Photo finish 2022: A year of insight and connection

An Andean plateau. A Ukrainian church. A Florida swamp. These are just a few places brought to life for readers by Monitor photographers in the past year. Our photographers hope that all their images make an impression on readers. But the team’s favorite photos of the year “left a mark on us in some memorable way,” says Director of Photography Alfredo Sosa. “They touched you, or surprised you.”

Many of the images that mean the most to the team are those in which they forged bonds with their subjects. “We feel we made a human connection,” Alfredo says, “because we try to understand, relate to, and share the experience of the subject. It’s a partnership.”

Other favorites reflect a certain level of difficulty or perseverance to get the shot. And some are relished for their unexpectedness, such as the otherworldly scene at the top of this page, captured by Alfredo during a trip to Chile for a June 6, 2022, cover story about lithium mining.

“Our hope is that we can be a vehicle for the reader to connect and understand what it’s like to be there, to be the person,” he says.

Resilience and grace in a nation under siege

When Russian troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Monitor correspondent and photographer Scott Peterson was eager to travel there. His experience on the front lines of other conflicts, and his “propensity for proximity,” as one editor describes it, give his photos a feeling of immediacy and intimacy.  

Scott, who took four reporting trips to Ukraine last year, often makes return visits to people he met on previous forays, including those whose loved ones died in the fighting. “Scott dives into a place and keeps visiting to see how people and situations change over time,” says Alfredo Sosa, the Monitor’s director of photography.

Scott’s work captures Ukrainians’ grief and resilience, vulnerability and defiance. And also their exhaustion, as shown in the gesture of a soldier near Izium (1). As families moved to shelters to escape bombardment, Scott caught images of children playing in the underground sanctuary of a church in Odesa (2). He also impresses on viewers the quiet dignity of a woman surveying the damage to her apartment in a Kyiv suburb (3) as she considers the effort to rebuild.    

At the same time, he unflinchingly portrays the devastation of war, including the aftermath of a Ukrainian airstrike on a Russian armored column (4) northwest of Kyiv. “Stark as these scenes may be, I aim to show with my photographs how people find it within themselves to cope and conquer, even in small ways,” says Scott.

Moments of affection and grace were also cataloged, like a bulwark of normalcy in a careening world. A couple in Odesa share an embrace in front of a coffee shop window that’s been taped against explosions (5). And emergency workers speed efforts to clear rubble (6) from a Ukrainian school used as a Russian military base in Izium.

Among the most compelling images are those that enable the viewer to enter the scene, such as that of a young Ukrainian soldier preparing to pray by lighting candles in church (7). “You don’t feel like you’re intruding; you’re sharing the moment with them,” Alfredo says. That’s also true of the photo of a soldier holding two roses in tribute to fallen comrades (8).

The hopefulness of the returnee is captured on the face of a young woman who fled to Poland but is boarding a train back to Kyiv (9). And two brothers in the Donbas region have adapted to frequent stays in the storage cellar behind their house that serves as a shelter (10). “Ukraine is full of war and despair, but it should be the photographer’s mission to also show how its people are resilient, courageous, and even hopeful,” says Scott. 

All Scott Peterson photos are also found at Getty Images.

In search of politics that unite

The Monitor’s political coverage seeks to unite, rather than divide. From a flag-waving supporter (1) of a Republican congresswoman in Texas to voters in Ohio listening to Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan (2), the midterm elections were an opportunity to build understanding. While staff photographers bore witness to the tremendous, sprawling spectacle of American politics, they also captured quieter moments, like that conveyed in the portrait of congressional staffer Rosario Duran (3) on Capitol Hill.

They immersed themselves in the thick of difficult conversations, such as those among participants in a project in Ohio to teach the techniques of constructive disagreement (4). Always, they kept an eye out for telling visual details and cover-worthy images, like the bejeweled elephant spotted at a Republican primary event in Arizona (5).

“Part of the job is to anticipate what’s going to happen,” says photographer Ann Hermes. On the campaign trail, “you have to think about what direction the candidate will turn and be ready,” she says.

When work transcends the task at hand

Work “is about a search ... for daily meaning as well as daily bread,” wrote Studs Terkel in his seminal 1974 book, “Working,” in which ordinary Americans talked about their livelihoods. 

Monitor photographers consider it a privilege to capture the meaning and purpose that people find on the job. Take the band Bent Knee, whose passion for music jumps off the stage (1) during a performance. The musicians are doing what they love. That’s equally true for Samsara Duffey, a fire spotter who has spent 26 seasons as the sole resident in a remote lookout tower, keeping watch over her beloved Montana wilderness (2).

Professional life can sometimes feel scripted. But when unexpected moments happen, like a fist bump (3) between Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Police Commissioner Michael Cox, a routine press conference can become a moment of solidarity and friendship.

Even repetitive tasks can transform when pursued with precision and care, as seen by a server creating an intimate dining experience in a New York restaurant shed (4).  

During a visit to the studio of collage artist Ekua Holmes (5), photographer Melanie Stetson Freeman found an appreciation for light and color that mirrored her own. The artist and photographer shared a common visual language. “She understood what I was looking for,” Melanie says.

 

Dedication to a job well done can be about more than the task at hand. It’s a contribution to a greater whole. In Canada, a farmer offers the same care he shows his cows (6) to the soil that nourishes his farm, through regenerative farming practices. 

The world of work prizes ingenuity and patience to create new paths toward prosperity. In Maine, an aquafarmer harvests kelp (7), an innovative catch that is helping lobster companies stay afloat in the offseason.  

The commitment of these workers makes them not only compelling subjects, but also inspiring examples. They motivate all of us to see past daily breadwinning toward a greater, more fundamental purpose.

Where the world is the classroom

Learning takes place everywhere, not just in the classroom. Our photographers found many opportunities to shine light on these moments of transformation. In Chicago, Melanie Stetson Freeman captured an “aha” moment for a young man (1) who was discovering alternatives to gang life. 

Alfredo Sosa witnessed young military officers at Fort Benning in Georgia (2) wrestle with the concept of ethical warfare and the tough leadership decisions they may someday need to make. 

Learning can open new worlds, such as through a telescope a little girl in California borrows from her local library (3) or during a flight lesson (4). Ann Hermes, who took both photos, was struck by the confidence of both subjects. The young girl at the library needed no prompting, but plunked herself down with a self-possessed expression. Ann was also impressed by the determination of the pilot-in-training in Oakland, whose instructors broke down barriers for her and other underserved students.

These photographs show the ways that teachers help guide and nurture, like the tutor in a Tennessee classroom (5), and how students take agency in their own education, like the group of girls in Florida (6) planning community service projects.

Wonders of the animal world

It’s no mystery that staff photographer Melanie Stetson Freeman adores animals. Her portfolio is bursting with shots of creatures great and small from every kind of habitat.

This year, she caught a glassy sweeper fish egg just moments before it hatched (1) at a lab in Rhode Island. In her favorite shoot, she traveled to Minnesota for a story about Lynn Rogers, who has been studying black bears for decades. There she met Elvis, a wild black bear (2), eating peanuts at a picnic table. Bears, she says, have personalities just like humans.

In New Mexico, she was fortunate to photograph Navajo-Churro sheep (3), guarded by huge white Great Pyrenees dogs, before the flock took off out of sight. There’s never any guarantee that the animals will be around when she arrives, or that they’ll stay put. And sometimes, the “wrong ones” wander into the picture. The unpredictability is part of the charm, Melanie says. But when the timing is just right, as in her shot of a white ibis (4) soaring over the Florida Everglades, the world opens up for photographer and viewer alike. 

On that same trip to the Florida Everglades, she was particularly amused by a tricolored heron chick in its nest (5), looking somewhat annoyed, with its outlandish feathers sticking up like a punk rocker. Alfredo Sosa had a similar experience in Argentina, when he captured a delightful crowd of pigs (6) – wonderful pink snouts and all. “I was channeling Mel,” Alfredo says. Whoever frames the shot, Melanie says, the result is pure joy.