NPR’s Favorite Visual Stories Of 2018

A look back at a collection of memorable visual stories from the year.

How One Photographer Documented The Segregated South   Hugh Mangum/Courtesy of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. Monumental shifts were occurring in America during the height of the Jim Crow era when photographer Hugh Mangum was working in North Carolina and the Virginias. He left behind an archive of playful portraits that tell a different story of the segregated South at the turn of the 20th century. The playful portraits show people with quirky gestures — hands behind the head, a single finger hooked over a lip, two hands intertwined. His subjects are often smiling or appear to be laughing, which makes Mangum’s pictures utterly unique in early 1900’s portraiture.   Where the driveway ends Greg Miller The day after the deadly 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, photographer Greg Miller went to Newtown, Conn., on assignment to photograph the aftermath of the massacre. 'There was no picture to be made,' Miller says. His recent photo series, Morning Bus, explores the quiet solitude of children as they wait for their morning bus to school. Inside A North Korea That Is Changing — But At Its Own Pace   David Guttenfelder for NPR NPR journalists Mary Louise Kelly and Becky Sullivan and freelance photographer David Guttenfelder were among the some 150 foreign reporters who visited North Korea at the invitation of the government, to cover celebrations commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Guttenfelder’s photos captured life in Pyongyang, which looks increasingly modern, as do a handful of other cities targeted for development.   Illustrated Scenes From The March For Our Lives Protest LA Johnson/NPR Families, students, teachers and activists descended upon Washington, D.C., on March 24, 2018. People came in droves by car and plane and bus to rally for tougher gun control measures in response to the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. As students delivered speech after speech, making emotional appeals for action, their supporters listened with rapt attention. NPR’s LA Johnson went to the march with a sketchbook and pens, and illustrated what she saw that day.   In The Coal Counties Of Central Appalachia   Carol Guzy for NPR NPR visited Buchanan, Va., to profile Kyle Johnson, who began working in a coal mine as a "red hat," or rookie in training. Photographer Carol Guzy’s images of Johnson are part of a series on coal country by NPR's Embedded podcast. Becoming Miss Navajo Nation   Caitlin O'Hara for NPR Beauty — or Hózhó to the Diné, or Navajo, people — symbolizes living in harmony and balance with the Earth, the spirits in the plants and animals, with the sky and with one another. Photographer Caitlin O’Hara visited contestants of the Miss Navajo Nation pageant as they competed in the weeklong celebration of the Beauty Way. Pageant winners exemplify the many roles Diné women play in their matrilineal society. They will be goodwill ambassadors, lead community initiatives and help preserve the teachings, language and culture passed down to them from their mothers, aunties and grandmothers. — Written and edited by Jill Hudson   You received this message because you're subscribed to our Best of NPR emails. |  Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy | NPR 1111 N. CAPITOL ST. NE WASHINGTON DC 20002