2014: The Year in Photos, September-December – In Focus – The Atlantic

As the year comes to a close, it’s time to take a look back at some of the most memorable events and images of 2014, a particularly brutal year. Among the events covered in this essay (the last of a three-part photo summary of the year): severe drought in California, Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement protests, raging battles and U.S. airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria, victories for same-sex marriage proponents in the U.S., the successful test launch of NASA’s new Orion spacecraft, and crash of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo. Be sure to see part 1 and part 2 posted earlier. The series comprises 120 images in all. Warning, some of the photos may contain graphic or objectionable content. [40 photos]