This has been another year filled with news stories and photos that can often be difficult or disturbing to view. I’ve made it an annual tradition, after rounding up the “news photos of the year,” to compose an essay of uplifting images from the past 12 months—an effort to seek out and recognize some of the abundant joy and kindness present in the world around us. The following are images from the past year of personal victories, families and friends at play, expressions of love and compassion, volunteers at work, assistance being given to those in need, and small and pleasant moments.
Hopeful Images From 2022
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Tamer Yagmur, who works as a tradesman, walks with his goose, Alvin, in a supermarket in Ankara, Turkey, on April 19, 2022. Alvin follows his owner everywhere and does whatever Yagmur does, including going to the market, bank, and work. #
Evrim Aydin / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
Bryan Rosel and his wife, Magdalena Llanque—who met more than a year ago through social media—kiss after getting married during a mass wedding ceremony, where 50 couples were wed on the shore of Lake Titicaca in the Aymara district of Acora in Puno, Peru, on August 20, 2022. #
Carlos Mamani / AFP / Getty -
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Victoria Harris, a staff member for Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva, holds Clover, a 9-month-old female kangaroo, at the Secretary of State building in Sacramento, California, on May 17, 2022. SeaWorld displayed Clover and other rescued and rehabilitated animals for state lawmakers and their staff to demonstrate the importance of conservation and animal care. #
Rich Pedroncelli / AP -
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A visually impaired student enjoys the water at El-Mandara beach—the first "beach for the blind" in the country—on the Mediterranean coast in Alexandria, Egypt, on July 11, 2022. #
Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters -
Salla, a Delta therapy dog, visits an emergency-department patient during a "Paws the Pressure" session at St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, Australia, on August 17, 2022. Therapy dogs were introduced to the hospital's emergency ward in late 2021 and also provide comfort to staff during the added pressure of the coronavirus pandemic. #
Lisa Maree Williams / Getty -
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A three-legged raccoon named Marvin is pictured in the home of Mathilde Laininger in Berlin, Germany, on January 25, 2022. In her home, Laininger, a former veterinarian, cares for four raccoons that can no longer be released into the wild. #
Stefanie Loos / AFP / Getty -
First-year students of the University of St Andrews take part in the annual "Raisin Monday Shaving Foam Fight" at the Lower College Lawn, in St Andrews, Scotland, on October 17, 2022. #
Andy Buchanan / AFP / Getty -
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An elephant keeper caresses Naesemare, a one-month-old calf, at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary at the Namunyak Wildlife Conservancy in Samburu, Kenya, on October 12, 2022. Naesemare was recently rescued from a dry well after being left behind by her herd. Reteti Elephant Sanctuary has been overwhelmed with rescue operations and an influx of orphaned and abandoned calves due to the current drought in the Namunyak Wildlife Conservancy, where they operate. #
Luis Tato / AFP / Getty -
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Pete, an eight-week-old German Shepherd, gets a treat from his puppy raiser, as they practice the "sit" command while a tinsel heart is placed over his head. Pete was in a Guiding Eyes for the Blind foundation class at St. Matthew's United Methodist Church, in Bowie, Maryland, on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2022. #
Carolyn Kaster / AP -
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Carola Weidemann poses with her small Shetland pony, Pumuckel, at her farm in Breckerfeld, Germany, on November 2, 2022. Due to a congenital short stature, Pumuckel—who works as a therapy pony—has a shoulder height of about 50 centimeters. Weidemann plans to register the horse next year as the smallest pony in the world with the Guinness Book of Records. #
Stephane Nitschke / Reuters -
A girl stretches out her arms as a quartet performs classical music at a bus stop in Bucharest, Romania, on May 29, 2022. A main boulevard in the Romanian capital becomes a pedestrian area on summer weekends, and various artists offer free performances for the public. #
Vadim Ghirda / AP -
Juan Carlos Rodriguez holds on to Chuwie, a sloth, in San Antonio, on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela, on March 12, 2022. Juan Carlos and his wife, Haydee, have transformed their home into a sloth-rescue-and-rehabilitation center that seeks to care for and release sloths that have suffered electric shocks or accidents. #
Ariana Cubillos / AP -
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