This year proved challenging for reporters with coronavirus restrictions making it more difficult for journalists to reach people around the world. That’s why, in part, many of the images you see below are not just photography but also infographics and illustrations, which offer a different – but no less evocative – visual perspective on people’s stories.
Photography remains more important than ever in a year where a focus on statistics risks overlooking the human impact not just of the pandemic – but of wars and demonstrations. The images below don’t tell the full story of 2020, but they offer a glimpse into a year of crisis that changed our lives.
War in the Caucasus
In the middle of the pandemic, war broke out in central Asia. Armenia and Azerbaijan fought for six brutal weeks over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognised as Azerbaijani territory but traditionally populated by a majority of ethnic Armenians. The war ended on 10 November, after Russia brokered a ceasefire, but clashes have been reported since.
