A look back at 2021 through the lens of Associated Press photographers.
Migrants and refugees of various African nationalities wait for assistance aboard an overcrowded wooden boat in the Mediterranean Sea 122 miles off the coast of Libya as aid workers on the Spanish search and rescue vessel Open Arms approach on Feb. 12, 2021.
- Bruno Thevenin, Associated Press
Carmela Corleto poses for a portrait in the midst of her laundry hanging to dry at her home in Burzaco, Argentina, where she lives alone and waits her turn to get a COVID-19 vaccine, on Feb. 18, 2021. Two months later, she got her first shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
- Natacha Pisarenko, Associated Press
A couple kiss in front of a barricade set on fire by demonstrators during clashes with police following a protest condemning the imprisonment of rap singer Pablo Hasél in Barcelona, Spain, on Feb. 18, 2021. Hasél was convicted of insulting the Spanish monarchy and praising terrorist violence.
- Emilio Morenatti, Associated Press
President-elect Joe Biden, left, and Vice President Mike Pence, right, watch as Lady Gaga steps off the stage after performing the national anthem during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 20, 2021.
- Andrew Harnik, Associated Press
Nepalese supporters of the splinter group in the governing Nepal Communist Party celebrate in Kathmandu on Feb. 23, 2021, after the Supreme Court ordered the reinstatement of Parliament, which had been dissolved by the prime minister.
- Niranjan Shrestha, Associated Press
Health workers arrive with a cooler containing doses of the Sinovac vaccine at a home in the Kalunga Vao de Almas community, a rural area on the outskirts of Cavalcante, Goias state, Brazil, on March 15, 2021. Kalunga Vao de Almas is a traditional community of Black people descended from slaves.
- Eraldo Peres, Associated Press
Medical students grieve and some flash the three-fingered salute during the funeral of their fellow student Khant Ngar Hein in Yangon, Myanmar, on March 16, 2021. Khant Ngar Hein, 18, was shot in the chest two days earlier by security forces during a protest against the military takeover of the country.
- Associated Press
Larrecsa Cox peers around a stairwell in an abandoned home frequented by people struggling with drug addiction in Huntington, W.Va., on March 18, 2021. Cox leads the Quick Response Team, whose mission is to save every person who survives an overdose from the next one.
- David Goldman, Associated Press
With the aid of a flashlight and a kerosene flame, 12-year-old Zairi Olivia, a member of the evangelical Christian sect Israelites of the New Universal Pact, looks at The Children's Illustrated Bible in her house in Jose Carlos Mariategui, Peru, a village in the Amazon rainforest, on March 31, 2021.
- Rodrigo Abd, Associated Press
A protester takes cover behind a tree as the police use a water cannon to clear a group of people in the Bois de la Cambre park in Brussels, where they held an unauthorized gathering despite coronavirus restrictions on April 2, 2021.
- Francisco Seco, Associated Press
Victor Tripiana, 86, reaches out to touch the hand of his daughter-in-law, Silvia Fernandez Sotto, separated by a plastic sheet to prevent the spread of COVID-19, at the Reminiscencias residence for the elderly in Tandil, Argentina, on April 4, 2021.
- Natacha Pisarenko, Associated Press
In this photo created with an in-camera multiple exposure, registered nurse Lisa Lampkin, part of the first group of nurses who had been treating coronavirus patients in an intensive care unit, stands for a photo in the empty COVID-19 ICU at Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, Calif., on April 6, 2021. "I would go home, try to sleep," she says. Then she would "wake up to the reality of this pandemic again."
- Jae C. Hong, Associated Press
Police shine lights on a demonstrator with raised hands during a protest outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department in Brooklyn Center, Minn., on April 14, 2021, over the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop.
- John Minchillo, Associated Press
Military police officer Everaldo Pinto, dressed as superhero Captain America, greets children and encourages them to protect themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic in Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, on April 15, 2021.
- Silvia Izquierdo, Associated Press
A patient in a car receives oxygen provided by a gurdwara, a Sikh place of worship, in New Delhi, India, on April 24, 2021. India's health system has been overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic, leaving patients desperate for oxygen and other supplies.
- Altaf Qadri, Associated Press
A woman carries a wooden cross during a pilgrimage to pray that the Pacaya volcano decreases its activity, in San Vicente Pacaya, Guatemala, on May 5, 2021. The volcano, just 31 miles south of Guatemala's capital, became more active in early February.
- Moises Castillo, Associated Press
A blast from an Israeli airstrike on a building in Gaza City throws dust and debris on May 13, 2021, as Hamas and Israel traded more rockets and airstrikes and Jewish-Arab violence raged across Israel at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
- Hatem Moussa, Associated Press
A fighter loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) mans a guard post on the outskirts of the town of Hawzen, then-controlled by the group but later re-taken by government forces, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia on May 7, 2021.
- Ben Curtis, Associated Press
Riot police officers covered with paint thrown by protesters stand guard as activists try to stop the eviction of Axel Altadill from his apartment in Barcelona, Spain, on May 25, 2021. Altadill has been accused of squatting in the apartment since January 2019.
- Joan Mateu, Associated Press
Impoverished Sri Lankans salvage debris that washed ashore on May 26, 2021, from the burning Singaporean ship X-Press Pearl, which caught fire several days earlier off the coast of Colombo, Sri Lanka. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
- Eranga Jayawardena, Associated Press
Khushi Mir, left, a transgender Kashmiri, relaxes with friends after a meeting of community members in the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, on June 4, 2021. Khushi and four young boys have begun a volunteer group to distribute food kits to the transgender community.
- Dar Yasin, Associated Press
Kian Navales poses at home in Quezon city, Philippines, on July 6, 2021, holding a pillow with a photo on it of his late father, Arthur, who died from COVID-19. Navales, who also had the virus, says he misses going out for noodles with his dad.
- Aaron Favila, Associated Press
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and children read by candle light from the book of Eicha (Book of Lamentations) during the annual Tisha B'Av (Ninth of Av) fasting and memorial day, commemorating the destruction of ancient Jerusalem temples, in the Ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem, on July 17, 2021.
- Oded Balilty, Associated Press
Israeli Arabs stand under a waterfall during the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday at the Gan HaShlosha national park near the northern Israeli town of Beit Shean, on July 21, 2021. Eid al-Adha meaning "Feast of Sacrifice," marks the willingness of the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham to Christians and Jews) to sacrifice his son.
- Oded Balilty, Associated Press
Martine Moise, the widow of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, sits in a car after a ceremony in remembrance of her husband at the Hotel Roi Christophe in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, on July 22, 2021. President Moise was assassinated at his home in Port-au-Prince on July 7 and Martine Moise was wounded in the attack.
- Matias Delacroix, Associated Press
Zenobia Ansualve, 88, eats lunch at her home in Caracas, Venezuela, on Aug. 18, 2021. Ansualve, who lives alone and does not go out because of the coronavirus pandemic, said she lives on $20 a month from renting a room and an elderly friend helps buy her groceries and cook meals.
- Ariana Cubillos, Associated Press
A man crawls away with a donated bag of rice after people temporarily overtook a truck loaded with relief supplies, in Vye Terre, Haiti, on Aug. 20, 2021, almost a week after the country's southwestern peninsula was struck by a 7.2 magnitude quake.
- Fernando Llano
A group of migrants is illuminated by the light of Turkish security forces, who apprehended them in an operation aimed at stemming the recent influx of migration, mainly from Afghanistan, and stopping human trafficking in the border province of Van, Turkey, on Aug. 21, 2021.
- Emrah Gurel, Associated Press
Brad Snyder, a Navy explosives expert who was blinded in a mine explosion in Afghanistan in 2011, prepares tea for his wife in their Princeton, N.J., home on Aug. 4, 2021. Snyder went on to win the gold medal in the Triathlon PTV1 at the Paralympics in Tokyo on Aug. 27, 2021.
- Emilio Morenatti, Associated Press
A carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, of Salt Lake City, on Aug. 29, 2021, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, Hoover died in an attack at Afghanistan's Kabul airport, along with 12 other U.S. service members.
- Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press
Josh Montford rests his head in his hand while going through his flood damaged home in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, on Sept. 1, 2021, in Jean Lafitte, La. "I'm overwhelmed," said Montford as he searched for items to salvage.
- John Locher, Associated Press
Luciana Benetti, 16, embraces her pet pig Chanchi at home in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Sept. 4, 2021. Benetti found her plans for a big traditional 15th birthday party scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year. In its place, her parents gave her a pig, which turned out to be a loyal and loving companion.
- Natacha Pisarenko, Associated Press
A model waits to have her headdress removed after a pr