Our best photographs of 2018
In 2018, we featured photographs from around the world, from a refugee camp in Jordan that runs on blockchain to a quantum satellite network on a rooftop in Beijing. We took you to Phoenix and showed how Waymo is transforming a city, and then to Quebec, where bitcoin mining is threatening to overwhelm the power grid. We introduced a series of experts, from Jay Keasling, fighting for the clean fuel the world forgot, to Amber Baldet, fighting for inclusion in a crypto world with a sexist reputation.
These are images not just of technology, but of the stories generated by new ideas. The photos show the visionaries who dream up innovations, the way those innovations take form, and the impact they have on our culture and society.
We work with an incredibly talented group of photographers who come from diverse areas: fashion, fine art, photojournalism. We strive to show a variety of perspectives and showcase new visual talent. Below is a short list of some of our favorite photos we commissioned in 2018.
Photograph by An Rong Xu
Photograph by Christie Hemm Klok
Photograph by Tony Luong
Photograph by Russ Juskalian
Photograph by Celeste Sloman
Photograph by Alexi Hobbs
Photograph from CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative/Digitalglobe
Photograph by Noah Sheldon
Photograph by John Clark
Photograph by Christie Hemm Klok
Photograph by Bruce Peterson
Photograph by Brandon Sullivan
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Inside effective altruism, where the far future counts a lot more than the present
The giving philosophy, which has adopted a focus on the long term, is a conservative project, consolidating decision-making among a small set of technocrats.
The Chinese surveillance state proves that the idea of privacy is more “malleable” than you’d expect
The authors of "Surveillance State" discuss what the West misunderstands about Chinese state control and whether the invasive trajectory of surveillance tech can still be reversed.
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