On the picture desk at the Guardian, the photo editors see many thousands of images each day, and numbering into the millions over the course of a year, most of which are supplied by the various press agencies from around the world, from staffers and stringers alike.
Each year we like to highlight some of the great work that is being done to support our journalism visually and to create stories in their own right. Here are just a few of the talented photojournalists whose work has stood out to us during 2020.
Hannah McKay
Kirsty Hartley, a neonatal nurse, carries newborn Theo, who was born prematurely, to his mother, Kirsty Anderson, in the neonatal intensive care unit at Burnley general hospital, 15 May.
A Reuters staff photographer based in London and the winner of the Guardian’s APOTY in 2018, McKay this year covered UK news but also went to Beirut in the wake of the huge port explosion, and covered the US election and its aftermath.
People in silhouette document the full moon over Primrose Hill in London, 7 May.
A soldier greets Christy Faraj Oghlo, 2, after delivering a food parcel to her grandmother Souzy Bedigian’s home in Beirut after their home was damaged in the port blast.
Donald Trump supporters participate in a ‘Stop the Steal’ protest in Washington DC after the election was called for Joe Biden, 14 November.
Brandon Bell
A protest over the potential forceful reopening of an area unofficially known as George Floyd Square in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 17 August.
Bell covered the Black Lives Matter protests in Minneapolis for Getty Images, and spoke to the Guardian for this feature on covering the protests. “I am a native-born Californian who grew up on the south side of Los Angeles. On 27 May I had just finished documenting the first active protest in downtown LA when later that evening I saw on the news that the city of Minneapolis was bracing itself for a second night of vast protesting. I booked a flight and flew out the next morning,” he said.
People dance in the street during a march honouring Breonna Taylor in Minneapolis, 26 June.
“Surprisingly, when I hit the ground and began photographing, I felt a deep sense of acceptance,” Bell continued. “Everyone embraced me as if I were their own. Different men would say: ‘Let this black man through’, or ‘go ahead, black man’. I felt that the community embraced the fact that I was a black man who genuinely desired to tell their story as a whole.”
Demonstrators in Louisville, Kentucky, embrace after hearing that police would not be charged over Breonna Taylor’s death, 23 September.
Leah Millis
Donald Trump supporters face off with Joe Biden supporters outside the state capitol building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 7 November.
Millis is a senior photographer with Thomson Reuters based in Washington DC. She was ever-present covering a tumultuous year in US politics, taking in the pandemic, protests for racial equality, and battles over a supreme court appointment, and culminating in a bitterly fought presidential election.
A Donald Trump supporter films on his phone from the sparsely filled upper decks of the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as the president addresses his first campaign rally in several months, 20 June. Right: Twana and her baby Bonita pose for a portrait near the White House as protests over racial inequality continue in Washington, 23 June.
Joe Biden speaks to a child during a brief stop at a clothing store to buy a few items for his grandchildren while visiting Detroit, Michigan, 9 September.
Kamala Harris, on screen, addresses the Senate judiciary committee confirmation hearing for the supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, 12 October.
Benson Ibeabuchi
Students during rehearsals at the Leap of Dance Academy in Ajangbadi, Lagos, 3 July.
An independent, self-taught photographer based in Lagos, Benson works extensively with Agence France-Presse covering spot news and photographing features in the region. We previously featured his work on a Lagos ballet school.
Members of the Red Cross carry a body from the scene of a gas explosion in Lagos, 15 March.
An oil tanker on fire in Apapa, Lagos, 5 November.
Patrícia de Melo Moreira
People wearing face masks attend a show by the Portuguese entertainer Bruno Nogueira at Campo Pequeno Arena in Lisbon, 1 June.
Moreira is based in Lisbon, Portugal, for Agence France-Presse, where she covered the coronavirus pandemic extensively and also summer fires in the region.
A man gives a red carnation to a resident of Lisbon’s Benfica neighbourhood to mark the 46th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution, 25 April.
Photograph: Patrícia de Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images
A wildfire burns in Vale da Cuba near Isna, Castelo Branco, 26 July.
A tram passes by in the Bairro Alto neighbourhood of Lisbon, 22 September. Right: Musicians perform at Tasca do Chico fado house in the Bairro Alto neighbourhood of Lisbon, 12 November.
Wael Hamzeh
Thick smoke billows over Beirut after a fresh blaze broke out at the port, 10 September.
Students stand in front of tyres set alight by protesters to block the main highway during anti-government protests in Beirut, 14 January.
The Lebanese photographer Wael Hamzeh joined the European Press Agency (EPA) in 2003 and has been a staff photographer since 2007. In 2020 Lebanon was in deep economic crisis following months of political protest and sectarian tensions.
Damage after an explosion in the port area of Beirut, 6 August.
The port explosion that devastated the city in August was one of the largest non-nuclear blasts ever recorded.
Members and supporters of the radical Islamist Tahrir party raise flags and shout slogans during a protest outside the residence of the French ambassador in Beirut, 30 October.
Emmanuel Macron’s comments following the beheading of a teacher in France who had shown caricatures of the prophet Muhammad in class inflamed tensions across the Middle East.
Sumy Sadurni
The musician turned politician Bobi Wine greets supporters near Kayunga, Uganda, 1 December.
Sadurni is a freelance journalist, a member of the Women Photograph collective, and regularly works as a stringer for Agence France-Presse. She is based in Kampala, Uganda, covering the east Africa region.
Joshua Tukamuhebwa, 20, a professional boxer, trains at home in the Naguru slum in Kampala, 9 April, after exercise in outdoor public places was banned as part of lockdown measures.
Stella Nyanzi, a prominent Ugandan activist and government critic, is arrested in Kampala, 18 May.
Peter and his colleagues collect silverfish that have been attracted to the lights they have set up on the Nile river in Bujagali, Uganda, 12 November.
Adnan Abidi
Women walk past charred vehicles following clashes between people demonstrating for and against a new citizenship law in Delhi, India, 27 February.
Abidi is a Pulitzer prize-winning photojournalist and staff photographer based in Delhi, India for Reuters. His coverage of the pandemic in India, political tensions over citizenship laws, and the environmental challenges the country faces stood out.
A migrant worker holds her daughter’s hand as she tries to board a crowded bus in Ghaziabad, on the outskirts of Delhi, to return to her village during a 21-day nationwide lockdown, 29 March.
A boy stands on water pipes over a drain covered with rubbish at a slum area in Delhi on World Environment Day, 5 June.
A health worker in personal protective equipment collects a sample to test for coronavirus in Delhi, 31 August.
Victoria Jones
Jessica Walker and Nicola Foster, known as the Lido Ladies, pose by the pool during sunrise at Charlton Lido, London, on its first day of reopening after England’s second national lockdown, 2 December.
The Press Association staff photographer Victoria Jones covers politics, royals and a bit of sport. She is a regular and witty contributor to the Guardian’s best photos of the day selections.
A woman in a face mask walks past people sunbathing in Potters Field, London, 21 May.
Police detain a man after he ran in front of Boris Johnson’s car as it left the Houses of Parliament, 17 June. The man was demonstrating over Turkey’s operation against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.
Hector Retamal
Young women wearing face masks and traditional costumes are seated on a park bench in Wuhan, 17 May.
Hector Retamal is is based in Shanghai, China, for Agence France-Presse. Throughout 2020 he covered the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan extensively.
Medics wearing protective clothing arrive with a patient at Wuhan Red Cross hospital, 25 January.
A bride poses for photographs next to East Lake in Wuhan, 19 April.
Drag queen Yan Anyu, or Miss Cream, rides in a taxi in Shanghai, 13 June. Revellers at a music festival in Wuhan, 4 August.
Nariman El-Mofty
Refugees who fled the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region land on the banks of the Tekeze River in Hamdayet, eastern Sudan, 1 December.
El-Mofty is a Canadian-Egyptian photojournalist working for the Associated Press covering Egypt, Yemen and other parts of the Middle East. This year she covered the refugee crisis in Ethiopia.
Activists hang out at the Revolutionary Martyrs Centre in Khartoum, Sudan, 11 January.
Celebration at a wedding before a curfew took effect in Cairo, 16 April.
Supporters of ousted President Mubarak near the cemetery where he was to be buried, Cairo, Egypt, 26 February.
Emilio Morenatti
Francisco Espana looks at the sea from a promenade next to the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona, Spain, 4 September.
Morenatti, a native of Spain, is based in Barcelona and has worked exclusively for the Associated Press since March 2004. His work this year was notable for his coverage of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in Spain, as well as his coverage of Formula One and football, including fans’ reactions to the recent death of the former Barcelona star Diego Maradona.
Police officers inspect a boat where 15 Malians were found dead adrift in the Atlantic in Gran Canaria island, Spain, 19 August.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton makes a pitstop during practice at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, 14 August. He went on to take the Championship.
Football fans in Barcelona mourn the death of Diego Maradona, 26 November.
