NPR photos around the world that moved us in 2023

By Virginia Lozano,

Mhari Shaw, Alex Leff

Published December 31, 2023 at 10:31 AM EST

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QUSRA, WEST BANK — Sisters, wives, mothers, and cousins of the village of Qusra gather to mourn their Palestinian loved ones killed by armed Israeli settlers just days after the Oct. 7th Hamas attack. <a href="https://bit.ly/3RCOLgR">Click here for the full story.</a> — QUSRA, WEST BANK — Sisters, wives, mothers, and cousins of the village of Qusra gather to mourn their Palestinian loved ones killed by armed Israeli settlers just days after the Oct. 7th Hamas attack. Click here for the full story.

Perseverance, joy, discovery, grief — these are just some of the experiences that have made up 2023. Much of the news has been devastating to see: Russia's war with Ukraine and the ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza; earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, and later in Morocco.

But there have been other touching moments — sometimes away from the headlines, and the front lines — that have moved the world this year, too. Photographers have been there to bear witness, often at personal risk. No matter where or what they were photographing, they were able to shed a light on the events that shaped this year.

Here is a selection of photography made and commissioned by NPR from 2023.

DNIPRO, UKRAINE — Nikolai Pastuchenko crosses himself as he dips in the river on in Dnipro. Pastushenko is one of about three dozen people who have come down to this spot along the Dnipro River to take the plunge, a tradition across Ukraine — and Russia. <a href="http://bit.ly/3REw5gE">Click here for the full story.</a> — DNIPRO, UKRAINE — Nikolai Pastuchenko crosses himself as he dips in the river on in Dnipro. Pastushenko is one of about three dozen people who have come down to this spot along the Dnipro River to take the plunge, a tradition across Ukraine — and Russia. Click here for the full story.

KHARKIV, UKRAINE — Maksim Manakhov, 23, and Lilya Lohyna, 22, fell in love after Russian forces encircled their home of Kharkiv and it became the site of near constant shelling for months. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2023/02/14/1152211384/ukrainians-find-love-despite-russian-invasion">Click here for the full story.</a> — KHARKIV, UKRAINE — Maksim Manakhov, 23, and Lilya Lohyna, 22, fell in love after Russian forces encircled their home of Kharkiv and it became the site of near constant shelling for months. Click here for the full story.

DNIPRO, UKRAINE — In a cemetery on the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, Mykhailo Korenovsky's mother sobs over his coffin at his funeral. Mourners gathered for the burial of Korenovsky, a boxing coach who was killed in a Russian missile strike on an apartment building. <a href="https://bit.ly/3TB2qaS">Click here for the full story.</a> — DNIPRO, UKRAINE — In a cemetery on the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, Mykhailo Korenovsky's mother sobs over his coffin at his funeral. Mourners gathered for the burial of Korenovsky, a boxing coach who was killed in a Russian missile strike on an apartment building. Click here for the full story.

DNIPRO, UKRAINE – Crews search the rubble for people who remain missing after a Russian missile attack. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/01/16/1149404270/dnipro-ukraine-apartment-attach-search-effort-grows-more-desperate">Click here for the full story. </a> — DNIPRO, UKRAINE – Crews search the rubble for people who remain missing after a Russian missile attack. Click here for the full story.

LAGUNAS LA IGUALA, HONDURAS— Mountains around Lagunas de Iguala in January. The changing climate is fueling migration around the world. In Honduras, climate change is making it harder to live off the land, forcing families to make hard choices. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/21/1189253504/climate-change-migration-honduras">Click here for the full story.</a> — LAGUNAS LA IGUALA, HONDURAS— Mountains around Lagunas de Iguala in January. The changing climate is fueling migration around the world. In Honduras, climate change is making it harder to live off the land, forcing families to make hard choices. Click here for the full story.

ANTAKYA, TURKEY — Yusuf Kocaoglu stands in the wreckage of buildings damaged by the earthquake in Antakya, Turkey, as he tries to walk through the city where he used to give history tours. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/02/25/1158693549/turkey-earthquake-antakya-antioch-religions-cultural-heritage-ruins">Click here for the full story.</a> — ANTAKYA, TURKEY — Yusuf Kocaoglu stands in the wreckage of buildings damaged by the earthquake in Antakya, Turkey, as he tries to walk through the city where he used to give history tours. Click here for the full story.

TEHRAN, IRAN — Iran's 44th anniversary of the revolution, February 11. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2023/02/12/1156322493/fireworks-and-death-to-the-dictator-iranians-assess-the-revolution-44-years-on">Click here for the full story.</a> — TEHRAN, IRAN — Iran's 44th anniversary of the revolution, February 11. Click here for the full story.

MUZO, COLOMBIA — Emeralds encrusted in white calcite rock inside the mine at Muzo in central Colombia. They will later be analyzed at a laboratory to determine their worth. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/03/11/1161690100/emerald-mining-colombia">Click here for the full story.</a> — MUZO, COLOMBIA — Emeralds encrusted in white calcite rock inside the mine at Muzo in central Colombia. They will later be analyzed at a laboratory to determine their worth. Click here for the full story.

HATAN, SYRIA — Barakat Ahmad Barakat is pictured in front of his house in the village of Hatan in the West valley of Barisha, on June 24th. He explains where and how his arm was blown off and his two friends were killed by U.S. helicopter fire during the attack of the compound of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on October 2019. <a href="https://bit.ly/3RC5tNr">Click here for the full story.</a> — HATAN, SYRIA — Barakat Ahmad Barakat is pictured in front of his house in the village of Hatan in the West valley of Barisha, on June 24th. He explains where and how his arm was blown off and his two friends were killed by U.S. helicopter fire during the attack of the compound of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on October 2019. Click here for the full story.

BURGUNDY, FRANCE — Visitors walk by as construction is afoot at Guédelon castle, in France's northern Burgundy region, where builders and crafts people are using tools and methods from the Middle Ages. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/12/25/1196978793/building-a-new-castle-the-13th-century-way">Click here for the full story.</a> — BURGUNDY, FRANCE — Visitors walk by as construction is afoot at Guédelon castle, in France's northern Burgundy region, where builders and crafts people are using tools and methods from the Middle Ages. Click here for the full story.

BRASÍLIA, BRAZIL — Marta huddles with her team before a friendly game against Chile ahead of the World Cup, on July 2nd. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/21/1188256384/marta-brazil-women-soccer-fifa-world-cup">Click here for the full story.</a> — BRASÍLIA, BRAZIL — Marta huddles with her team before a friendly game against Chile ahead of the World Cup, on July 2nd. Click here for the full story.

ADIYAMAN, TURKEY — Clothing is seen hanging to dry at a camp housing people displaced by the earthquake. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/08/30/1191264192/turkey-earthquake-rebuild-displaced-people-adiyaman">Click here for the full story.</a> — ADIYAMAN, TURKEY — Clothing is seen hanging to dry at a camp housing people displaced by the earthquake. Click here for the full story.

DIYARBAKIR PROVINCE, TURKEY — A member of the Zerzevan castle excavation and restoration team looks into a microscope while scraping a coin found at an archeological site. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/09/01/1191263572/turkey-archaeology-zerzevan-castle-discoveries">Click here for the full story.</a> — DIYARBAKIR PROVINCE, TURKEY — A member of the Zerzevan castle excavation and restoration team looks into a microscope while scraping a coin found at an archeological site. Click here for the full story.

MEDELLÍN, VENEZUELA — Charloth Chirino in her apartment in Medellín. Originally from Maracaibo, Venezuela, Charloth has been living in Colombia for seven years, three of those in Medellín. She has lived her life as a proud trans woman since she was 15 years old, when she also began working as a sex worker. <a href="https://bit.ly/47gZfbq">Click here for the full story.</a> — MEDELLÍN, VENEZUELA — Charloth Chirino in her apartment in Medellín. Originally from Maracaibo, Venezuela, Charloth has been living in Colombia for seven years, three of those in Medellín. She has lived her life as a proud trans woman since she was 15 years old, when she also began working as a sex worker. Click here for the full story.

PANAJACHEL, GUATEMALA — View of Lake Atitlan at dawn on July 25, 2023. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/27/1190427910/a-postcard-from-guatemalas-lake-atitlan">Click here for the full story.</a> — PANAJACHEL, GUATEMALA — View of Lake Atitlan at dawn on July 25, 2023. Click here for the full story.

TAMIAHUA, MEXICO — Women from the Diablos group dance before beginning their performance during the seventh national and international meeting of Afro-Mexican and Afro-descendant women at the fisherman's plaza. <a href="https://n.pr/48BfDEY">Click here for the full story.</a> — TAMIAHUA, MEXICO — Women from the Diablos group dance before beginning their performance during the seventh national and international meeting of Afro-Mexican and Afro-descendant women at the fisherman's plaza. Click here for the full story.

ADEN, YEMEN —A baby is being treated for malnutrition in the neonatal department at Al-Sadaqa hospital. Doctors say they do not have enough equipment or beds to treat all the babies in the unit. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/09/14/1196420876/theres-a-glimmer-of-hope-on-yemens-war-front-yet-children-are-still-dying-of-hun">Click here for the full story.</a> — ADEN, YEMEN —A baby is being treated for malnutrition in the neonatal department at Al-Sadaqa hospital. Doctors say they do not have enough equipment or beds to treat all the babies in the unit. Click here for the full story.

IMI N'TALA, MOROCCO — Civil protection and rescue workers who had been digging out a body from the rubble of a devastating earthquake run in panic during an aftershock in Morocco on Sept. 13. There is danger of more rock falling from the mountain that destroyed the town. <a href="https://n.pr/3NJQ7p1">Click here for the full story.</a> — IMI N'TALA, MOROCCO — Civil protection and rescue workers who had been digging out a body from the rubble of a devastating earthquake run in panic during an aftershock in Morocco on Sept. 13. There is danger of more rock falling from the mountain that destroyed the town. Click here for the full story.

IMI N'TALA, MOROCCO — Walking wounded residents wait as rescue teams and civil protection members search the rubble for bodies of victims that perished in the devastating earthquake in Morocco on September 13, 2023. <a href="https://n.pr/3NJQ7p1">Click here for the full story.</a> — IMI N'TALA, MOROCCO — Walking wounded residents wait as rescue teams and civil protection members search the rubble for bodies of victims that perished in the devastating earthquake in Morocco on September 13, 2023. Click here for the full story.

TIJUANA, MEXICO — Migrants with CBP One asylum appointments at the Chaparral pedestrian border in Tijuana, Mexico cross into the US. <a href="https://bit.ly/3vipRvw">Click here for the full story.</a> — TIJUANA, MEXICO — Migrants with CBP One asylum appointments at the Chaparral pedestrian border in Tijuana, Mexico cross into the US. Click here for the full story.

AMMAN, JORDAN — Syrian refugee Narmeen al-Zamel, with her 3-year-old son. Her husband, Thaer al-Rahal, died along with possibly hundreds of other people in a shipwreck off the Greek coast in June. He left in the hopes of saving his cancer-stricken son. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/06/30/1184583494/migrant-shipwreck-mediterranean-greece-syrian-refugee">Click here to read the full story</a>. — AMMAN, JORDAN — Syrian refugee Narmeen al-Zamel, with her 3-year-old son. Her husband, Thaer al-Rahal, died along with possibly hundreds of other people in a shipwreck off the Greek coast in June. He left in the hopes of saving his cancer-stricken son. Click here to read the full story.

LIBYA — A wooden boat was spotted and rescued overnight in international waters north of Libya by the humanitarian ship Geo Barents, of Doctors Without Borders on Oct. 6, 2023. The wooden boat was carrying 162 people including 22 women and 29 children.

LAMPEDUSA, ITALY — Migrants in Lampedusa's Porto Vecchio wait to be transferred by ferry to Porto Empedocle, from where they will be sent to reception centers across the country, Sept. 22. Most of them arrived during a period when Lampedusa declared a state of emergency due to an influx of about 7,000 migrants in a few days. <a href="https://bit.ly/47kkoBs">Click here for the full story.</a> — LAMPEDUSA, ITALY — Migrants in Lampedusa's Porto Vecchio wait to be transferred by ferry to Porto Empedocle, from where they will be sent to reception centers across the country, Sept. 22. Most of them arrived during a period when Lampedusa declared a state of emergency due to an influx of about 7,000 migrants in a few days. Click here for the full story.

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO — The Central de Abastos is a hive of activity from the early hours of dawn, supplying hundreds of brick-and-mortar shops and roving street markets across Mexico City every day.

BARRANCABERMEJA, COLOMBIA — Yuly Velásquez, president of a local fishers association and a clean-water advocate, has been attacked three times in the past two years for her environmental work. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/12/06/1214170818/colombia-environmentalists-murders-latin-america">Click here for the full story.</a> — BARRANCABERMEJA, COLOMBIA — Yuly Velásquez, president of a local fishers association and a clean-water advocate, has been attacked three times in the past two years for her environmental work. Click here for the full story.

ITAITUBA, BRAZIL — A child plays in a canoe in the waters of the Tapajos River in the indigenous community of the Munduruku ethnic group, Praia do Indio. Indigenous populations in the region suffer from the impact of deforestation and illegal gold mining.

RE'IM, ISRAEL — Sigal Manzuri, whose daughters Norelle and Roya were killed in the Hamas-led attack on the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, embraces one of their friends. Surrounding them are photos of people killed and taken hostage by Hamas militants, displayed at the site as DJs spin music to commemorate victims. <a href="https://n.pr/3vipDVc">Click here for the full story.</a> — RE'IM, ISRAEL — Sigal Manzuri, whose daughters Norelle and Roya were killed in the Hamas-led attack on the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, embraces one of their friends. Surrounding them are photos of people killed and taken hostage by Hamas militants, displayed at the site as DJs spin music to commemorate victims. Click here for the full story.

JENIN, WEST BANK - People walk through the ruins of Al-Ansar mosque in Jenin Refugee camp that was struck by Israeli military in retaliaition to the Hamas attack.<a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/10/30/1209308436/west-bank-israel-jenin-palestinians-killed-raids-airstrike-mosque"> Click here for the full story.</a> — JENIN, WEST BANK - People walk through the ruins of Al-Ansar mosque in Jenin Refugee camp that was struck by Israeli military in retaliaition to the Hamas attack. Click here for the full story.

WEST BANK — Israeli forces take Ayoub Abuhejleh while he was being interviewed by NPR in the West Bank on Nov. 6, 2023. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/11/13/1211987812/israel-hamas-west-bank-gaza-war-conflict-idf">Click here for the full story.</a> — WEST BANK — Israeli forces take Ayoub Abuhejleh while he was being interviewed by NPR in the West Bank on Nov. 6, 2023. Click here for the full story.

BEITUNIA, WEST BANK – Many Palestinian farmers like Thaer Et-Thaer have been forcibly prevented or are too concerned for their safety to reach their olive trees that are located in areas controlled by Israel or near the separation barriers.<a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/12/23/1220073353/palestinian-olive-harvest-west-bank-israel-hamas-war"> Click here for the full story.</a> — BEITUNIA, WEST BANK – Many Palestinian farmers like Thaer Et-Thaer have been forcibly prevented or are too concerned for their safety to reach their olive trees that are located in areas controlled by Israel or near the separation barriers. Click here for the full story.

KFAR KELA, LEBANON — A heavily damaged house after an Israeli attack in Kfar Kela, southern Lebanon, near a wall that Israel built along the countries' border, on Nov. 30. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/12/14/1218729551/lebanon-israel-border-hezbollah-conflict">Click here for the full story. </a> — KFAR KELA, LEBANON — A heavily damaged house after an Israeli attack in Kfar Kela, southern Lebanon, near a wall that Israel built along the countries' border, on Nov. 30. Click here for the full story.

RAFAH, GAZA STRIP — At Mohammed Yousef al-Najjar Hospital, Palestinians mourn children and relatives from four different families killed as Israel resumed its bombing after a week-long cease-fire.