These are the images that defined 2014
IT WAS the split-second moment that marked a point of no return. This picture and 16 others are the defining images that changed Australia and the world this year.
THE small, tucked away place of Kobane was thrown onto the world stage this year when Islamic State (ISIS) militants stormed the Kurdish town in northern Syria in September.
It triggered some of the fiercest fighting the world has ever seen and marked a point of no return for the conflict that has now engulfed the region.
The above picture was captured by Getty photographer Gokhan Sahin and shows the moment an explosion rocked Kobane during a reported suicide car bomb attack by the militants of IS.
Getty photographers have covered more than 16,000 news events, 28,000 sporting events and 50,000 entertainment events this year and have witnessed countless moments that rocked the world. Here’s their pick of the defining images of 2014.
DISEASE DISASTER
A woman crawls towards the body of her sister, Mekie Nagbe, 28, as Ebola burial team members take her for cremation on October 10, in Monrovia, Liberia. Nagbe, a market vendor, collapsed and died outside her home earlier in the morning while walking to a treatment centre, according to her relatives. The burial of loved ones is important in Liberian culture, making the removal of infected bodies for cremation all the more traumatic for surviving family members. The World Health Organisation says the Ebola epidemic has now killed more than 4000 people in West Africa.
TOTAL DESPAIR
Debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 is shown smouldering in a field on July 17 in Grabovo, Ukraine, near the Russian border. MH17, on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and carrying 295 passengers and crew, was shot down by a surface-to-air missile, according to US intelligence officials and Ukrainian authorities. The area is under control of pro-Russian militias.
RAINING DOWN
The New Zealand rugby team perform the Haka after winning the final of the 2014 Hong Kong Sevens against England at Hong Kong International Stadium on March 30.
GOODBYE MY FRIEND
Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke pays his respects to his teammate during the funeral service for Phillip Hughes on December 3 in Macksville. Hughes died in November, aged 25, as a result of head injuries sustained during the Sheffield Shield match between South Australia and NSW at the SCG.
ROYAL WALK
LEFT: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William walk down Kuniya Walk at the base of Uluru on April 22. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are on a three-week tour of Australia and New Zealand, the first official trip overseas with their son, Prince George.
BUNNIES WIN
RIGHT: South Sydney Rabbitohs captain John Sutton holds aloft the premiership trophy after winning the 2014 NRL Grand Final.
TIANANMEN 25 YEARS ON
June 4 marked the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Photographer Dario Mitidieri was one of the few photographers to cover the massacre and that same year won Press Photographer of the Year at the British Press Awards for his work. This image from 1989, Beijing, China, shows a wounded soldier of the Chinese army being rescued by students after his tank was destroyed during the Tiananmen Square massacre during the night between June 3 and 4.
DAY OF SILENCE
A Balinese man throws a burned coconut husk during the "Mesabatan Api" ritual ahead of Nyepi Day on March 30 in Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia. Mesabatan Api is held annually a day before the Nyepi Day of Silence, symbolising the purification of the universe and human body through fire. The national holiday is one of self-reflection and meditation and activities such as working, watching television or travelling are restricted between 6am and 6pm.
AUSSIE CHAMP
Australian Nick Kyrgios during his Gentlemen's Singles fourth round match against Rafael Nadal of Spain on day eight of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 1 in London, England.
THE WALL FALLS
The first section of the Berlin Wall is pushed down by crowds of determined people on the morning of November 10, 1989 — 25 years ago this year.
GRAND PRIX CRASH
Japan’s Kamui Kobayashi gets off the track after crashing into Felipe Massa of Brazil and Williams during the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park on March 16 in Melbourne.
FLANDERS SOLDIERS
June 28 was the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand — the shot that would bring the world to war. Supporting troops of the 1st Australian Division here are walking on a duckboard track near Hooge, in the Ypres Sector. They form a silhouette against the sky as they pass towards the front line to relieve their comrades, whose attack the day before won Broodseinde Ridge and deepened the Australian advance.
HAWKS FLY HIGH
Hawks players celebrate with the Premiership Cup during the 2014 AFL Grand Final match between the Sydney Swans and the Hawthorn Hawks at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on September 27.
SOCHI
Krystyna Palka of Poland competes during the Women’s 4 x 6km Relay during day 14 of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at Laura Cross-country Ski and Biathlon Center on February 21 in Russia.
FERGUSON OUTRAGE
Police force protesters from the business district into nearby neighbourhoods on August 11 in Ferguson, Missouri. Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets as residents and their supporters protested the shooting by police of an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown who was killed in St Louis. The day before, 32 arrests were made after protests turned into rioting and looting in Ferguson.
GRUDGE MATCH
Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone attend the Grudge Match premiere on January 7 in Rome, Italy.
You can vote for the images of 2014 that move you via yearinfocus.gettyimages.com
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