Photography
Across the country and around the globe, 2018 was a year of enduring complex conflicts. The effects of climate change escalated natural disasters, and the uniquely American cycle of gun violence continued. Yet disparate communities still found ways to connect. A royal wedding brought two nations together. There were trials and elections. It was called the “Year of the Woman.”
As this year ends and another begins, 2018’s most profound pictures offer a window into what just happened — and what it meant for us.
By wind, water and fire, natural disasters made history and brought widespread destruction. Still recovering from Hurricane Matthew two years ago, Carolina communities were again inundated by 1,000-year floodwaters when Hurricane Florence hit this fall. In Florida, Hurricane Michael swept from sea to land as a Category 4 storm, the worst on record to hit the Panhandle. The Camp Fire — the deadliest, most destructive in state history — burned scars into Northern California while two other blazes smoldered in the south. And in Indonesia, back-to-back disasters killed at least 2,250 people when a surprise tsunami followed a 7.5-magnitude earthquake.
Camp Fire burns
Paradise, Calif.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Hurricane Florence flooding
Loris, S.C.
Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post
Bobby Lee Cooper, 63, after Hurricane Michael
Springfield, Fla.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post
Hurricane Michael aftermath
Mexico Beach, Fla.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post
Tsunami victim
Palu, Indonesia
Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters
Mosque destroyed in tsunami
Palu, Indonesia
Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters
Movement, in clusters and masses, carried people to the hope of new homes after fleeing old ones. Their journeys were long, dangerous and taxing — particularly for the children. Migrants traveled from South and Central America to the U.S. border with Mexico and fled the wars of Congo to neighboring Uganda. Syrians remained displaced, returning to homes that no longer exist. They were all part of the hundreds of millions of people already living outside the countries in which they were born.
Camila Savioll Mejia, 4, in a migrant caravan
San Pedro Tapanatepec, Mexico
Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post
Migrant caravan
Santiago Niltepec, Mexico
Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post
Caravan migrant family at U.S. border
Tijuana, Mexico
Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post
Syrian refugees return home
Arsal, Lebanon
Lorenzo Tugnoli for The Washington Post
Undocumented Venezuelans
Cucuta, Colombia
Ivan Valencia for The Washington Post
Congolese refugees
Kyangwali resettlement camp, Uganda
Andrew Renneisen for The Washington Post
Sudanese refugee Chuol Bol showers aboard an NGO rescue boat
Mediterranean Sea en route to Spain
Juan Medina/Reuters
Amid division, people found joy in shared experiences: the World Cup in Russia, the Stanley Cup in the United States, the Pyeongchang Olympics, and even at Coachella in California, where Beyoncé became the first woman of color to headline the music festival. With the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the United Kingdom welcomed a biracial American princess. We were captivated by space — and NASA put the InSight lander on Mars.
Fourth of July
Washington, D.C.
Calla Kessler/The Washington Post
A royal wedding
Windsor Castle, England
Danny Lawson/AFP/Pool/Getty Images
Olympian Chloe Kim
Pyeongchang, South Korea
Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images
Stanley Cup finals
Las Vegas
Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post
French World Cup victory
Moscow
Michael Dalder/Reuters
Beyoncé at Coachella
Indio, Calif.
Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Coachella
Solstice winter dip
Hobart, Australia
Rob Blakers/AAP/Reuters
The Milky Way
Shenandoah National Park, Va.
Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post
The second year of President Trump’s administration was marked by the same fluidity as the first. At least 17 people were fired or resigned, including Cabinet members and top aides. Relationships with foreign governments were tested. The country was roiled by the nomination, and eventual confirmation, of Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. Christine Blasey Ford accused him of sexual misconduct when they were teens, and both testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. A month later, a record number of Americans voted in the midterm elections — and a record number of women won their bids for Congress.
President Trump
Washington, D.C.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post
State dinner
Washington, D.C.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post
World leaders at G-7 meeting
Charlevoix, Canada
Jesco Denzel/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Jared Kushner with Saudi officials
Washington, D.C.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.)
Washington, D.C.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh
Washington, D.C.
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
Christine Blasey Ford
Washington, D.C.
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
116th Congress’s freshmen
Washington, D.C.
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
The Oval Office
Washington, D.C.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post
Hope Hicks resigns
Washington, D.C.
Leah Millis/Reuters
U.S. Capitol reflection
Washington, D.C.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post
Violence persisted across the globe and close to home. In Zimbabwe, historic, hopeful elections after 37 years of the same ruler began peacefully but turned deadly. The years-long conflict within Syria, which has left close to half a million dead and millions more displaced, continued. In South Sudan, child soldiers were released into society through a reintegration program, and in Yemen, an estimated 85,000 have starved to death since 2015. The turmoil between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza is ongoing. In America, mourning families waited for the bodies of loved ones to return home from far-off wars.
Palestinians and Israeli troops clash
Gaza City
Wissam Nassar for The Washington Post
Palestinians mourn
Gaza City
Mohammed Salem/Reuters
Former child soldiers
Yambio, South Sudan
STEFANIE GLINSKI/AFP/Getty Images
Family of Army Spec. Gabriel D. Conde
Loveland, Colo.
Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post
Election day protests
Harare, Zimbabwe
MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images
Tending to the injured
Eastern Ghouta, Syria
AMER ALMOHIBANY/AFP/Getty Images
Ayesha Ahmed, 3
Aden, Yemen
Lorenzo Tugnoli for The Washington Post
The year was bookended by deadly mass shootings and filled in between with the kind of everyday gun violence that kills an average of 96 Americans a day. Protests of police violence that disproportionately affects communities of color persisted. In Parkland, Fla., Valentine’s Day began with tokens of love at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High and ended in bloodshed. Seventeen teachers and teenagers were shot dead, allegedly by a former student. In October, 11 people were gunned down while worshiping at a Pittsburgh synagogue. Twelve days later, 13 people were killed in a country music bar in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Shooting memorial
Parkland, Fla.
Matt McClain/The Washington Post
Candlelight vigil
Parkland, Fla.
Matt McClain/The Washington Post
Homicide investigation
Detroit
Salwan Georges/The Washington Post
Procession for Sgt. Ron Helus
Thousand Oaks, Calif.
MIKE BLAKE/Reuters
Mourning Stephon Clark
Sacramento
Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
Burying David and Cecil Rosenthal
Pittsburgh
Salwan Georges/The Washington Post
Synagogue memorial
Pittsburgh
Salwan Georges/The Washington Post
In the United States, a year of tension over our systems of power made room for groups and individuals to speak up — in the streets, at the Supreme Court, in courtrooms across the country. Hundreds of thousands of people flooded the nation’s capital last spring for the March for Our Lives, a protest against gun violence and in support of gun control. Powerful men in politics and pop culture fell from grace as allegations of sexual misconduct, drawn out by the #MeToo movement, were finally heard. Stormy Daniels appeared on “60 Minutes.” Americans cast their votes, the results affirming 2018 as the “Year of the Woman.”
March for Our Lives rally
Washington, D.C.
Salwan Georges/The Washington Post
Nationwide student walkout
Washington, D.C.
Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post
End Racism Rally
Washington, D.C.
Evelyn Hockstein for The Washington Post
Cheers for Gov. Doug Ducey (R)
Scottsdale, Ariz.
Elijah Nouvelage for The Washington Post
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) wins reelection
Boston
Sarah Rice for The Washington Post
Stormy Daniels and Michael Avenatti
New York
Yana Paskova/Getty Images
Harvey Weinstein
New York
SHANNON STAPLETON/Reuters
Women protest Kavanaugh
Washington, D.C.
Calla Kessler/The Washington Post