Thank you ..

NICE

Espectaculares, muchas gracias por un año lleno de grandes fotos!!!

#35 still gives me the shivers. I saw the police- and trauma helicopters passing our house that day.

I still hear the loud "bang" that could be heared on television the moment it happens. I still see the police officer applying CPR on a person. That was the moment we knew it was not an accident.

Terrible.

Great.

#2 and #14 together make a great case for the need for future energy solutions

Great photos.

Nice shot 38. excellent.

#19 Wow! What raw emotion. His tears will soon be wiped away as justice is served to the muslim extremist terrorist who did this.

Thanks very much, it is an amazing collection. You are spoiling the readers (I cna only speak for myself) I was checking all morning when set number three would be up. Thanks again!
Happy holidays, Peace to all!

#6 - "holy dip in the waters" or 'dip in the holy waters'?

muito linda só fotona.A fotografia é isso temos que produzir cada vez mais boas imagens.hoje com tecnologia todos estão fotografando.

Thanks for the great photos. #35 really shocked our nation (NL)

Again, unbelievable pictures. Every single one of them is stunning.

Magnifico!

Number 23 seems so ridiculous when numbers 4, 7, 10, 11, 18, 19, 22, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 35, 37 are happening in the world.

#35 really hit me like nothing else before when I saw the footage. It was very much like Bert( Comment 4) described it.

Pictire #30-- the Palestinian and the Israeli confronting each other... just curious, would they be speaking in Arabic or Hebrew?

Someone should show number 37 to Tiger...Just sayin'

#37 is terrible. shame for them

You might mention in the caption that #37 is in Somalia.

#38 is beautiful.

Beautiful, incredible, harrowing and heartbreaking at turns. Thanks Big Picture for all the eye opening work you've done this year.

That said I do wonder if 35 should be blocked as graphic? It hurts to look at, certainly.

2009 - What a long year...

#19 -- "An Army psychiatrist opened fire..." NO, the fact that Nidal Malik Hassan was an Army psychologist is peripheral. He didn't go on a killing rampage because he was an Army psychiatrist -- he did it because he was a Muslim terrorist. The caption fails to convey this important fact.

#23 applying lipstick? That must be a new way to do that...

AMAZING, as always!

thank u for the collection! It was worth seeing!

It really makes you think. The whole world has so much in common. The need to survive, the want to strive. We all live similar daily lives, waking up every morning and fulfiling tasks for our country, then coming home and praying to a god we don't even know exsists. Yet all we see are the differences. I saw a sign the other day that said "God=Love", and I thought to myself, no God=war. We will never realize that each of us are human.. we are a species not a race.

What a wonderful visual reminder of the year that was. Gotta say, this has become easily one of my favorite blogs - ALWAYS interesting!

@24 Dan - No he went on a killing rampage because he was an extremist. There have been plenty of Christian, Jewish, AND Muslim terrorists in the past few years, or have you forgotten about all the white people who go on shooting sprees or bomb places?

Focusing on his religion does nothing but promote prejudice and harm against innocent Muslims in our country and abroad. The focus should be on the extremism, which can be found in any dogmatic belief.

Fantastic photos by the way. I particularly like #7 and #8.

The ignorant barbaric people on photo 37 makes me sick. Thats religious justice for you.

Step out of the bronze age society and its archaic values and atleast in to the industrial age, if the modern age of information is asking to much!

Very nice pictures, but most of them with violence, lets stop these!!!

Happy Holidays!!

#37, Somalis stone someone to death for infidelity, and yet look at what they do to their women (female children). They will always be a third world country, and deserve it.

anybody knows who the #36 feet belong to?

Qué horror la lapidación

great photos
thanks

AS WE BATTLE FOR STRENGTH WE LOSE NO MATTER WHAT.
WHAT IN GODS NAME IS GOING ON PEOPLE. ARE YOU ACTULY GOING TO STATE A COMMENT THAT SAYS LOOK AT HOW THEY TREAT THERE WOMEN, WHEN THERES A WOMEN APPLYING LIPSTICK PROUD AND LOUD AT THE RUTHERFORD CENTER NOT ONCE EVER CONCIDERING WHAT ACTULY IS GOING ON IN THE WORLD. IF IT WERE UP TO MANKIND THIS IS HOW IT WOULD BE.
Im sorry for the out burst its what came to mind. This collection made me cry from all parts of my heart. Thank you photographers for your courage to capture these.

Obrigada por compartilhar esta arte conosco! até 2010!

Mattan (#30) has the right idea, and it fits nicely into what Kaitlyn (#28) noted about human beings being one and the same. We need to be better to one another, not afraid and hateful and cowardly.

I hope the Israel gets what he deserves one day.

Religion is destroying the world. And israel is no better because the motive to start a jewish state in the middle east was religious too.

There were countries as switzerland who offered land but that was not good enough for greedy people.

Not to speak how much international laws are broken by israel.

impresive shoots

Photos 28 through 30 are an interesting sequence, especially considering the numerous complaints in yesterday's Part 2 installment over why the photos always show Israeli missiles shot at Palestinians. Well, here's photo 28 - happy now? Look at 29 - missile has the same result, a terrorized child cowering under the desk. Seems to me it's the children and schools on the losing end regardless of the direction the missile is going. Which brings us to Photo 30 - the real lasting problem. Lots of yelling, no apparent listening. Stay under the desks, kids...your grownups lack the will or sense to stop the bombs.

@24 Dan. That's right, he was an extremist (to agree with number 30-Mattan,we have to forget what kind). "Everything in moderation." We can't co-exist any other way.

As for the collection; Moving. One thing though, Humanity is as kind as it is evil. Next time, you think you could try and balance out the collection somewhat...maybe give us a little hope :)
Awesome work otherwise!

@30 Mattan - OK, you're right, Hasan was a Muslim "extremist" terrorist. Better? Please note that my comment was not about Muslims in general, it was specific to Hasan, so the charge of prejudice is quite unwarranted. Yet it is utter foolishness to ignore that Hasan's extremist views were based in his religion, which happens to be Islam.

And yes, of course there are people from other faiths who do crazy things in the name of their religion, but their wrong actions do nothing to mitigate Hasan's. My initial comment didn't mention any other such acts because they were not relevant to the photo I commented on. Why cloud the issue?

Muchísimas gracias The Boston Globe.

Thank you!

#7 is the picture of the year for me, so glad that you put it in this collection.

Thank you for really great photo journalism. Great pictures with good tiny stories. Well, lots of things are irrelevant to me, because i'm not living in USA, but hey, it is always good to be openminded. And i'm glad you payed attention to Lance, that was really great comback to the head of peloton. Keep up the good work!

pretty amazing...

این سه سری عکس های زیبایی بود و از اینکه در 2 سری از عکس ها نام ایران وایرانی آمده بود جای افتخار دارد

[this is good]

GREAT PICS

@ Erozos. Israelis were in the middle East waaaaay before Islam. Read a history book or ask someone who isn't stupid for information before you say rediculous things.

GREAT PICTURES AS USUAL!!!

Dan (#44), no one was trying to downplay--let alone "negate"--the actions of Hasan. Your wording made it seem as though he did what he did because of his Muslim faith ("... he did it because he was a Muslim terrorist").

Politics directed pictures. I am disapointed to see these "selected-pics".Come to those places, and discover the truth by your eyes,not from here.

Estaré un año mas mirando las magnificas fotos de esta sección.

Great collection! Thank you!

#12 captured my heart.

amazing photos, thanks

#7 says so much. We all need to understand that it's not just people that our actions affect, it's the animals that coexist with the people. The child and the dog are both suffering together, and the pain that is in both their eyes should speak to everyone. The fighting in the middle east doesn't just affect the families of the soldiers on both sides, it affects the innocent people, and innocent animals who are caught in the midst of human stupidity. Thanks Boston Globe for including picture number 7 in this collection.

They're amazing! Remember this year, forever.

Great!

@#18
It is disturbing to see that the Big Picture uses #18 to represent the riots in Xinjiang. The picture used was to deliberately resemble the man standing in front of tank picture, which symbolizes a peaceful struggle for human rights and a better government. On the other hand, the riots in Xinjiang are caused mainly by racial hatred---Muslim Uighurs against Han Chinese. Over a hundred Han Chinese were killed by Uighurs! I am wondering if the editor is trying to push a political agenda or something.

Thank u"

#39 makes me smile. Thank God that moron is no longer president.

# 38 is a masterpiece

Great, great photo's, have been enjoying the whole series!
Thanks!

gorgeous

#18, Why didn't you tell that almost all of the 156 dead were killed by MUSLIM RIOTS, rather than RIOT POLICE showed on the picture?

27,32, 8 ,7 & 6 are the best!

Part 3 beats the other two by miles.

7 is extremely powerful ..especially the girl's eyes and the tilt of her head.

Asi nejlepší sada z celé serie. Supr.

very nice just loved it

nice!

#40 is very bad

There is a saying that a picture is worth a thousand words, but #7 is worth a whole book.

very f*cking good pictures man

Thank you!

terrific pics as usual!

WOW!! Is all I have to say....

Great pictures!! Happy holidays everyone

@54 Anonymous:
Er... you DO know that Hassan cried out "Allahu Akbar" before starting to shoot, right? As far as I can tell, that phrase is NOT translated into English as "Say hello to my little friend." So many people afraid to call things by their proper name...

@#39:
When will people snap out of it and stop perpetuating the myth that we're a still 2 party system. What the US has had for quite a while has been an oligarchy. That photo is emblematic of yet another face replacing the previous one on the same empty suit.

i really really love No 7!! Its special!

The pictures are just great... my...i am speachless

@65 you are an idiot don't you see that the pic is to convey that its a new face but the same old thing Obama is no different. they are all the same
and continue the same policies

#35 Remembering waking up, turning on the tv and getting the 11 september feeling... there are some strange people in our world

How could the gymnast do her stuff with those loose bindings on her feet?

wow - Thank you

Thanks

the best overview so far. I don't have to see any Dutch Newspaper with their overview this year. You're collection of pictures are outstanding. Thank you.

fantastic job.

Big Pictures changed the way News is brought to the world. This selection confirms that again! thanks for you great photo's and continue next year!!

Dude nr.17/ Broomstick. The answer to your question is: Yes.

geweldige foto's die je vaak doen nadenken

fodastico

#7 is absolutely stunning

The stoning picture is hideous. Hideous but it does need bringing to the world's attention what a barbaric way to execute somone.

As always thank you Boston Globe for your excellent series.

Love these photos. Truly amazing. One comment about #23 - that woman is NOT applying lipstick.

#37 is bad, but the US capital punishment isnt. Really curious!

Imod (#81), "Allahu Akbar!" translates to "God is Great!" or "God is the Greatest!" and is used constantly by peaceful Muslims when celebrating their faith. Your assumption that it must be something terrible because it's in a foreign tongue (and let's face it, that's exactly what you were trying to imply) speaks volumes.

A person is defined by his or her actions, not his or her religion or native language.

All photos are great! and amazing!
Number 34 - the best

@ #8 - please delete the word Muslim as it's tautology. The world will never change whilst some find it necessary to differentiate one extremist from other with an epithet. Whatever the cause, no matter how unjust, the reinforcement of the killer's religious beliefs will not assist in creating a better world.

And for your information I'm Jewish - albeit a non-practising one.

#37 is so sick and disgusting. Stoning someone to death because he had sex with a woman ? Really ? I thought it was the 21th century ?

FANTASTIC PICTURES. THANK YOU.

30 & 37. Two best reasons that religion is the most destructive and vile force on this planet.

@#18
The large amount of chinese immigrants is "invading" Xinjiang Uyghur just as in Tibet. That's a fact.
But wheter the muslims or the chinese are the bad guys im not sure.

I am struck by how many of these magnificent photos show violence or its effects and how many of these comments demonstrate a desire to end that violence. I encourage everyone reading this to make a difference by treating each other with kindness and doing something in our communities to change this.

An even more dramatic giga-picture related to photo 35.

http://www.geenstijl.nl/archives/images/ANP-9693485.jpg

#35 I remember that incident clearly, after this the royal family went into hiding and made plans to flee to England.

this are fantastic pic. you have to be on the right place at the right time to take a pic. thats what i call luck!!!! great job.
people always like to talk about religion and politics, and they know that not everyone is going to agreed whit what they say,they often get upset and makes enemies for life. please lets get over that and share how we are similar and perhaps all this non-sence will end,maybe some day.......

Fantastic Pictures,
tanks you people
greeting from Italy
a.d.f.

# 23 states, "putting on lipstick", looks like she's sucking her finger, just saying.

Nearly every big country was represented... except for Canada! Are we really that boring?

38 is very very nice.
Both seeing it very sharp.

Interesting that they show far left types protesting the G20 but no pictures of the tea parties this summer. One of the biggest news stories in a long time is ignored. Wonder why.

Wonderful pictures.

vERY nICE

Very many dramatic pictures...
War it's bad...

Great photos.....except for the out of focus #16.........WTF? Its a throw-away photo.

A truely brilliant collection of 2009 images.

Felicitats per la feina ben feta!

GREATS FROM CATALONIA!

Dear Alan,
I'm a follower of your site, I admire photographers, artists, and I thank you for making such an excellent quality display of their work. I enjoy your work a lot, so thank you.
Only one comment... It calls my attention that there isn't a picture situated in South America, not a single one in all this series and they are really rare in the rest of your posts... Can you tell me why is that? I'm from Argentina, that's why I'm curious about this...
Anyway, THANKS A LOT!!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

(: is that guy dead??

its sad that people still using stoneings...sucha a bad way to go

#39 says it all......

Wars will only stop when we love our children more than we hate each other.

Great photos by the way.

Great.

I am wondering what will happen in 2010.

Andrew, it wasn't a muslim extremist terrorist that killed all those people. Read what it says, it was an ARMY PSYCHIATRIST!

PSYCHIATRY KILLS

great pictures. the one with the soldier running away from the explosion was the one that impacted me the most

cool toes

37 makes me deeply sad about the state of humanity in the world. But I'm afraid it's not limited to Somalia. Bad, bad things also happened in Guantanamo prison under the flag of so called justice...

all we can do is speak with kindness and be considerate of others. always.

happy holidays everyone

Ahh Daniel - the old moron might be gone, but now we have a new one to contend with. Replacing one with the other really doesn't seemed to have helped a whole lot.

a) amazing photos!
b) In response to the lipstick comments, a lot of women use that finger technique after you apply lipstick so as to avoid lipstick getting on your teeth (it comes off on the finger instead)

beautiful photos. happiness, joy, sadness, anger... all the human emotions. i find the comments about #37 interesting- many muslim/arab nations are barbaric in their treatment of men and women, their laws are strange and strict. regarding the infidelity, how many women would, upon finding out they have been cheated on, in the heat of anger wish this upon their cheating spouse. and how many men out there haven't ever cheated? and yes, kissing counts as cheating. no pun intended: let he who is without sin...

@ 130

Are you seriously comparing someone being stoned to death for infidelity with suspected terrorists held in a camp?

Goede foto's. Erg indrukwekkend.

Nu ga ik boodschappen doen!

kus

14 for me!

It is so nice ;i want INDIAN SATELLITES & ROCKETS PHOTOUS & IMAGE & SCIENTISTS NAMES.

wow great !!

To the people who think the lady is not applying lipstick, you must be men! Any other lady would understand what she is doing!

Great round-up of 09 . Would be looking forward to more pics in 2010.
Thank- you Boston.com.

# 37 among others gives clear perspective, through the lens, of the religion of peace. Mohammed woulod be pleased.

Photo 37 (and some on the previous pages) carried a warning, but I found photo 35 more shocking.

The collection as a whole is excellent and I particularly liked photo 8 on this page. I've taken a few decent photos from aircraft windows but none as good as that. I guess there's some advantage to being the pilot!

@130 you are probably the type who would equate that thinking about sinning is just as evil as actually committing the sin. IT"S NOT! (no matter who said it is)

Absolutley Amazing Images. Thank You!

I second A Canadian (112)!

There were HOW many pictures of American soldiers in Afghanistan? What about the heavy British, French and Canadian involvement in that area before the U.S. stopped dicking around in Iraq?

Just sayin'...

Where are the pictures of the tea party protesters? Did they not make news in 2009?

I keep getting drawn to photo 35. Why is it that the two uniformed guys seem to be oblivious to what's going on? Very strange!

@112, The Canadians are doing a damn good job here, and we are always happy to have them with us. Very few people know the many cesspool's of humanity the Gallant Canadians have honorably served in.

@146, The Brits were in the post 9/11 Iraq for almost as long as we have been there. Thanks to their policies and in action in the city, they left Basra a bloody, lawless mess that took a whole US division to fix once the Brits quit. In Afghanistan however, the Brits, Canadians, Aussies, and to a much lesser extent the French and Poles are doing great things things next to the American contingent. Either way, I'm always happy when I look down the line and see a British, Canadian, Australian, or FFL soldier.

I think Tiger Woods should take a look at picture #37 and be glad he lives in the US
(Militants from Hizbul Islam haul the bloodied body of Mohamed Ibrahim, 48, from a chest-deep pit after stoning him to death for illicit sexual intercourse with a woman in the Afgoye district, Somalia on December 13, 2009. Ibrahim was sentenced to death by a local Islamic court after he was found guilty of infidelity.)

@nate
so what, then you should give the native americans control over the usa, same thought pattern...

@102
laws and relative beliefs are different all over the world. granted yes i think getting stoned to death for infidelity is extreme but who am i to judge? im sure if you were born there and lived along those lines all your life it would be completely different.

just keep in mind everywhere lives by other rules and lifestyles and we cant hate people for it.

#39 is an incompetent fool who is leading us all down the path of ruin. It was a sorry day that my ill-informed fellow citizens allowed that simpleton to lead the greatest nation in the history of the planet.

Wow! Cool Pics...
@ post 153:
- adding an extra zero to the national debt clock
- millions of people without social security

No, the texan handpuppet did great! And if the next guy has to take drastic measures to resolve everything and cannot fix it al in a couple of months, suddenly he's a fool?

#38 has enchanted me. I cannot stop looking at it. It is stunning and very
cleverly shot. I love the eye of the boy next to the eye of the hawk and the colors are gorgeous! what a beautiful and dramatic photograph, wow.

Impresionante muchas gracias por tan espectacular trabajo

AND THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH
AFTER THE STRONG HAVE DESTROYED IT!!

@148 There was so much noise around them that they didn't hear the car smashing through the crowd.

@108 That's not true, where do you get this nonsense from?

And we want to join the world economy (and inevitably, culture)....?

No photo of Maguindanao Massacre included? You know, what the Committee to Protect Journalists has called the single deadliest event for journalists in history?

Beautiful photos, very taken off well. Excellent idea to show the year of 2009 in photos. Congratulations.

Wow!! Absolutley Amazing Images.
Thank you!!

Amazing todas as fotos.

poca gente española por aqui,una pena porque las fotos son para que no se las pierda nadie! excpresan mucho mas que la imagen que se ve.un lugar,una cultura,una situcación única y aveces muy comun.increibles,indescriptibles!!

@158 You've got to be kidding. Right?

Or do they both have zero peripheral vision too?

Whatever the explanation, I still find this photo the most shocking of the entire collection.

Wonderful pics! Just love it!
Comments made by people are also nice, request you not to fight here, try to discuss.
Thanks to Big Pictures from little Bangladesh!

# 7 and # 38 are masterpiece !... And even # 30 is a good catch

Pire que Ogrrish la picture 37
Autrement impressionnant

Israel make The massacres in the Gaza Strip hundreds of Palestinian children , people had killed by Israeli tanks jet and White phosphorus

Nice photos, the best number 7
Slovakia
Ladislav

Okay, #19 broke my heart.

Superbe compilation de photos !

Merci.

number 7.......
The photo of the year

#37 in a Muslim world its called Rajm
I'm a Muslim and yet I know very little about Rajm, all I know it's a ancient punishment method for Rapist but some say it's a method to purifying them self from adultery sin (it's a self initiative without coercion)
Rajm itself NEVER mentioned in Quran, but it is an adaptation from Torah and Bible, since Semitic religion (Judaism, Christian, and Islam) share common culture and in this case, it share common punishment method too.
I'm not trying to be offensive or whatsoever but I think The Spanish Inquisition is worse ...

P.S
I'm sorry for my bad grammar

Well done once again, guys! Some of them seem kind of out of place compared to the others and lack quality or originality ( we saw the surf/rocket shots last year and they were very similar... ) in my opinion, but overall you guys did a really good job sorting them out once again and I have to thank all the great photographers who worked many years to finally make amazing shots like these. I would also like to thank, most especially, the war photographers and those who put themselves in dangerous situations in order to capture the harsh reality we live in. On an artistic side, I believe #24 is the one I prefer. See you next year!

muy bueno y muchas gracias. So good and thank

Does anyone know what kind of dog that is in #7

#37 the red shirt looks like a Tiger Woods Nike Golf shirt!! :) how ironic

großartige Aufnahmen - thx a lot!

felicitation pour toutes vos superbes photos and beautifull job for photographs

Still we have a wonderful image world !!!

Keep the spirit alive !!!

Thanks you.... Wonderfull job!!!

Muy buenas fotos, buenisimas

wow
nicely done

I agree with the others that #7 is photo of the year. I have wondered what became of the girl and her family. Unfortunately, her name doesn't seem to be known to the photographer. He was simply standing at a checkpoint and this photograph was one of the many pictures he took there.

FIGHT THE FUTURE

Totally stupid comment, but I'm just clarifying the picture of the woman applying lipstick. That is what women do when they don't want lipstick on their teeth. After lipstick is applied, you put your index finger in your mouth and slip it out to take off any excess lipstick. And I apologize if this has been explained already. I didn't look through all the comments.

Some of these ought to shed some light to us sheltered Americans. Myself among them, we take for granted each day the safety and security in our lives. Maybe our jobs suck, maybe some of us are on welfare, but at least we can leave our houses in the morning without the probability of being bombed or stoned to death hanging above our heads. Something to think about, Americans. Let's not take our lives and safety for granted.

after seeing these pictures! my bottom line conclusion is that "man is killing each other and this beautiful planet as well". We need to get our act together very soon.

104 Jeff- what's YOUR religion? Making money?

The Boston Globe's year in pictures collection is always one of my year-end highlights. Great range and scope of images, fantastic moments captured, significant news events remembered - and every image is striking in its own way. Simply fantastic.

ดีๆ

these pictures are very beautiful!

The Pictures are great. Have you thought about going to Saudi Arabia and taking pictures of their 'Chop-Chop' block? Used to punish shoplifters/ thiefs...

Great photos
Fantastic Pictures,
greeting from ROMANIA

R.D.

Maravilha, adorei!

The pic of the bloke who had been stoned to death just goes to show how much further those types of people have to go as a society. That sort of thing was abandoned in the western world 1000 years ago (roughly lets not get technical). OK some states in America still use the detah penalty but it's hardly as barbaric as throwing rocks at a persons head until they die. Abominable.
The pic of Kinglake after the bushfires here in Australia touches me deeply. My sons sister was in a neighboring town when that happened and thankfully the fire went the other way but it's still a horrible sight for those who were in the path of that horribly destructive force of nature.
Top pics 8o)

@ comment #148 by Fat Dave (about photo 35),

You must realize that all of this happened within the blink of an eye. This happened during a street parade, which is typically very crowdy and noisy.

I've seen this on tv and this guard realized a split second later what was going on.
Here's some live footage of what happened next:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfyGtCteXm0&feature=related

it's realable...

colours, feelings, memories, everything....nice pics!! saludos desde España!!!

@198 Thanks. Watched the footage, but still find the photo more shocking. The power of reportage photography at its best.

@190 How ignorant and offensive of you to assume that anyone who isn't religious is amoral and materialistic. That simply isn't true.

Wonderful pictures.
If we put half as much effort into celebrating out similarities as we do into arguing over our differences, the world would be a better place. End the hatred, people.

Holiday greetings from India.

Imagens lindas, emocionantes, xocantes...
sem palavras...
você é um grande fotografo

Just WOW
From France!

Muy buenas estas fotos. Felicidades

The whole thing is worthless and sad. Take a second look.
There is no happiness all the way. Maybe some "amusing" shot.
The only smile you've got is from Mr Obama.

I know #39 must be a hard picture to swallow for all those rightwinged lunatics out there who would rather have an idiot in charge who in the first place set up this whole domino effect we have now. Yes Chuck im talking to you. Where were you the last 8 years when Bush was doing nothing while he saw the US show signs of beginning to crumble. Where were you when Bush made the first move towards Socialism (as you guys call Obama's moves) when he made the "Patriot Act" official. Look it up if its too hard to comprehend. Face it, Obama is doing the best he can with what he was given. Be patient..

QUE SERIA DE LA HISTORIA SIN ESTAS IMÁGENES LOGRADAS POR FOTOGRAFOS QUE ESTABAN EN EL LUGAR Y EL MOMENTO EN QUE MUCHOS ESTABAMOS MIRANDO TV, DURMIENDO, COMIENDO,
HACIENDO NADA....¿que sería de los periódicos, las revistas, los libros, el internet sin ellas...y la historia?.... (NADA).
Y pensar que en muchas partes del mundo a estos fotógrafos no se les reconoce a veces ni el crédito.
VALOREMOLOS!!!!! Y HAGAMOS RESPETAR SU TRABAJO.
EL QUE TOMÓ LA FOTO FUÉ EL FOTÓGARFO NO EL MEDIO!!!!!!

Amazing photos. Just great, thanks.

28 and 29 show Palestinian attacks. Nothing about IDF ?

Why are these photo's supposed to be political? They are clearly not meant to be... it is outstanding photo-journalism. -- "Gee, the space shuttle... what about Hubble?"

Love photo #10. I've gone through that tunnel many times, though never on a canoe.

Dead man photo is so horrible @_@

nice

i love it

hmmmm i cant take my eyes from computer and thanks for the images and we have once again saw what had happened in the past 365 days
arun

@ 174

Spanish Inquisition WAS 500 years ago.

Cruelty allways is cruelty.
But In human rights era, any culture considering
suffering as a punishment, can't be called "culture" as itself.

Call it animal behaviour, or sadistic expresion...

Woooooooooow

Thanks for sharing these photos. I watched them with my entire family and we were moved. 2009 was quite a year, lets hope that there will be light and peace for us all in 2010. Greetings from Geneva, Switzerland.

happy new year

la millor serie de fotos que he vist aquest any. Impresionant!!!!!!

What about the Angola's first presidential elections? And Olympics and World football organization attribued to Brazil?? God you americans only look at your own belly, one day you'll wake up, when the B.R.I.C.S'll pass you by.

#39 Is a sad sight, Bush may have been one of the worse presidents? I felt much safer under him.

Great pictures;..Stoning to death is so ancient; in our society today
99% of men should then be stoned for infidelity....

happy2010

#39 should be hard to swallow by those who pushed for Obama - more than it would be for RW (as comment 207 suggests). Because you have the same prison, different figurehead: Jr.jr

Estamos todos locos...increíble que llevemos tanto tiempo sobre la tierra...
Excelente trabajo el de estos fotógrafos. Enhorabuena.

99% of men cheat? From where do you get that figure? Sad you are so cynical. And cheating deserves death? And women never cheat? And to 174, the Spanish Inquisition is worse? Yeah but it happened a thousand years ago. The problem with this kind of behavior is it belongs in medieval times.

19 inspired me the most...

22

Woooow, increibles. Enhorabona als fotògrafs!

#23...is completely Jezzing xD

There are lots of significant events from around the world that are missing, as other commenters have noticed, which is sad. I was hoping to see a photo about the new Japanese government party, the first time to be elected since this government's inception at the end of WWII.

But then I remembered two things. First, this is an American Web site, so a lot (if not most) of its content will be about the USA. Second, the point of this trilogy of articles is to show amazing photography from this past year, not to cover events in general from this past year. Not all of the important events may have had good photographers available—or if they did, perhaps this site doesn't have permission to show those photos.

Besides, the people who put this together are human. They can't possibly collect a photo of every important event in the past year, and they will also naturally have biases.

Just amazing..no words...bitter sweet life ..that's what it is...I wanted to cry at some photos

I am wondering about #35. Both the uniformed gaurds or whatever they are seem oblivious to the mayham right beside them. It is obviously and action shot as you can see the man hit by the car tumbling... and yet they are both looking in opposite directions like nothing is going on around them

#38 : one of the most beautiful pictures i ever saw
congratulations for realization
amazing work

A stunning collection that generates so many emotions, inspirational photography and an intelligently compiled, well ballanced selection (and no you critics, I am not American)

great images,but some events are missing........

This website is amazing

aint no art better
than catching a whole lifetime
in a single unmoving frame

aint no man better
than the ones captured on paper
to be inglorious in comments

aint nothin more beautiful
than feeling art at heart
in every drop that falls in the ocean

Amei as fotos!!! Fantásticas!!!!!!!!!!
Bruna Mureb
Brasil

> the greatest nation in the history of the planet
Chuck, what is greatness? how do you measure it? let me give you a hint "The pen is mightier than the sword" ask yourself which nations taught the world, contributed to knowledge and peace.

> AND THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH
> AFTER THE STRONG HAVE DESTROYED IT!!
Grew let me translate that phrase for you:
The meek (means humble of heart, and not the poor and week as such) shall inherit the earth (not the planet or whats left of it, but meaning "everything", a great deal / more than imaginable.

> #39 Is a sad sight, Bush may have been one of the worse presidents? I > felt much safer under him.
Chris, ironic isn't it, but don't forget it is as a consequence of those times.

Impresionantes todas. tristes muchas de ellas , congelando ese segundo de la vida de muchas personas y otras mostrando la belleza del mundo y la naturaleza.
La fotografia es asi, magica y especial:unos trabajos impresionantes, todas ellas.
De cuando en cuando, me pierdo mirando fotos, y esta pagina es asombrosa.

K @235

This intrigued me too. See comments @148 and @198.

There have been so many comments about picture #37, but I find picture #35 more shocking.

...stoning people to death...what year are we again ??

@245

Is stoning to death really that different to hanging or the electric chair?

Muito bom.
Fotografias incríveis.
Fotografias que contam histórias.

Nuno
Portugal

Very nice photos man

VEJA ESTA FOTOS GIL....
VC VAI GOSTAR

good luck for all people in THAT world..

To @174: Spanish inquisition was indeed worse but it was hundreds of years ago when the whole world was barbaric. Same with goes for cruelty from Torah, Bible and others - it haven't happened for hundreds of years, the world moved on. The barbarism in #37 is happening in the 21st century!

awesome photos!

waiting for 2010 best shots

Excellent pictures!! Specially N°38, brilliant!!
Congrats!

Tomar las fotografias en el momento oportuno que increible y otras que impactantes.

Tijuana, B.Cfa. Mex.,
Villanueva T. Leticia

wibble wibble

2009 photos