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| December 17, 2008 | (Use j/k keys to navigate) |
The year 2008 in photographs (part 1 of 3)
2008 has been an eventful year to say the least - it is difficult to sum up the thousands of stories in just a handful of photographs. That said, I will try to do what I've done with other photo narratives here, and tell a story of 2008 in photographs. It's not the story of 2008, it's certainly not all stories, but as a collection it does show a good portion of what life has been like over the past 12 months. This is a multi-entry story, 120 photographs over three days. Watch for part 2 and part 3 tomorrow and the next day. (40 photos total)

Lightning bolts appear above and around the Chaiten volcano as seen from Chana, some 30 kms (19 miles) north of the volcano, as it began its first eruption in thousands of years, in southern Chile May 2, 2008. Cases of electrical storms breaking out directly above erupting volcanoes are well documented, although scientists differ on what causes them. Picture taken May 2, 2008. (Carlos Gutierrez)

Italian soccer club AC Milan's newly signed player Ronaldinho of Brazil attends his presentation at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy on July 17, 2008. (REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo) # (for those who claim this image has been digitally altered, here is a larger detail of the photo - the halo is from backlighting, not photoshop)

Buildings and debris are seen floating in the Cedar River against a railroad bridge Saturday, June 14, 2008, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Days after it rose out of its banks on its way to record flooding in Cedar Rapids, the Cedar River has forced at least 24,000 people from their homes, emergency officials said. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson) #

Kenyan athletes train at Eldoret's Chepkoilel stadium on May 30, 2008 in preparation for the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games 2008. Recently the Kenyan athletics federation announced the setting up of two training camps in Eldoret and Nairobi to cater for a selected team of 120 athletes ahead of the Beijing Olympic trials on July 4-5. (TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images) #

Department of Water and Power workers are emptying out bales of plastic balls in the Ivanhoe reservoir in Los Angeles on Monday, June 9, 2008. Department of Water and Power released about 400,000 black plastic 4-inch balls as the first installment of approximately 3 million to form a floating cover over 7 acres of the reservoir to protect the water from sunlight. When sunlight mixes with the bromide and chlorine in Ivanhoe's water, the carcinogen bromate can form. (Irfan Khan/AP) #

A man dressed as a tiger carries a small whip made from rope in Zitlala, Guerrero state, Mexico, Monday, May 5, 2008. Every year, inhabitants of this town participate in a violent ceremony to ask for a good harvest and plenty of rain, at the end of the ceremony men battle each other with their whips while wearing tiger masks and costumess. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) #

Children of slain Philadelphia police sergeant Stephen Liczbinski, Amber and Steve embrace after their father's funeral mass on the steps of the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania May 9, 2008 Sergeant Liczbinski was gunned down as he investigated a bank robbery on May 3. (REUTERS/Tim Shaffer) #

A policeman carries a child away during a gun battle in Tijuana, in Mexico's state of Baja California, January 17, 2008. A shootout on Thursday, after police agents moved in on a drug cartel group, left four people injured and forced the emergency evacuation of a school in Tijuana, according to the local media. (REUTERS/Jorge Duenes) #

A man stands in front of the Marriott hotel after a bomb blast in Islamabad September 20, 2008. A truck bomb was detonated outside the Marriott in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Saturday, killing at least 54, injuring at least 266 and starting a fire which swept through the hotel. (REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood) #

A fire rages out of control at the backlot filled with movie sets at Universal Studios in Universal City, California, 12 miles (19 km) from downtown Los Angeles June 1, 2008. A portion of the set used in Steven Spielberg's film "War of the Worlds" including a jet airplane is shown foreground. (Fred Prouser /Reuters) #

Cyclone Nargis victims huddle in torrential rain as they await assistance in Dedaye Township, southwest of Yangon, Myanmar on May 19, 2008. Political resistance to outside aid and a slow response by the government worsened an already devastating situation - an estimated 146,000 people lost their lives. (REUTERS/Stringer) #

Maasai warriors cover a battle field as they clash with bows and arrows with members of the Kalenjin tribe in the Kapune hill overlooking the Olmelil valley located in the Transmara District in Western Kenya on March 01, 2008. The Massai, the Kalenjin and the Kisii tribes have recently clashed over ongoing land disputes that erupted after botched local elections during the general elections held in Kenya in December of 2007. Over twenty warriors from the tribes have been killed in bow and arrow battles near the borders of these tribes in the last couple of months. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images) #

Firefighters battle a blaze at the Namdaemun gate, one of South Korea's most historic sites, in central Seoul, on February 11, 2008. An arsonist started the fire, destroying the gate - the oldest wooden structure in Seoul, first constructed in 1398 and rebuilt in 1447. (Kim Jae-hwan/AFP/Getty Images) #

The head of a male student, still alive, trapped under the debris is pictured at the scene of the church school that collapsed on the outskirts of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince, November 7, 2008. At least 30 people were killed when the three-story La Promesse school building collapsed while class was in session and some of the walls and debris crushed neighboring homes in the Nerettes community near Port-au-Prince. (REUTERS/Joseph Guyler Delva) #

Wounded Palestinians lay near Reuters news agency reporter Fadel Shaana's car after it was hit by an Israeli missile on April 16, 2008 in the central Gaza Strip. The Israeli air strike killed a Palestinian cameraman working for the Reuters news service and two other civilians, Palestinian medics and witnesses said. (MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images) #

A rescue helicopter prepares to hoist aboard surviving Japanese climber Hideaki Nara near the summit of Aoraki Mount Cook in New Zealand on December 5, 2008. A Japanese climber stranded for six days just below the summit had died just hours before rescuers reached him and a compatriot, local media reported. The two Japanese climbers were forced to huddle in a tent 50 meters below the 3,754-meter (12,349 feet) peak, as poor weather and high winds foiled attempts to rescue the men by helicopter. (REUTERS/The Christchurch Press/John Kirk-Anderson) #

A Kenyan boy screams as he sees kenyan policeman with a baton approach the door of his home in the Kibera slum of Nairobi 17 January 2008. Hundreds of police who had earlier clashed with supporters of Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga at the entrance of the slum moved into the shantytown and did a house to house search for protestors. (WALTER ASTRADA/AFP/Getty Images) #

An Afghan refugee child hides from a dust storm behind a tent at a refugee camp in Kabul, Afghanistan on October 7, 2008. Over a quarter million Afghans have returned home this year from Pakistan and Iran, many of them reportedly due to economic and security uncertainties faced in exile, the United Nations said. (MANPREET ROMANA/AFP/Getty Images) #

The Guizer Jarl is silhouetted as members of his Viking Squad walk around a long boat with burning torches during the annual Up Helly Aa Festival, in Lerwick, Shetland Islands on January 29th, 2008. Up Helly Aa celebrates the influence of the Scandinavian vikings in the Shetland Islands. (Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images) #

Comoran and Tanzanian African Union soldiers (not seen) arrest an injured Anjouanese man after shooting three rockets at his house in Mutsamudu on 25 March 2008. The Comoran army said it had located the renegade leader of the isle of Anjouan, Mohamed Bacar, during the operation it launched earlier March 25, 2008 with the African Union to oust him. Some 400 AND troops backed by around 1,000 soldiers from Sudan and Tanzania launched a offensive before dawn to wrest back control of the isle of Anjouan from Bacar, its self-proclaimed leader, and capture him. Bacar was captured, and after some legal wrangling, evaded extradition back to the Comoros, and is now living in exile in Benin. (JOSE CENDON/AFP/Getty Images) #

Fishermen try to catch fish during the Argungu fishing festival in Nigeria on March 15, 2008. Over 30,000 fishermen from different parts of Nigeria and neighbouring West Africa took part in the final of the yearly Argungu fishing festival in Kebbi, northwestern Nigeria. (Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images) #

A firefighter uses a flare gun to set a backfire in the rugged area of Little Tujunga Canyon, 20 miles (32 km) north of downtown Los Angeles in the early hours of October 12, 2008. Fifty miles per hour gusty winds spread the fire towards ranches and houses in the heavily-forested canyon. (REUTERS/Gene Blevins) #

Cambodian families living on the grounds of the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, along the Thai-Cambodian border October 16, 2008. Nearly 200 Cambodian residents living near the temple have taken refuge on its grounds, after recent fighting killed two Cambodian soldiers, a local Cambodian newspaper reported. The International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but the court failed to determine the ownership of 1.8 square miles (4.6 sq km) Hindu ruins, a ruling that has rankled with Thais ever since. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif) #
More links and information
Chaitén volcano - Wikipedia entry
2008 Sichuan earthquake - Wikipedia entry
Cyclone Nargis - Wikipedia entry
2008 invasion of Anjouan - Wikipedia entry
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perfect
impressive picture story
really marvalous photograhy. excepting the acidents
this are amazing picturee (:
hehee thankss for letting me see these pictureee amazingg babe.
viendo cosas asi te preguntas
¿ donde esta dios?
Excellent pics man good collection
it's the world we are living in... awfull, frightening
great captured of the planet that we lived..
Maravilhosas Imagens!!!!!
Excelentes imagenes todas.. felicidades..
Great!
verryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy verry gooooooooood the best picture in my life okkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
slike su potresne i dirljive, neke su uzasne, blago receno, necu moci bas lepo da spavam
These are amazing...
Thank you all...
Fotografias INCRIVEIS! Algumas de rara beleza, outras muito tristes mas o fotografo conseguiu captar o momento certo. Ficamos na expectactiva de mais ...
How ironic that the world we live in today is not what we might envision it to be, harmonious and beautiful. These pictures, if seen by every human on the world, would not fail to make them stop and think about the cruel world we live in, and the way humans are. Some beautiful photos, many of them brought me close to tears. Everyone who has seen this has hopefully learnt about the struggle today to free ourselves from racism and other important issues.
May Allah have mercy on us.
good
not bad
Awesome....and Thats It.....!!!
FANTASTIC PHOTOS HOPE TO SEE MORE
Heartstopping and truly humbling - wonderful photos that should make us all just glad to be alive and not caught up in any of the many life tragedies portrayed.
Good Pictures... Give God Thank's...
dahsyat!
Esto es muy impactante pero pero no cabe la menor duda q es cierto,me di cuenta de las cosas por las imagenes porque de todo lo que decia no entendi nada
Pieuwwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeettttttttttttttttt !!!! FANTASTIC PHOTOS
Fotos belas, fotos tristes, fotos do mundo, O que a humanidade está fazendo com o Planeta?
No me canso de ver tan extraordinarias fotografias, los felicito.
Geniales!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Complimenti ai fotografi, foto bellissime e suggestive.
Es posible adentrarse a estas fotografias y disernir la grandeza de nuestra vida .
Muchas felicitaciones.
Foarte tare
this the best
wat a gr8 piece of photography
very very nice
awesome!!!
these pictures are very sad i cant really look at them cause there showing that all these bad things happend to all these incent people and its really sad to look at =(
What a perspective these pictures say of the human race, how we must seem so strange looking in from outside, conflict and poverty everywhere. So many of us living in fear, and yet clueless to the true connection we have with this planet,.....
The first picture says everything, as we can bearly descibe it,......how little we know of true nature and of ourselves, ......but how we seem to suffer constantly.....or misplace the energy of love.
nice pict
no doubt its awesome nd heart touching photography... bt it makes me sad
oh my god this is very strongerrrrrrrr!
...,this pictures...,professional,deluxe..., very upset...,terrible...this life is hell
THESE PICTURES REALLY MAKE YOU THINK ABOUT THE WORLD. ONE'S ACTIONS, CHOICES, AND HIS/HER LIFESTYLE. BRAVO
How ironic that the world we live in today is not what we might envision it to be, harmonious and beautiful. These pictures, if seen by every human on the world, would not fail to make them stop and think about the cruel world we live in, and the way humans are. Some beautiful photos, many of them brought me close to tears. Everyone who has seen this has hopefully learnt about the struggle today to free ourselves from racism and other important issues.
May Allah have mercy on us.
saya selalu mengagumi foto-foto jurnalistik di sini...luarbiasa...
these photos are taken by man showing what man is capable of....
All we are live in hell called earth and we are bond by madness.
gracies,per ha poder tenir mes aprop la realitat d´ùn mon ple de cortines que ens volen tapar la imatge de mols llocs.
amazing..
super
I went on line searching for one thing and happened upon this compilation. this was amazaing. some of the photos make a person so appreciative and thankful for those things we often take for granted. Life around the world is so different and our experiences are so varied.
Really amazing!
So much pain and suffering! How unfortunate that man has turned against man! Where will all this end?! Praying that we see sense and peace prevails. Thank you for the pictorial reality.
Thank you for all the good awsome image your the best
the best young is Mourad with some decorates
thank you for sharing. let's not politicize these photos. it is what it is. sorry for julie miller's ignorance. bush did not kill the child.
Vraiment impressionnant
Bravo
simply superb !
excelente
Very nice site!
impresionantes....
Other than the American soldier shown, white people seem to be enjoying their holidays, surfing and strange rituals celebrating the warriors of their pasts, while the brown and black people are still struggling around the world. Just an observation.
Speechless... Fantastic photos. A mix of everything.
The only existing weapon of mass destruction on Earth is we Humans.
Absolutely awesome to say the very least ! These pics graphically say it all
wonderful!
i don't have comment this!
congradulatins!
it just bloody briliant, thanks u very much.
it touched...
Hi. I am totally new about Internet and blogging. I just serve around to see what other people have. I am professional photograpf by my self and first discorvery now the possibilities here.
thats amazing..... the best!
TIGERsHAKER
exelent but mind storming
Best pictures i haver seen. Great job.
Very nice and Surprised Pictures...............................
Amazingggg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great Pictures.........
How fragile the balance of life... leaving one word in my heart to describe the sadness portrayed in many shots: HOPE.
Photos were remarkable.
que hermosas fotos algunas realmente impactantes
beautiful very very beautiful
wow... amazing indeed
que horror y pensar que nosotros decimos que tenemos problema mientras hay familias que no tienen ni siquiere comida o agua o que viven en medio de una guerra que no les pertenece en serio que que asco de humanidad en vez de penzar en odios o de estar peleando si cada uno se uniera y diera un poco de lo que tienen no huviera tanta gente sufriendo por que si los presidentes o la gerrilla tiene alguna diferencia con otra persona por que no se pelean ellos mismos que no tienen los suficiemtes huevos en ves de hacer sufrir a los niños que no tienen la culoa
Feliciats per tan extraordinaries fotografies. Et fan obrir els ulls a la trista i dura realitat. Fan pensar: realment els nostres "petits" problemes tenen tanta importà ncia!!!!
10+10+10 !!!
Labai geros nuotraukos. Nuostabu
It is very good photo...
a lot of challenges are in this life, but we have overtake them
life
wow these pictures are so powerful and full of emotion
It is the most beautifull pictures I sow. Thank you
Nidia.
it is the very very excelent picture
the photogragf is genius
some sory for my english is not good
i live in argentina cordoba
OMG !! those pictures are just amazing !!!
i have a question, what happened to the guy riding the giant wave? :D
thank u very very much
Imagenes Increibles,
me hicieron recordar lo increible que es el mundo,
Lo creativos que podemos ser (humanidad)
Lo que la naturaleza puede hacernos.
Y las tonterias(/&%$#!°!) que el propio ser humano es capaz de hacer.
Gracias por las imagenes.
Mexico.
Bsest
Amazing capture of the most touching and exciting visuals I've every seen. We are so blessed in so very many parts of this great expanse we know as earth, yet the hunger in famine, the pain in disaster, and the suffering in warfare should make every leader and every believer in the world want to find a venue with which to reach out to the needy, the oppressed, the starving and resolve something very large....
I'm left crying inside........
Touching........
very nice
y yo me quejo de mi trabajo cuando veo estas sorprendentes fotos de guerra y miseria humana
Maravilhosas fotos, mas triste também pois é o MUNDO EM QUE VIVEMOS.....
speechless...
Totally amazing.This is why I like photography
awsome...
Realmente impresionantes las fotografias
La realidad tal cual es .
Desgarradora muchas veces
Impactante siempre
If God has a master plan, the only he understands...
Simply awesome, some pictures are overwhelming.
very good.
oh my god those pictures are impressive and amazing!!!!so much pain and suffering..they are simply marvelous and superb!!!!!great work....
Activities which are against human beings in whatever name, whater reasons, cannot be tolerated. We must unite to stop it, irrespective of our caste or creed like MUSLIM, CHRISTIAN OR HINDU or any other name. There exists only ONE caste, ONE, creed, ONE GOD, REST ALL ARE FALSE. Beleive it or not, but it is TRUE ONLY.
OMG! Truely magnificent!!
May God help us make this world a peaceful place to live in..... with no discretion of nationality, Religion, colour, caste and creed... Aameen!