The Big Picture (2008)

2008 was an eventful year, and 2009 is showing much to be the same. I have found a collection of the most influential photos taken last year that shows what life was like. I'll only post a few here, save time and space here, but I definitely recommend you take a look at the gallery just to take a look at what was, what is, and what may be in the future.


(PART 1) http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/the_year_2008_in_photographs_p.html



Lightning bolts appear above and around the Chaiten volcano as seen from Chana, some 30 kms (19 miles) north of the volcano, as it began its first eruption in thousands of years, in southern Chile May 2, 2008. Cases of electrical storms breaking out directly above erupting volcanoes are well documented, although scientists differ on what causes them. Picture taken May 2, 2008. (Carlos Gutierrez)



A U.S. Marine, from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, has a close call after Taliban fighters opened fire near Garmser in Helmand Province of Afghanistan May 18, 2008. The Marine was not injured. (REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic)



A rescue helicopter prepares to hoist aboard surviving Japanese climber Hideaki Nara near the summit of Aoraki Mount Cook in New Zealand on December 5, 2008. A Japanese climber stranded for six days just below the summit had died just hours before rescuers reached him and a compatriot, local media reported. The two Japanese climbers were forced to huddle in a tent 50 meters below the 3,754-meter (12,349 feet) peak, as poor weather and high winds foiled attempts to rescue the men by helicopter. (REUTERS/The Christchurch Press/John Kirk-Anderson)



A firefighter uses a flare gun to set a backfire in the rugged area of Little Tujunga Canyon, 20 miles (32 km) north of downtown Los Angeles in the early hours of October 12, 2008. Fifty miles per hour gusty winds spread the fire towards ranches and houses in the heavily-forested canyon. (REUTERS/Gene Blevins)



(PART 2) http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/2008_in_photographs_part_2_of.html



A woman on a horse runs alongside the peloton during stage five of the 2008 Tour de France from Cholet to Chateauroux on July 9, 2008 in Chateauroux, France. (Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)



View of the Large hadron Collider's CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) experiment Tracker Outer Barrel (TOB) in the cleaning room. The CMS is one of two general-purpose LHC experiments designed to explore the physics of the Terascale, the energy region where physicists believe they will find answers to the central questions at the heart of 21st-century particle physics. The Large Hadron Collider was scheduled to be up and running by the end of 2008, but electrical difficulties have set the date back to summer of 2009. (Maximilien Brice, © CERN)



A single home is left standing among debris from Hurricane Ike September 14, 2008 in Gilchrist, Texas. In its brief, but eventful life, Ike wreaked enough havoc to be blamed for over $31.5 billion in damage and nearly 150 deaths across the Caribbean and Gulf Coast. (David J. Phillip-Pool/Getty Images)



The downtown core of Vancouver and the Lions Gate Bridge rise above a morning fog in this view from Cypress Mountain in West Vancouver, British Columbia November 17, 2008. (REUTERS/Andy Clark)



In this June 27, 2008 file photo, a man runs next to balloons placed at Copacabana beach, in Rio de Janeiro. Demonstrators released around 4,000 red balloons during an event representing the 4,000 people who were expected to become victims of violence over the next six months. (AP Photo/ Ricardo Moraes)



(PART 3) http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/2008_the_year_in_photographs_p.html



Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama waves to the crowd at a rally in the rain at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va. Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)



A U.S. Marine with a ground combat element assigned to Delta Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Task Force Mechanized, Multi-National Force - West walks through the Hatra Ruins in the Jazeerah Desert in Iraq on July 20, 2008. The task force is conducting disruption operations in the area to deny the enemy sanctuary and prevent foreign fighters from accessing the area. (Lance Cpl. Albert F. Hunt, U.S. Marine Corps.)



Most of the homes in the Oakridge mobile home park, which reportedly had 600-800 homes, lie in ruins after burning in the Sylmar Fire on November 15, 2008 in Sylmar, California. The fire began last night and was fueled to more than 2,600 acres by strong erratic winds in excess of 70 miles per hour which kept firefighting aircraft grounded in the morning. (David McNew/Getty Images)



A spectator raises her fist in celebration seconds after it was announced that Barack Obama will become the 44th President of the United States at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008. (AP Photo/Pouya Dianat, Atlanta Journal & Constitution)



Though this is all now long in the past, it still brings back many emotions even as of today.

These are beautiful pictures. This stuff will be in the history books our future generations will read. :]

A firefighter uses a flare gun to set a backfire in the rugged area of Little Tujunga Canyon, 20 miles (32 km) north of downtown Los Angeles in the early hours of October 12, 2008. Fifty miles per hour gusty winds spread the fire towards ranches and houses in the heavily-forested canyon. (REUTERS/Gene Blevins)

OMFG VAVLE FLARGUN IS OVARPOWRED

but seriously cool post it's like year in review or something

Those photographers must be pros.

You have a bright future in journalism, sir.

Very moving stuff. :'(

I take credit for none of this stuff, even the link to this stuff was pointed out on another site some time back. It was just moving enough that I had to share with you guys, as I'm positive that some of the pictures can really relate to some of you. That last picture for example brought back the memory of how the atmosphere was when Obama won, and the excitement of the crowd as we waited in Grant Park in Chicago to hear his speech.

Oh. Well, either way, thanks for sharing that with us!

This stuff will be in the history books our future generations will read. :]

For better or for worse?

These ar ereally beautiful, thanks for taking the time to put this together. 

On a lighter note, why has no one ever put "You shall not pass" on that picture of Obama?

No disrespect intended, Mr. President...
This is what happens when you stay up really late, using Paint unsupervised.

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