The Most Powerful Photos of 2015

‘Blood moon’ eclipse

Taken in New Zealand using a 600mm lens on a tripod. It has been cloudy most of the day and they weren’t sure of seeing the eclipse at all.

Usain Bolt is felled by a Segway cameraman

The fastest man in the world was doing his victory lap after winning the 200m at the Beijing World Championships. Dela Pena clicked at the exact moment when the camera guy following Bolt hit the athlete from behind with his Segway, causing the champion to fall backwards.

The body of Alan Kurdi

The photographer told Turkey’s Dogan News Agency,“At that moment, when I saw the three-year-old Alan Kurdi, I was petrified. The only thing I could do was to make his outcry heard. At that moment, I believed I would be able to achieve this by clicking the shutter of my camera, and I took his picture.

“We were covering the illegal transition of migrants to the Greek island of Kos from Bodrum’s coast. Suddenly we noticed the lifeless bodies. We recognised they belonged to toddlers. We were shocked, we felt sorrow for them. I have photographed and witnessed many migrant incidents since 2003 in this region – their deaths, their drama. I hope from today, this will change.”

A man climbs the security fence in Calais

This was taken the night in Coquelles when migrants were running, hoping to evade the police.

African refugee rests after arriving in Gran Canaria

A refugee rests after an exhausting ordeal of spending days on a boat before making land at Gran Canaria.

Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open

Filip waited for three days to be able to take the shot. It was 45C outside and Sharapova was all hot and sweaty. He managed to take the picture the moment she sat on the bench and before she was covered with an umbrella to shade her. Filip wanted to showcase the athlete’s power through her sweat and muscles.

Caitlyn Jenner’s Vanity Fair cover

Leibovitz told Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, “That was one idea with the corset. I originally wanted to be more conservative with her and was looking at photographs of Katharine Hepburn. I realised that whatever look she had was going to be an acquired look. This was an acquired idea of ‘What is a woman?’ What should a woman look like? How does a woman dress up? Who is Caitlyn? I think our whole team really wanted it to be successful for her, and we wanted to take her over the hill. Now I think she has a long road still to go but I think what she’s done so far is pretty amazing.”

A victim lies dead outside the Bataclan theatre in Paris

Delay spotted this body on the pavement and instantly took three frames. It was a hectic moment at the 18th arrondisement and he had a hard time getting through the rescue teams.