The Most Captivating Photos Of 2022

The year 2022 is over and much of it was a complete blur. 

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Even though this past year seemed to fly by, there were many moments that took our collective breath away. 

The world cried when we all read the news of the mass shooting at the Tops Supermarket in Buffalo.

But the world also cheered as Serena Williams played her last US Open match. 

It was a year of joy, but also a year of pain as we lost some of our culture’s most influential people. 

Brittney Griner’s story also captivated the world. She spent nearly 10 months in a Russian prison until she was released on Dec. 8, 2022. 

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Another hot-button issue of the year was the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. The decision sparked nationwide protests and some believe it played an important role in Democrats retaking the Senate in the 2022 midterm elections. 

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The world also tuned in to watch the televised hearings of the Select Committee’s investigation into the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol when supporters of President Donald Trump attacked the Capitol building in an attempt to disrupt a congressional vote to confirm the electoral college win for Joe Biden.

The captivating testimony of several witnesses had folks glued to their seats. 

One of the more odd moments of the year was the trial of actor Jussie Smollett. Smollett claimed he was racially attacked, but he was found guilty of lying to police and was sentenced to 150 days in jail.

There were also some notable firsts as Rep. Hakeem Jeffries was elected the first Black House Democratic leader for the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 30, 2022.

You can tell an amazing story with a photo. That’s why we’ve compiled some of the best photos of 2022, to sum up, what was no doubt a fascinating year.

Below is a NewsOne exclusive round-up of the most captivating photos of 2022. Never forget the joy and always remember the folks we lost. Happy New Year to all. MORE: August Wilson’s Iconic Play ‘The Piano Lesson’ Returns To Broadway With A Star-Studded Adaptation

1. Brittney Griner In Russia Jail

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – JULY 27: Brittney Griner in a Russian court in Moscow, Russia on July 27, 2022. (Photo for The Washington Post via Getty Images) 

2. Funeral Held For Police Shooting Victim Patrick Lyoya

WYOMING, MICHIGAN – APRIL 22: Dorcas Lyoya, the mother of Patrick Lyoya, mourns the loss of her son as he is laid to rest at Resurrection Cemetery on April 22, 2022, in Wyoming, Michigan. Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old immigrant from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, died after being shot in the back of the head by a Grand Rapids police officer following a traffic stop on April 4. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) 

3. 16th Annual Dance Parade

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 21: A mother pours water on one of the dancers in the Brooklyn Royal Diamonds Dance troop during the 16th annual Dance Parade on May 21, 2022, in New York City.  The dance parade returned this year after being canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite extreme temperatures reaching above 90 degrees, the parade returned with over 80 different dance groups and over 10,000 performers. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images) 

4. Uvalde Families Grieve For Loved Ones Killed In School Mass Shooting

UVALDE, TEXAS – JUNE 03: Flowers and photographs are seen at a memorial dedicated to the victims of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School on June 3, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. 19 students and two teachers were killed on May 24 after an 18-year-old gunman opened fire inside the school. Wakes and funerals for the 21 victims are scheduled throughout the week. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) 

5. Farwell Serena Williams

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 02: Serena Williams of the United States thanks the fans after being defeated by Ajla Tomlijanovic of Australia during their Women’s Singles Third Round match on Day Five of the 2022 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 02, 2022, in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

6. The U.S. Supreme Court Overturns Roe V. Wade

WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 24: Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) speaks to Abortion-rights activists after the announcement to the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24, 2022, in Washington, DC. The Court’s decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health overturns the landmark 50-year-old Roe v Wade case and erases a federal right to an abortion. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) 

7. Protest Against Killing Of 16-Year-Old By Police In Germany

DORTMUND, GERMANY – AUGUST 10: Protesters march in the city center to demonstrate against the recent death of a 16-year-old boy at the hands of police on August 10, 2022, in Dortmund, Germany. The boy, a refugee originally from Senegal, reportedly threatened police on Monday with a long knife in a situation that escalated until a police officer opened fire with an automatic weapon, hitting the boy with five bullets. (Photo by Hesham Elsherif/Getty Images) 

8. Uganda Battles Seventh Ebola Outbreak Since 2000

MUBENDE, UGANDA – OCTOBER 13: Red Cross workers carry a body bag containing a 3-year-old boy suspected of dying from Ebola on October 13, 2022, in Mubende, Uganda. Emergency response teams, isolation centers, and treatment tents have been set up by the Ugandan health authorities around the central Mubende district after 17 recorded deaths and 48 confirmed cases from an outbreak of the Ebola virus. The first death from this outbreak of the Ebola-Sudan strain of the virus was announced on 19 September and as yet, there is no vaccine for this strain. (Photo by Luke Dray/Getty Images) 

9. At Least 5 Dead And 25 Injured In Colorado Springs Gay Nightclub Shooting

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – NOVEMBER 23: Mourners visit a memorial outside of Club Q on November 23, 2022, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. A gunman opened fire inside the LGBTQ+ club on November 19th, killing 5 and injuring 25 others. (Photo by Chet Strange/Getty Images) 

10. Jussie Smollett Sentenced For Disorderly Conduct Convictions

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – MARCH 10: Actor Jussie Smollett is led out of the courtroom after being sentenced at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on March 10, 2022, in Chicago, Illinois. Jussie Smollett was found guilty late last year of lying to police about a hate crime after he reported to police that two masked men physically attacked him, yelling racist and anti-gay remarks near his Chicago home in 2019. He was sentenced to 150 days in jail, 30 months probation, ordered to pay $120,000 restitution to the city of Chicago, and fined $25,000. (Photo by Brian Cassella-Pool/Getty Images) 

11. Jon Batiste Leads The Way At The Grammy Awards

TOPSHOT – US singer Jon Batiste poses in the press room with his Grammys during the 64th Annual Grammy Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. – This year’s leading Grammy nominee Jon Batiste soared past his heavyweight competition to win the coveted Album of the Year award for “We Are” (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images) 

12. Easter In Sierra Leone

TOPSHOT – A follower of the Maroon Society and Methodist church wears a side hat ahead of an Easter Sunday service at the historic two-hundred and thirty-year-old Zion Wilberforce Chapel in Freetown on April 17, 2022. The Maroon Church is one of the oldest churches in Sierra Leone, founded in 1808 by the Maroons.  (Photo by JOHN WESSELS / AFP) (Photo by JOHN WESSELS/AFP via Getty Images) 

13. Super Flower Blood Moon lunar eclipse

Huntington Beach, CA – May 15: The Super Flower Blood Moon lunar eclipse is viewed from, Huntington Beach, CA on Sunday, May 15, 2022. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Sunday’s full moon will be the first supermoon of 2022, with three more sets to occur this year. During the so-called super moon, the moon appears larger and brighter in the sky than it does at other times. Each month’s full moon has its unique name, and in May, the flower moon takes to the skies over Earth. According to Live Science, the sun’s light rays can get around the Earth during an eclipse, but as they do so, they first go through the planet’s atmosphere, scattering shorter-wavelength blue light from reaching the moon’s surface. As a result, the moon appears red during a lunar eclipse. 

14. Ugandan Traditions

TOPSHOT – An initiate reacts after being circumcised during the traditional circumcision called Imbalu in Mutoto on August 13, 2022. – Imbalu is a biannual rite of passage of the Bagisu ethnical community in eastern Uganda, the transition of boys into adult men. Local surgeons use traditional knives to circumcise without anesthesia, and initiates must keep standing to bear the pain. It is the first time for hundreds of boys to attend throughout the year in various villages since 2018 as the government lifted the ban on traditional and religious gatherings to curb the spread of Covid-19. (Photo by Badru Katumba / AFP) (Photo by BADRU KATUMBA/AFP via Getty Images)

15. Americans Mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day With Marches And Parades

HOUSTON, TEXAS – JANUARY 17: The Brannigan family bond together during the 28th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Grande Parade on January 17, 2022, in Houston, Texas. Community members, organizations, and local non-profits participated in this year’s parade to pay homage and honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

16. Buffalo Community Continues To Grieve In Aftermath Of Racially Motivated Mass Shooting That Killed 10 People

BUFFALO, NEW YORK – MAY 20: Evangelist Bruce Warrick performs a baptism outside of Tops grocery store on May 20, 2022, in Buffalo, New York. 18-year-old Payton Gendron is accused of the mass shooting that killed 10 people at the Tops grocery store on the east side of Buffalo on May 14th and is being investigated as a hate crime. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) 

17. House January 6th Select Committee Holds Its Fourth Hearing

WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 21: Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss, a former Georgia election worker, becomes emotional while testifying as her mother Ruby Freeman watches during the fourth hearing held by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol on June 21, 2022, in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, DC. The bipartisan committee, which has been gathering evidence related to the January 6, 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol for almost a year, is presenting its findings in a series of televised hearings. On January 6, 2021, supporters of President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol Building in an attempt to disrupt a congressional vote to confirm the electoral college win for Joe Biden. (Photo by Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images) 

18. Notting Hill Carnival

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 2022/08/29: A performer wearing a costume participates in the Notting Hill Carnival in central London. After a two-year hiatus due to the Covid pandemic, the Caribbean carnival returns to the streets of Notting Hill with elaborate performers participating in the street festival. (Photo by Loredana Sangiuliano/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) 

19. House Democrats Vote On Leadership At Weekly Caucus Meeting

WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 30: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) (C) gets a congratulatory fist-bump as he walks into the U.S. Capitol after he was elected House Democratic leader for the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol on November 30, 2022, in Washington, DC. Jeffries was elected to succeed Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as leader of the Democrats in the chamber next year, making him the first Black person to lead one of the two major parties in either chamber of Congress. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) 

20. Cassidy Hutchinson Testifies For January 6th Committee

WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 28: Cassidy Hutchinson, a top former aide to Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, takes her seat following a break as she testifies during the sixth hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building on June 28, 2022, in Washington, DC. The bipartisan committee, which has been gathering evidence for almost a year related to the January 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol, is presenting its findings in a series of televised hearings. On January 6, 2021, supporters of former President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol Building during an attempt to disrupt a congressional vote to confirm the electoral college win for President Joe Biden. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) 

21. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th to Present Findings in Final Hearing

WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 13: (L-R) Former DC Metro Police officer Michael Fanone, Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges, U.S. Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell, and U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn attend a hearing of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022, in Washington, DC. The bipartisan Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack On the United States Capitol has spent nearly a year conducting more than 1,000 interviews and reviewed more than 140,000 documents the day of the attack. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) 

22. Abortion Rights Activists Protest in Washington DC

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 09: Abortion rights activists stage a sit-in just outside of the White House security fence to denounce the U.S. Supreme Court decision to end federal abortion rights protections on Saturday, Jul. 9, 2022, in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health case overturns the landmark 50-year-old Roe v Wade case, removing a federal right to an abortion. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) 

23. Karen Bass Wins In LA

Los Angeles, California November 8, 2022-L.A. Mayor candidate Karen Bass during election night at the Palladium in Hollywood. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) 

24. Warnock Election Night party

ATLANTA, UNITED STATES – DECEMBER 6: Supporters of Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) celebrate at his election night party in Atlanta, Georgia on December 6th, 2022 following the state Senate runoff election.