Pictures of the year - July

A runner named Diego Miralles is gored by a bull during the San Fermin festival in Pamplona.

Susana Vera: “My mother grew up watching the San Fermin bull runs from the same balcony on Estafeta Street from which I took the photo of Diego Miralles getting gored by an El Pilar fighting bull named “Langostero”.

I have been going to that very same balcony, which happens to be at my uncle’s dental clinic, once every San Fermin festival since 2005, when I first started photographing the running of the bulls in Pamplona. But I had never documented such a terrifying moment in the past.

That morning my blood froze in my veins as I witnessed for a whole minute how “Langostero” repeatedly charged at Diego Miralles, goring him three times, in his groin and legs.

I never thought 60 seconds could feel so long. I kept on taking photos, trying to stay focused and still as the drama unfolded in front of my camera. For a while I heard nothing, I’m not sure if my brain just blocked the noise off or people went mute for a few seconds.

And then, all of a sudden, I heard screams and the sobbing of a young girl that had come to the balcony with her family to watch the bull run. The tears of a middle-aged woman followed.

I didn’t put the camera down until I saw another runner help Diego Miralles get through the fence to receive medical treatment. Miralles could have died that morning. He said in a newspaper interview that he thanks Saint Fermin, the protector of runners, for watching over him.

“Langostero”, the bull who could have killed him, was killed himself during the afternoon bullfight. The other five bulls that ran the “encierro” with him that morning met the same fate on the sand of Pamplona’s bullring."

Camera: Canon EOS 1DX, lens 70-200mm, f5, 1/500, ISO 2000 ISO

Nineteen-year-old Song Xuxia receives treatment at a hospital after a 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit China’s Gansu province. Her leg, waist and face were injured after the quake left her trapped in a collapsed house. Fortunately, villagers heard her cry and managed to pull her out of the debris in time, according to local media.

Wang Yixuan: “I was deployed to cover the earthquake aftermath with the second group of journalists from my paper. I went with text reporters directly to the Minxian hospital.

My main assignment was to photograph the injured people. From when I set foot inside the hospital, I saw victims of different ages and conditions. I decided to shoot a set of profile pictures of them. In the long corridor of the hospital, I was drawn to a girl sitting on a bed, especially by her eyes, which gave away a mixture of insecurity and panic.

It was obvious by the look on her face and her messy hair what she might have witnessed during the disaster. I tried my best not to bother her but I also tried to capture her heartbreaking expression. She told me she was scared.

The girl’s relative was there when I took the picture, helping her comb her hair and clean her feet.”

Camera: Nikon D3, lens 35mm, f1.4, 1/250, ISO 2500