TIMES has finally unveiled the best 100 photographs of the 2025 years, highlighting some of the historic moments captured by photojournalists.
As per TIMES, the Top 100 Photographs of 2025 include images that capture not only a year, but also "the faint but discernable shadow cast" by a less human future.
The moments photojournalists document tend to be most visible on faces included the runner's terror as opponent closes in, a smiling Buddha toppled in a quake. Robots (in a footrace, at a bedside) serve as comic relief partly because they have no faces.
Meanwhile, in Ahmedabad, the tail section of an Air India flight juts from a building like a paper airplane that sailed in and stuck.
Here are top 20 best pictures of 2025:
Academy Awards host Conan O'Brien lies on the red carpet during its rollout for the 97th Academy Awards in Los Angeles on February 26.
Lava flows from Mount Etna on August 28. On June 2, the mountain erupted with a pyroclastic blast a hot, ground-hugging cloud of ash and gas.
Displaced Palestinians, carrying their belongings in plastic bags and flour sacks, walked toward Gaza City after crossing the Netzarim corridor from the southern Gaza Strip on January 27, 2025 after Israel reopened access to the territory's north.
Carlos Alcaraz stretches to hit a forehand during the US Open finals in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens on September 07, that he won after beating Jannik Sinner.
A woman with her child wept outside a federal building in New York City after her husband was detained by ICE agents on August 20, a security guard was moved to tears as well.
Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince William and Catherine, along with their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis watches flypast in London on May 5 on the Buckingham Palace balcony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day.
Thousands of mourners line up to pay their last respect to Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, on April 25, following his death on April 21 stroke, which led to a coma and heart failure.
Faizan Zaki, a 13-year-old resident of Dallas, celebrates his historic win at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, held at National Harbor in Maryland, on May 29.
Lesly Karen Cornett, who took shelter with her husband took shelter in their bathtub, surveys the debris of her house the day after a tornado struck the neighborhood of Sunshine Hill outside of London, on May 18.
A group of Palestinian prisoners who were freed by Israeli authorities arrive at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, situated in southern Gaza, on October 13.
Columbia University alumni Jess Pearce was arrested during a protest of Columbia University outside the campus during their graduation ceremony in New York City, on May 21.
A damaged Buddhist statue lies on the rubble inside a pagoda that was severely affected by a powerful earthquake that struck Mandalay, Myanmar, on April 3.
A woman cooks in the shadows of a former orphanage while children move through adjoining rooms, now converted into living quarters for families displaced from Khartoum. The abandoned compound on the outskirts of Al Junaynah shelters dozens who fled Sudan’s civil war.
World’s richest person Elon Musk watches US President Donald Trump as he speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, March 21. At that time Tesla boss was leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGRE).
The picture taken on the third day of the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games as humanoid robots engaged in a thrilling competition, competing for the top spot in the 100m finals on August 17.
A firefighter engaged in an intense battle against the raging Palisades Fire, sweeping through the picturesque Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on January 7.
A drone image of detainees forming the letters SOS with their bodies in the courtyard at the Bluebonnet Detention Facility, where Venezuelans on US Supreme Court ruling are held, in Anson, Texas, on April 28.
Adrien Brody, Mikey Madison, Zoe Saldana, and Kieran Culkin pose with their Oscars awards in the press room at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 2.
Danielle Scott of Australia takes to the slopes for a warm-up session ahead of the Women's Aerials Freestyle Skiing event at the FIS Freestyle World Championships, in St Moritz, Switzerland, on March 30.
A person walks past debris after an Air India aircraft, bound for London's Gatwick Airport, crashed during take-off from an airport in Ahmedabad, India on June 12. The crash killed 260 people, including 241 passengers and crew on board and 19 people on the ground.
