Maclean’s picks the top photos of 2016

It’s been a long year, marked by bloody attacks in peaceful places, by swirling shifts in political climates, and the shouting, ardour and divisive vitriol that comes with the race to lead the free world. But there were also the moments in between—the little human scenes of snuck-in solace, of joyful dancing, of stark grief, of miraculous salvation, of images too odd, strange and remarkable to be fictional. Those moments may be few, and they may not even be pretty—and right next to them lie all the year’s pain, too. But pictures are not here to salve, or solve. They’re here to be seen, savoured, remembered, learned from.

These are the best pictures of 2016.

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