The Associated Press has released its selection of the top 100 photographs of 2025, offering a visual record of a year marked by conflict, protest, natural disaster and moments of quiet beauty. Drawn from the work of AP photojournalists across more than 200 locations worldwide, the collection captures both the frenzied and the contemplative.
The images range from a fire engulfing a beachfront property in Malibu, California, photographed by Etienne Laurent, to Robert F. Bukaty's shot of a sturgeon leaping through the waters of Maine. Elsewhere, Aaron Favila captured men gathering to salvage electrical wire after a fire in the Philippines, while Petros Giannakouris framed the Parthenon against the night sky.
Some photographs offer stark juxtapositions. Niranjan Shrestha photographed a demonstrator in Nepal who seized a flak jacket and shield from a police officer during protests, while Andy Wong captured a woman joyfully jumping into an ice pool in northeastern China. Both images depict outstretched arms, yet in vastly different contexts.
The selection also records profound grief. Julia Demaree Nikhinson photographed Erika Kirk wiping a tear at a memorial for her husband, slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Another image shows a gravely injured Palestinian woman holding her infant daughter at Nasser Hospital in Gaza after an Israeli airstrike. The photographer, Mariam Dagga, was later killed in a separate airstrike while covering the same hospital.
AP's photojournalists have been trusted witnesses to news for over a century, winning 36 Pulitzer Prizes since the award's establishment in 1917. Beyond simply recording events, the photographers use light, colour and perspective to create images that resist forgetting. As the year-end selection demonstrates, their work serves as a collective memory of a chaotic and connected world.
