Pictures of the year - May

Pictures of the year - May

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In one of many powerful images from May 2013, Palestinians react as a stun grenade is thrown towards them during clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces.

Over the course of the month, demonstrations began in Turkey which grew into a massive show of defiance against the government and India celebrated the centenary of its famous film industry.

. ISTANBUL, Turkey. REUTERS/Osman Orsal

A Turkish riot policeman sprays tear gas during a protest in Istanbul’s Taksim Square. Demonstrations that began peacefully over plans to redevelop the area broadened into huge protests against the government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

Osman Orsal: “When I was on the way to cover a peaceful protest, I had no idea that my picture would become one of the iconic images of a month-long uprising in Turkey.

As I arrived the story was no different from hundreds of demonstrations I have covered as a photojournalist over many years.

A group of environmental activists were occupying Taksim's Gezi Park in order to thwart a reconstruction plan, as part of which dozens of trees were being uprooted.

Riot police equipped with pepper spray launchers and smoke grenades asked them to leave. They resisted.

I photographed as a policeman sprayed a burst of pepper gas at a protester; a woman standing in front of him in a red dress, carrying a handbag and nothing else.

As the peaceful park protests evolved into full-scale countrywide violent clashes in which seven people lost their lives, my picture, the 'woman in red' became one of the iconic images of the conflict.

From tabloids to magazines, banners to wall graffiti, t-shirt prints to even a body tattoo, the 'woman in red' became a well-known figure all around the globe.”

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II, lens 16-35mm, f9, 1/320, ISO 320

. SANTIAGO, Chile. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado

A student protester bites a policeman during a riot at a rally calling for educational reform in Chile.

Ivan Alvarado: “In one of many demonstrations for free, quality public education in Chile, a group of riot police surrounded a couple who stood in an embrace. I could hear the youth screaming at the police but I couldn’t see him, so I stood as tall as possible on the tips of my toes and raised my camera to photograph them as the police tried to separate them.

I could see one policeman pressing his fingers into the youth’s throat, but he resisted and was determined not to be separated from his companion in spite of the tear gas cloud covering them.

As a change of tactic, the officer took his fingers off the student’s throat and forced his arm between the two demonstrators right across the boy’s mouth. That was when he defended himself by biting into the policeman’s arm, protected by body armour.

The policeman pressed the youth’s head against his armour, and blood began to flow from his mouth before the couple was taken away under arrest. They were still in an embrace.”

Camera: Canon EOS 1DX, lens 24mm, f2.8, 1/4000th, ISO 400

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Slideshow

Iron worker Tyler Brown looks out over New York after watching a crane lift the final piece of spire to the top of the One World Trade Center.
. NEW YORK, United States. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Iron worker Tyler Brown looks out over New York after watching a crane lift the final piece of spire to the top of the One World Trade Center.

A man falls from a burning building in central Lahore. Fire erupted on the seventh storey of the structure, and quickly spread to higher floors leaving many trapped inside. At least three people fell from the upper stories as they tried to avoid the fire, according to local media reports.
. Lahore, Pakistan. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

A man falls from a burning building in central Lahore. Fire erupted on the seventh storey of the structure, and quickly spread to higher floors leaving many trapped inside. At least three people fell from the upper stories as they tried to avoid the fire, according to local media reports.

Ram Pratap Verma, a 32-year-old aspiring Bollywood actor, watches a movie at a cinema in Mumbai the day before the 100th anniversary of India’s first feature film.
. MUMBAI, India. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

Ram Pratap Verma, a 32-year-old aspiring Bollywood actor, watches a movie at a cinema in Mumbai the day before the 100th anniversary of India’s first feature film.

Marialena, a 42-year-old homeless AIDS sufferer and former drug addict, sleeps under a bridge in central Athens. There were around 20,000 homeless in Greece in 2012, according to estimates by the non-government organisation Klimaka.
. ATHENS, Greece. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis

Marialena, a 42-year-old homeless AIDS sufferer and former drug addict, sleeps under a bridge in central Athens. There were around 20,000 homeless in Greece in 2012, according to estimates by the non-government organisation Klimaka.

Binata Pinata stands on top of a rock holding a fish that her husband had just caught by Bikeman islet, in the central Pacific island nation of Kiribati. Kiribati lies just metres above the ocean surface and with sea levels rising the country’s president has predicted it will likely become uninhabitable in 30-60 years.
. TARAWA, Kiribati. REUTERS/David Gray

Binata Pinata stands on top of a rock holding a fish that her husband had just caught by Bikeman islet, in the central Pacific island nation of Kiribati. Kiribati lies just metres above the ocean surface and with sea levels rising the country’s president has predicted it will likely become uninhabitable in 30-60 years.

A couple chats as they sit on rocks by the banks of the River Nile.
. CAIRO, Egypt. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih

A couple chats as they sit on rocks by the banks of the River Nile.

A couple waits to participate in a staged mass wedding, organised as part of a matchmaking event to inspire singles to get married in a suburban area of Shanghai.
. SHANGHAI, China. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

A couple waits to participate in a staged mass wedding, organised as part of a matchmaking event to inspire singles to get married in a suburban area of Shanghai.

Danielle Stephan holds her boyfriend Thomas Layton as they pause while going through the remains of a relative’s home, devastated by a tornado that ripped through Moore, Oklahoma.
. MOORE, United States. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

Danielle Stephan holds her boyfriend Thomas Layton as they pause while going through the remains of a relative’s home, devastated by a tornado that ripped through Moore, Oklahoma.

M23 rebel recruits stand to attention during a training session at the Rumangabo military camp in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
. RUMANGABO, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the. REUTERS/James Akena

M23 rebel recruits stand to attention during a training session at the Rumangabo military camp in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Inmates at a high-security male prison camp in Siberia stand inside a temporary cell for new arrivals.
. KRASNOYARSK, Russia. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin

Inmates at a high-security male prison camp in Siberia stand inside a temporary cell for new arrivals.