Year in Pictures a labor of love for New York Times photo editor
NEW YORK (WABC) -- A picture is worth a thousand words and a team of journalists at the New York Times has spent the past several months poring over the most powerful pictures from around the world to tell the story of 2024.
With 2024 now behind us, we take a look back at some of the most powerful moments of the year.
"I love it. I've been doing it for about 16 years, and it's the high point of my year," said Jeffrey Henson Scales, a photo editor with The New York Times.
Henson Scales is part of a team at The New York Times which spends months pulling together the publication's Year in Pictures.
"We usually go through about 400,000 pictures and we edit it chronologically," Henson Scales said.
Eyewitness News Reporter Kemberly Richardson first met Henson Scales in 2020, during the pandemic with the Times dictating the terms.
Four years later, he said politics and world conflicts were driving forces. He shared a haunting image of a soldier in Ukraine firing on Russian Troops.
"He's getting it just as the blast is going off and all the leaves and debris are flying up," Henson Scales said.
You can't help but be drawn into the photograph of a student at UCLA looking out at an encampment.
There's a critical skill Henson Scales feels is needed to capture exceptional images.
"You have to anticipate moments and position yourself, thinking this might be a good spot," he said.
In another photo, the contrast is striking. A little girl playing outside of a former school in Haiti that's now a shelter for families displaced by gang violence.
The team tries to strike a balance, in the end, narrowing down hundreds of thousands of photos from all over the world to just 113.
"It seems like a monumental task. It can be exhausting and the whiplash effect when you are going through," Henson Scales said. "After 10,000, ok it's time for a nap."
Looking ahead to 2025, Henson Scales predicts more remarkable photos will be captured during the inauguration, conflict in Syria, and as the country comes to terms with immigration.
"Looking at great photography is a really great way to look at the news and look at the world, it can't be beaten," he said.
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