents.
This year was the 30th anniversary of the national Take Your Child To Work Day.
The coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla took place on May 6 in London.
They rode in the Gold State Coach, which has carried monarchs at every coronation since 1831.
Robert Jackson comforted his mother, Cheryl Jackson, as they visit a memorial for a mass shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets mall on May 8 in Allen, Texas.
Eight people were killed and 7 wounded in the attack.
Immigrant families were photographed crossing into the US from Mexico to seek asylum on May 8 in El Paso, Texas.
The Title 42 border enforcement policy enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic to allow the US to quickly expel migrants due to public health concerns ended in May, AP reported.
A man crossed the dry bed of the Koparli dam in Nashik, India, on May 26.
More than half of the Indian state of Maharashtra is experiencing drought, The Indian Express reported.
Smoky haze from Canadian wildfires obscured the New York City skyline on June 7.
Smoke from the wildfires turned skies orange across the East Coast.
A handout photo from the US Department of Justice showed boxes of documents in the bathroom of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump was indicted on 37 felony counts after prosecutors alleged he broke federal law by taking documents with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago instead of leaving them with the National Archives.
Empty sun loungers lined the beach at a resort in Lardos, Greece, on July 29.
Tens of thousands of tourists were forced to evacuate the area as wildfires swept across the south of the island of Rhodes.
Sen. John Barrasso reached out to help Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell after McConnell froze and stopped talking during a news conference on July 26.
After another freezing incident, Capitol physician Brian P. Monahan wrote that McConnell was fit to continue working, linking the episodes to a prior concussion.
A man waded through floodwaters in Zhuozhou, China, on August 5.
Beijing's heaviest rainfall in 140 years triggered flash flooding and landslides, forcing over 100,000 people to evacuate, Reuters reported.
A woman walked past South Korean soldiers participating in an anti-chemical and anti-terror exercise in Seoul, South Korea.
The 11-day exercise, featuring drills including the handling of chemical and biological attacks, was held with US troops.
A woman sat among the rubble of her village in Douzrou, Morocco, which was damaged by an earthquake on September 8.
The earthquake hit villages in the High Atlas mountains south of Marrakesh.
An aerial view of Bakhmut, Ukraine, showed the city destroyed from heavy fighting on September 27.
Russian forces eventually captured Bakhmut in May, but Kyiv stopped them from moving deeper into eastern Ukraine by defending the city, Business Insider's Jake Epstein reported.
A photo showed the Lewis Glacier, Mount Kenya's largest glacier, on September 28.
Africa's second-highest peak, Mount Kenya features 11 glaciers that have been shrinking due to climate change.
Striking SAG-AFTRA members picketed with Writers Guild of America members outside Paramount Studios on October 2 in Los Angeles, California.
The writers' strike lasted 148 days, while the actors' strike was resolved after 118 days.
On October 9, a recovery vehicle drove past burned neighborhoods two months after wildfires devastated Lahaina, Hawaii.
The August 8 wildfire on Maui killed at least 100 people and displaced thousands.
On October 30, Kibbutz Nir Oz resident Hadas Kalderon broke down in tears in the burned home of her mother, who was killed in the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel.
In the worst terror attack in Israel's history, Hamas militants brutally killed around 1,200 people.
Palestinian citizens evacuated their homes damaged by Israeli airstrikes on October 10.
After the October 7 attacks, Israel declared war on Hamas, launching a counterattack in which at least 18,600 Palestinians have been killed.
The Ukrainian military fired RPGs on the frontline of the Russian-Ukrainian war on November 3.
Ukrainian forces fought to recapture Bakhmut from Russian control.
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