2005 Photos of the year

Tsunami

After loss, a renewal. Last year's tsunami wiped out towns, washed away roads, and literally carved new coastlines across Southeast Asia. The waves also reshaped the political landscape in Indonesia. A landmark peace deal is bringing an end to a decades-old separatist conflict – the disaster has pushed leaders to press on where past deals failed. And America's rush to help with relief efforts more than doubled the number of Indonesians with favorable views of the US. View gallery

Washington

The first year of President Bush's second term was arguably his most politically challenging yet. Despite the upbeat mood of the inauguration and some important legislative victories – including winning confirmation for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts – the president's approval ratings sank as the year wore on. The slow federal response to hurricane Katrina and the CIA-leak case cast administration officials in a harsh light, while ethics charges gave several members of Congress unwanted notoriety. Still, at year's end, Mr. Bush was edging up in polls. View gallery

Iraq

Lives in transition. Over the past year, Iraq went from having a draft charter to a national Constitution. Its transitional lawmakers competed with others for permanent office. Cities once controlled by insurgents were guarded by US Marines. The Monitor's staff writer Scott Peterson chronicled much of this transition. After witnessing the 2004 assault on Fallujah, he returned this year to see how marines were rebuilding. He also covered last January's election for a transitional assembly and listened to many of the competing voices in the country's constitutional debate. And in the north, Scott saw how Kurds are embracing new freedoms, while not forgetting the brutality of Saddam Hussein's Iraq. View gallery

Hurricane Katrina

It was not even the strongest storm of the 2005 season. But by the time it finished thrashing the Gulf Coast, hurricane Katrina's wind, waves, and flooding had killed more than 1,300 people and displaced at least 1 million more. All told, it was the costliest natural disaster in American history.

In the aftermath of this late-summer tempest, the nation was stunned by scenes of survivors in desperate straits – and government agencies struggling to come to their aid.

But as grief and anger began to recede along with the flood-waters, the nation also saw pictures and stories of hope. Families were reunited. Pets were rescued. Some evacuees returned to New Orleans, vowing to rebuild. Others started over in faraway places. Strangers opened their wallets – and their doors – to those in need. View gallery

Features

A photograph's telling moment is not always filled with headline news. Quieter dramas unfolded in front of our photographers' lenses this year: the wear of waiting your turn at the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., or preteen Chinese gymnasts at a Beijing school preparing for their workout – and for the 2012 Olympics. Female students from Harvard's Business School attended a golf workshop to practice the 'informal network' skills they will need to advance their careers. And a dogged wilderness advocate – make that two dogged advocates – stood by the Upper Moose River in Maine, an area being eyed for development.

Life changes. The Earth turns, the sun rises and sets, and peoples' lives and stories continue to unfold. In a way, photos put a stop to this forward motion. Images freeze time and lead viewers to reflect on a specific moment. Whether it's a view of ground zero in New York City, a migrant family settling into a new home, a capuchin monkey training to help a quadriplegic live more freely, or a Sunday service at a 200-year-old African-American church, these photographs let us extract meaning from life's moments, one click at a time. View gallery