The Best Pictures & Most Iconic Moments of 2011
Without any doubt, this year has been one of the biggest news years in a long while. The world has seen significant changes - revolutions across the Arab world, the death of Osama bin Laden, Occupy protests (including protesters being pepper sprayed) spreading across the world, a crisis of the Euro and natural disasters in the form of volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and storms. In the UK, we have faced a number of historic events; protests, riots, hacking stories, a royal wedding and more.
I thought I would bring together a collection of images that demonstrate some of the best images taken this year as well as to represent some of the most iconic moments of the year. Unfortunately, our funds do limit us and we simply cannot buy images but I thought that, just as social media have paved the way forward and spurred on revolutions across the world, a great feature could still be made through the fantastic licensing of the Creative Commons, as well as by asking kind photographers very nicely for permission to publish their images!
So I hereby present to you a relatively large collection of pictures, in chronological order (to allow you to best recollect the past year), representing the most iconic moments of the year - or simply pictures that were too good to miss out!
1.
(UN Photo / Tim McKulka)
5 January - Close-up of Brigadier General Michael Majur Aleer who signed a ceasefire agreement on behalf of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) ahead of South Sudan's referendum.'
2.
(UN Photo / Tim McKulka)
9 January - Voters turn out in large numbers in Juba, capital of South Sudan, on the first day of polling in the South's long-awaited self-determination referendum. Many voters slept at polling stations in order to be one of the first to cast ballots in the plebiscite which will determine whether Sudan remains united or Southern Sudan secedes to form a new country.
3.
(Nasser Nouri)
19 January - Tunisians take part in a protest calling the former ruling party the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) to withdraw from the newly formed interim government in Tunis, Tunisia. This was after Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted from power.
4.
22 January - Artists put the finishing touches to this marvellous portrait of Mohammed Bouazizi, the Tunisian street vendor who set himself on fire.
5.
(Nasser Nouri)
23 January - Protesters in Tunisia rest against a wall with the words freedom scrawled upon it as a funeral procession takes place.
6.
2 February - As fighting ensues between citizens and the army, a line of Christians form a protective barrier as Muslims pray behind them.
7.
(European Union 2011 PE-EP / Pietro Naj-Oleari)
March 8 - A number of MEPs dress up as men as a playful protest against gender inequality. Even after 100 year's of protests for women's rights, great inequality still exists. The European Parliament marked the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day on Tuesday 8 March.
8.
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alexander Tidd / Released)
13 March - An aerial view shows debris after a 8.9 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck northern Japan on 11 March 2011.
9.
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Dylan McCord / Released)
13 March - A Japanese house is seen adrift in the Pacific Ocean.
10.
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Dylan McCord / Released)
18 March - An aerial view shows Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force personnel and disaster relief crews searching Sukuiso, Japan for victims.
11.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jonathan Steffen)
20 March - US Air Force Tech Sgt. Mark Shertzer from the 535th Airlift Squadron watches the engines of a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft while it starts up at Yokota Air Base, Japan, after delivering supplies for humanitarian assistance.
12.
(Douglas Sprott)
20 March - Buildings are aflame following the tsunami in Japan.
13.
(Douglas Sprott)
23 March - A small region in Japan is flooded and on fire following the tsunami that killed over 15,000 people.
14.
(Jun Teramoto)
17 April - A lone boat is flipped on its side after the tsunami hit Japan.
15.
(Andrew Linnett / MoD / Crown Copyright)
29 April - The 'Royal Wedding' was broadcast online, on television and radio in 180 countries and you just could not stop hearing about it. It effectively became the talk of the nation, regardless of whether you were interested in it or not. Prince William wed Catherine Middleton on 29 April 2011 and rode together on a horse-drawn carriage back to Buckingham Palace after getting married at Westminster Abbey.
16.
(MOD / Handout)
29 April - A rare moment is captured when The Blues and Royals of the Household Cavalry are not wearing their headgear as they prepare for their ceremonial and escort duties.
17.
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
1 May - President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, along with other members of the national security team receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House. This will surely be one of the most iconic pictures of the decade.
18.
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
1 May - President Obama gives a speech to announce the successful mission where Osama bin Laden was killed. Just as the previous picture has become infamous, as are the words 'We got him' - the words Obama used to announce that bin Laden was killed.
19.
(Dan Nguyen)
2 May - After President Obama's late night announcement that the mission against Osama bin Laden was successful, crowds assembled and celebrated at Ground Zero.
20.
(Photo by Gunnery Sgt. Scott Dunn)
3 May - Lance Cpl. Timur Oljuskin, part of the ground combat element for the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, rinses his face under a water spout after completing a pepper spray course at the Camp Horno softball field, Camp Pendleton, California. Considering this is training for the army, perhaps some police officers at Occupy protests need reminding that pepper spray isn't a toy.
21.
(Steve Evans)
10 May - A woman from South Sudan proudly displays her tribal scars and clothing.
22.
IMF Photograph/Stephen Jaffe
May 16 - International Monetary Fund's External Relations Director Caroline Atkinson holds a press conference at the IMF Headquarters in Washington, DC after criminal charges are brought against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former Managing Director, during a private visit to New York City.
23.
(Pollobarba / Flickr)
23 May - Demonstrators embrace the day after the Spanish local and regional elections as they continue to camp at Puerto del Sol, Madrid.
24.
(Crown copyright)
25 May - The 'special relationship' can be seen here as David Cameron and President Obama served burgers for US and UK armed personnel. But does anyone remember the awkward moment just after this when they both gave speeches and David Cameron spoke of the barbecue, saying it was "probably the first time in history a British Prime Minister has given an American president a bit of a grilling"?
25.
(Garry Knight)
11 June - A woman displays her banner during a Slutwalk in Trafalgar Square, London. What is feminism?
26.
5 July - Dan Bryant kindly let us use this fantastic image he took of a Haboob (dust storm) gathering and sweeping over downtown Phoenix.
27.
UN Photo/Paul Banks
9 July - A man has the flag of the Republic of South Sudan painted on his face to celebrate the birth of the new nation.
28.
(Howard Lake)
10 July - Rather than the usual relaxing summer at the newspaper offices, the hacking scandal ensured that this was not to be; 'Thank you and Goodbye' read the words on the final edition of the News of the World.
29.
(Erwin Horment)
July 14 - It's not only the students in the UK who have been challenging the government about their policies on tuition fees. Over in Chile, students also protested for months about the policies their government were introducing.
30.
(Nathan Rupert / San Diego Shooter)
16 July - For the first time, US service members are allowed to participate in a gay pride parade.
31.
(UN Photo / Kibae Park)
15 July - A view of Busan, the Republic of Korea’s second largest city after Seoul, with a population of approximately 3.6 million as of 2010.
Half of the world’s population lives in urban environments. One billion people, one out of three urban dwellers, are living in slum conditions today. Providing them with better housing and education will be one of the great challenges facing a world of 7 billion people and counting.
32.
(UN Photo / Stuart Price)
16 July - A Somali woman holds a malnourished child, waiting for medical assistance. Somalia is the country worst affected by a severe drought that has ravaged large swaths of the Horn of Africa, leaving an estimated 11 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.
33.
(UN Photo / Stuart Price)
16 July - As well as having to deal with a terrible drought, vulnerability to diseases is also of grave concern - according to the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, hundreds of Somali children are dying from a combination of acute malnutrition and measles.
34.
(Christer Hansen Eriksen)
25 July - On 22 June, Norway was struck by a terrorist attack in Oslo and Utøya where almost 80 people lost their lives, most of them young and aspiring people. After the initial reaction being that it must be an Islamist terrorist, it was announced that the perpetrator was a far-right 'Christian fundamentalist', Anders Behring Breivik, leading to suggestions that perhaps ethnic profiling is far from the best counter-terrorism policy.
35.
(UN Photo / Shareef Sarhan)
28 July - Thousands of Palestinian children fly kites on the beach of the northern Gaza Strip during a summer camp organized by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). An international observer confirmed that the Palestinian children broke a world record in flying the largest number of kites.
36.
(gnuckx / flickr)
31 July - Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of activity. Due to its history of recent activity and nearby population, Mount Etna has been designated a Decade Volcano by the United Nations.
37.
(Nico Hogg)
6 August - In August, riots swept across England after the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan by police officers, with this burning car an example of the damage inflicted. A particularly excellent study has been undertaken by the Guardian and the London School of Economics. Our Features Editor, Chris Weatherspoon, argues that the riots occurred due to rabid consumerism.
38.
(Todd Geasland)
8 August - Firefighters put out a fire in Croydon, London, that was started during the England riots. I argued that the riots took place because those involved felt powerful and felt that they could do what they liked.
39.
(acute_tomato / flickr)
15 August - However, not everyone simply gave up after the riots and instead, in Peckham for example, some erected a 'Wall of Hope'.
40.
(mirsasha / flickr)
21 August - Novak Djokovic returns a shot during the finals of the Cincinnati Masters. Djokovic has been on fire this year, at one point winning 42 matches on the trot, and became the number one after winning Wimbledon. However, Murray went on to win the match and the tournament. This rivalry is definitely going to stay interesting for a couple of years.
41.
(Ammar Abd Rabbo)
9 September - Libyans celebrate their new colors in Tripoli, nearly 3 weeks after the fall of their capital city to anti-Gaddafi rebels.
42.
(Razordab² / Flickr)
11 September - At the site of Ground Zero - and where the new Freedom towers will be built - a "Tribute of Lights" was created to commemmorate the anniversary of 9/11.
43.
(UN Photo / Isaac Billy)
21 September - Members of UN Police and the South Sudan Police Services - taking part in a rope pulling competition - hold hands in camaraderie, during celebrations to mark the International Day of Peace. The Day is observed annually on 21 September.
44.
(Casey Fox)
8 October - A demonstrator at Occupy Knoxville displays one of the significant slogans of the campaign, that 1% of the world's population owns a far higher percentage of the world's wealth than the other 99%. As the sign shows, the top 1% of the world's population owns a massive 42% of the world's wealth and the bottom 80% only owns 7%.
45.
(Barry Yanowitz)
9 October - A mother explains why she has joined the protests at Occupy Wall Street; we need to start thinking about future generations and the result our actions have upon them.
46.
(workinpana / flickr)
15 October - Times Square is one of the most famous areas in the world, recognised from hundreds of movies and television shows. Yet on this day it was transformed as an Occupation party took place.
47.
(Ezequiel Scagnetti / European Parliament)
16 October - A simulation of a vote was held in a school of Tunis with the aim of monitoring and verifying the mechanism of voting that would take place on 23 October.
48.
(Israel Defense Forces)
18 October - After landing in an IDF base after being freed from 5 years of captivity, the relief was clear on the faces of Gilad Shalit, his father Noam and the Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu.
49.
(UN Photo / Eskinder Debebe)
24 October - Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon (centre) and students of the New Explorations into Science, Mathematics and Technology (Nest+m) School stand with “7 Billion” signs, reminders that the world’s population would grow to seven billion one week later.
50.
(F. de la Mure / MAEE)
2 November - With the eurozone in crisis, France's Nicolas Sarkozy hosted the G20 conference in Cannes, France. Both himself and Angela Merkel have been at the fore of trying to broker a deal to save the Euro.
51.
(Gage Skidmore)
8 November - Were the allegations of sexual harassment the beginning of Herman Cain's fall? Just before this, he was leading the polls to become the Republican candidate yet after a series of revelations and gaffes, he pulled out of the race on 3 December. Even though Newt Gingrich is leading the polls at the moment, Cain has definitely given us the most entertainment; that's not from a lack of trying from all of the candidates though!
52.
(Evan Leeson)
12 November - A symbolic picture taken using a Fisheye lens at the Occupy Wall Street protest with the buildings towering about protesters in the background.
53.
(UN Photo / Mark Garten)
16 November - An aerial view of the Thai capital shows Bangkok, still underwater after three months of monsoon-related floods.
54.
(Jasna Hodzic)
18 November - UC Davis police officer Lt. John Pike pepper-sprays Occupy UC Davis protesters who were blocking attempts by the police to remove arrested protesters from the UC Davis Quad.
55.
(Ran Zhang)
24 November - While we may not think much of this date, our neighbours on the other side of the Atlantic value 24 November much more highly. During a Thanksgiving's Day Parade in New York, an enormous Sonic the Hedgehog balloon soars through the city.
56.
(UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferré)
2 December - A wide view of the Human Rights Council at its special session on Syria. The Council overwhelmingly voted to adopt a resolution condemning the Syrian authorities’ “gross and systematic" violations of human rights during their months-long crackdown on protesters - with a vote count of 37 in favour, 4 against, and 6 abstentions.
57.
3 December - Citizens in Bardo, Tunisia, protest in front of the national constituent assembly; on one side of the road, demonstrators were pro-Ennahda and on the other side, demonstrators were less numerous and called for social justice, jobs, and dignity, as in most of the other demonstrations that occurred prior to this date.
58.
(Dark Dwarf / flickr)
4 December - About 8000 dedicated people turned up to run for the Liverpool Santa Dash to try and beat the world record for the largest number of people running in santa costumes.
59.
(UN Photo / Hien Macline)
11 December - A woman casts her ballot in legislative elections at a polling station in Bondoukou, Côte d’Ivoire.
60.
(Mosaab Elshamy)
16 December - Deena Adel on Twitter wrote: "We are the women of #Egypt. We won't be silenced, shamed, ignored, demeaned, or PITIED. We're not asking for our rights, we're taking them."
61.
(Jens-Olaf Walter)
19 December - The demise of Kim Jong-Il, North Korea's leader, lead to questions about the future oft he country and its relations with the western world.