10 Photo Stories That Will Challenge Your View Of The World

We had a good run, 2021.

Like everyone else, we're grappling with the harsh reality that this is who we are as a nation, and that it will take a lot of work to counteract the divisiveness and misinformation that permeates American soil. And while we are frustrated, bewildered, or just tired, we're also turning to the internet to show us the pictures from the year we just entered, and the one we just left.

First, we rounded up photographs of the riot and attempted coup at the Capitol building. Next, we loved looking back with Pro Photo Daily's collection of their best stories from 2021. The New Yorker shared decades of self-portraits by Nancy Floyd as she watched herself age. The Guardian profiled Hector Retamal, who took photos in Wuhan, China, over the course of the last year. And Aaron Vincent Elkaim looked at the legacy of hydroelectric energy in Canada for World Press Photo.

Looking forward, we asked photo industry leaders about their predictions for 2021. We loved the dreamy images from Black women photographers, and the founder of a new site that aims to spotlight and support them. And caught in the middle is photographer JR, who looks forward to a retrospective opening soon in London.

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