"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera," says the American photographer Dorothea Lange.

Taking pictures is not just about capturing a moment - it is about bringing an audience closer to understanding it. In 2024, photographs placed us in the thick of a number of historical turning points, from would-be presidential assassinations to the prospect of climate apocalypse.

1. Climate carnage. In October 2024, images of cars swept away by flooding and torrential rainfall in eastern Spain spread across the world. The disaster, which killed at least 230 people, covered whole towns in mud and laid waste to roads, rail lines and bridges.¹ These were the starkest images of the impact of extreme weather so far.² At COP29The 29th Conference of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11-22 November, 2024., pictures of the flooding were described as a "wake-up call" to lawmakers legislating on climate change.

2. Soup coup. If you saw images from September of tomato soup splattered all over Van Gogh's sunflower paintings, you might have felt a touch of deja vuA sense that something you have not seen before is somehow familiar. It is a French phrase meaning "already seen" or "seen before".. That is because two young people from Just Stop OilA UK environmental activist group which uses direct action to protest against fossil fuel production. did the same thing two years ago. And this year, just two hours after they were jailed, three protesters from the same organisation walked into the National Gallery once again, soup in hand.

3. Presidential potshot. Few would argue that this is anything other than the image of the year. On 13 July in Butler, Pennsylvania, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt. As the bullet whistled past, clipping his ear, Trump briefly fell to the ground and took cover. But he promptly stood up, pumping his fist in the air. "Fight!" he screamed, the blood streaming down his face and ear.

4. Milkshake madness. Victoria Thomas Bowen did not set out to become infamous. But then she ran into Reform UK leader Nigel Farage in her hometown of Clacton-on-Sea. Soon, startling photos went viral showing an elegant arc of yellow McDonald's milkshake spattering Farage's face. Thomas Bowen was later charged with assault.

Are images more powerful than words?

Yes: The brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text. It is a universal language which transcends language barriers and impacts us all equally, as humans, without the need for interpretation.

No: Words can provide depth and specificity that images often lack. They can also move us, capturing complex ideas, nuance, and abstract concepts that you might not find in a photograph.

Or... It depends on the medium. In journalism, there is space for both photography and written pieces depending on the story being told. They can both move and inform us equally, but we need to be careful about where and how we use them.