The best photos of the year

In keeping with tradition, Time magazine has chosen the top photos of the year, in a few different categories, shot by photographers around the world. Below are a few examples but the slideshows offered at Time.com provide more than 100 photos, each in a beautiful big-screen format (and with more complete captions). 

A boy draped in an American flag rests on the shoulders of a flag merchant
in Times Square prior to a ticker-tape parade for the U.S. Women's World Cup championship team.
Hilary Swift—The New York Times/Redux

California wildfire
 Tomas Munita—The New York Times/Redux

Refugees fill the streets of a bombed-out section of Damascus, Syria
UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS—Reuters

Tulip fields in the Netherlands

George Steinmetz

The remains of Gaza City
Tomas Munita—The New York Times/Redux

A wounded Syrian girl in a make-shift hospital
Abd Doumany—AFP/Getty Images

The eagle mascot (live bird) for an Italian soccer team takes a seat
Alessandro Bianchi—Reuters

The city of Kobane, near the Turkish border, destroyed in the Syrian civil war
Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty Images

Opening ceremonies for IAAF track and field championships in Beijing, China

DARRIN ZAMMIT LUPI—Reuters

Fleeing refugee family enters Hungary
Bernadett Szabo—Reuters

Fireworks in Malta under a full moon
DARRIN ZAMMIT LUPI—Reuters