2024 in pictures
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Hi there, it's Christopher Waljasper here, producer and sometimes co-host of Reuters World News. Before we begin this weekend special episode, I wanted to take a moment and just explain the format of the show today, because we're trying something a little different. Every year, our photo editors put together a compilation of images taken by Reuters photojournalists that encapsulates the year that was.

And 2024 was a big year. So today, I'm talking to three photojournalists and their editor to discuss how they captured the year in images.

Now, obviously, photography is a visual medium and we're an audio podcast, so it's going to be a bit experimental. But all the images we're discussing today are available on the show page of the podcast, so you can pull them up and experience them as we talk about what went into making these photos. So if you open up your podcast player right now, click the link in the show description, it'll take you to the images we're about to discuss.

All right, now here's the episode. Mei-Yi Wong is our senior photo editor and in charge of special projects here at Reuters. Every year, she's tasked with picking the photos that encapsulate the news of the year. Mei-Yi, there was so much that went on this year. How did you even begin to choose this year's images? Well, so I think 2024.

was quite intense. You know, we say that every year and every year we just can't help but notice some of the things that were happening. Every year I have this privilege of looking at hundreds of thousands of photos shot by our Reuters photographers from around the world. And it really is quite overwhelming sometimes because

the topic that just happened that was like world changing and suddenly something else happens that's huge and you just carry on right you keep going so at the end of the year when you sit down and you take this overview on things we had major events the

The Israel-Hamas war has kind of evolved into more of a Middle East war. And then you have climate, which is such an important topic that isn't getting any better. And then, of course, you have elections, which was such a big story. All the political turmoil, protests, governments changing. However, we can't ignore, as photo editors and photographers,

the beauty of daily life that happens that gives hope even in war there are glimpses of hope right

I'm glad you mentioned that. An image that Susana Vera took in Tel Aviv at the beginning of 2024 really captures that idea. Hey Susana. Happy to be here. Now the image is of a couple walking through a market holding hands. You can't see their faces, but one has a rifle slung over their shoulder. And to the left, there's just a sliver of a woman's face.

Susana, what were you thinking about when you made this image? I was basically trying to come up with a set of images that would document daily life in a conflict zone, basically. When you get there for the first time, it's very striking, I think, for most of us to see people of all ages going about their daily lives carrying rifles. And I went to this market and I happened to come across this

this soldier holding hands with this woman, and the rifle happened to be right next to the joint hands. And it was striking because of the contrast. I think, you know, you don't need any language to have this reference of, right, love, war, violence. And so I followed the couple for a little bit as they were strolling through the market, which is an outdoor market. It was around midday. It was a sunny day.

And I really, really, I'm very drawn to that type of light because it gives depth and it kind of gives you the chance of having different layers within the frame. And I knew that they were walking and going in and out of the light. And it was one of those moments where it

It's a combination of something that you have in your head, nice light, thinking about composition, and then complete lack. I think we don't talk about lack enough in photography. Lack is a very important element. And I was just very lucky that at that moment, I was able to basically press the shutter when the other woman was walking by and you only get to see one of her eyes. And I think not only does it balance the composition, but it provides the whole image with a little bit of...

eeriness to it and I think it makes you linger. To be very frank with you, Susanna, when I was going through like the 25,000 pictures from the Middle East war, I didn't see the face on the left at first. But then when I saw the face and I'm like, wow, it's like Easter eggs that you're planting in your pictures. So if anyone looks at the Susanna Vera photo, look hard and look again because she was surprised with little elements. It

It illuminates, it educates, and it surprises. Man, thank you for all your comments. Good lordy. Thank you. Now, of course, the war in the Middle East was a defining story this year. We've gotten so used to pictures of destruction and carnage, bodies in rubble. But there's also been images of humanity and resilience, even joy, right?

Mayee, were there any images that made an impact on you for the contrast they brought to the scenes of conflict and destruction? A picture that really stood out was for me a picture shot by our colleague Muhammad Salem of a beautiful pink wedding dress in the middle of this war zone, which is...

It's so out of place, right? And when I spoke to him and asked him why he took that picture, and I think a lot of it is like, he's not different from any of us. He wants to show balance, right? And he's also in his own way trying to find some reprieve as a photographer from facing all the difficult images every day. He says that sometimes he just walks around and tries to find signs of hope as well.

I think taking a look at that picture is a really painful picture to look at, but yet beautiful in its quiet moment. Yeah, it's really haunting. These mannequins in beautiful dresses right next to wreckage of a building. Now, of course, there was more than just conflict in the world last year. Some of the standout images weren't from the biggest news stories of the year, but everyday events like

Thomas Mukoya is based in Nairobi and captured this scene of a group of firefighters battling an intense fire at an oil depot. Thanks for being here, Thomas. Thank you. Now, you can almost feel the heat coming off this image. Tell us what was going through your mind as you shot this. I've never been in such high temperatures before in my life. I felt like I was in hell.

I was in the city center strolling such an hour, like six o'clock in the evening. And as I was going to the coffee shop just to have a drink, I saw some smoke up in the air and decided, hey, what could this be? So I jumped onto a motorbike taxi. And once I got to this scene,

It was barrels of paint drums and oil, used oil barrels that were up in flames. So I saw, boom, a big smoke and a flame go up. One of the drums had busted.

So I said, "I have to stay close to these firefighters and the volunteers who know this place very well." So I said, "I can't just take photos of the blaze. I have to look at the people responding to this emergency." So because they were talking and trying to identify the different areas, I said, "Let me try and get to their cases to understand what they are talking about." So I moved back to taking photos, doing videos, taking photos.

It was all orange. It was hot. So I went to their faces and I just wanted that feel because it was so hot for all of us. And yeah, that's how I ended up taking that photo. As I was looking through the edit, I think for everything that Thomas said, and I'm so glad that you're safe, is that

First of all, yeah, when you look at the picture, you don't think about all the things that happened behind the scenes, right? And now it's so great that we can have Thomas break that down for us. From a picture's perspective, this photo is just so powerful because there's all this light falling on their face, right? It almost looks theatrical, but I would like to point out, I'm not sure if any of you saw this, but when you look at images and sometimes when they're strong and when they work, it's because they give you visual associations, right?

to things that you might recognize. And in this photo, it reminded me very much of the picture from 1945, raising the flag on Iwo Jima by Joel Rosenthal. It's a very iconic photo. The black and white photo of the Marines planting the flag. The visual association here, you can see the similarities. And I think there's something very beautiful about this and

So that's why this picture is very strong, in my opinion. Now, in Thomas's photo, we felt that extreme heat. But as Mayee mentioned, there were so many massive storms and flooding events last year. Lisa Marie David in the Philippines captured some of that when, in November, a typhoon struck in Manila. Hey, Lisa.

Thanks for having us. Now, you can really feel the strength of this typhoon in one particular image. It's of two kids playing next to a concrete barrier as a massive wave crashes around them. Lisa, tell me about shooting this image.

The photo of the two children huddling as they play with strong waves was taken when Super Typhoon Mani made its landfall on the northeast of the island in November. The rain was on and off, but the waves had been pretty strong. Most of the time, residents tend to stay in their houses despite the warnings. So when we arrived in the coastal area, life was going on.

There was even an ongoing construction of the flood wall in the area. And close to the workers were these children. There were more than five of them just playing around, waiting for the waves to crash on the flood wall. And they were laughing and shouting of joy. So it was actually a light moment considering we were talking about a super typhoon. And I don't want to sound tone deaf about this, but times like these remind me that

It's not just about grief. It's also about the light moments in between. Usually Filipinos are praised for being resilient. So I also try to battle that idea in my mind not to glorify the resilience. So it's a balance of trying to document both the light and the difficult moments during disaster. Yeah, and I think what's beautiful about this image is the movement in it.

The way that the wave wraps around these boys. What were you thinking in trying to capture all these moving parts, quite literally, while you're shooting this? I think it was a bit challenging because at first I tried to position myself in front of them. Basically, the waves were splashing from my back and I couldn't really see how strong the

the upcoming wave would be, I could see their faces. But my camera got splashed as well. I got splashed. And of course, I have to also consider the equipment, myself, and if it's worth the photograph since I was going to cover the actual flooding in the following days.

And then when I was photographing directly at them, they would sometimes make poses. They're very aware that they're being photographed. So yeah, this was photographed when I stopped taking pictures of them basically. And then I moved away and then I saw them still playing. So yeah, I still tried to photograph them from afar. I think what your picture brought to the entire Reuters coverage

is balance. Because like you said,

Children are children everywhere and anywhere. It could be the saddest of moments and they'll somehow find some way to find some joy. But of course it's important that we don't gloss over the suffering. So I think what's nice about this is when you look at the picture, you understand that, okay, it's a little bit dangerous, but you can almost imagine them giggling in the photo. So she did capture that spirit. So thank you for bringing that balance.

So much thought goes into making a one picture. And, you know, it's like you can't really know all these things that happen in the background in one over a fraction of a second. That's essentially how long it takes to make most of our pictures in our lives. And I mean, the big joke is that we joke about how we really only work two hours in a year if we put all the photographic timings together. But you spend hours planning pictures.

and building trust with your subjects, right? Just to bring you that moment of time that hopefully can move the world forever.

Special thanks to all our photojournalists around the globe, especially those who joined us for today's conversation. Susana Vera in Madrid, Spain, Thomas Mokoya in Nairobi, Kenya, and Lisa Marie David in Manila in the Philippines. And thanks to Mei Wang for compiling the photos that captured 2024 for the world. You can see all their images at Reuters.com.

Check out all our 2024 image galleries. They'll be linked on the show page as well. Reuters World News is produced every week by David Spencer, Gail Issa, Jonah Green, Kim Vanell, Sharon Reichgarson, and myself, Christopher Waljasper. Our senior producers are Tara Oakes and Carmel Crimmins. Our executive producer is Lila Dekretzer. Engineering, sound design, and music composition by Josh Sommer. We'll be back on Monday with our daily headline show.

Make sure to follow us on your favorite podcast player or download the Reuters app.