Watch: 2021 Photos of the Year

NEWRY, ME: Under a sky lit up by a full moon, Bryce Barnes walks under the spray of a snowmaking gun on a trail at Sunday River in Newry on Thursday, January 28, 2021. After getting the guns running, snowmakers walk in the spray to make sure the mix of water and air is creating optimum snow crystals. Barnes, an avid hiker, has been making snow at Sunday River for seven years. “It’s so addicting to be out here all night long in the cold and in the elements and just working through them all,” he says. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Our annual Photos the Year event will be virtual and in-person. See all the galleries here.

See some of the year’s most compelling images from our photojournalists at pressherald.com starting Sunday, Dec. 26, and hear them discuss the stories behind the photos at a virtual event on Jan. 4 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The event is presented by the Portland Press Herald and the Portland Public Library.

This year’s gallery will be available to view at the Portland Public Library starting Friday, Jan. 7, for the First Friday Art Walk. You can see some of the Press Herald’s best photography from 2021 and meet the people behind the cameras. Photographers will be available at the library Jan. 7 and Feb. 4 during the Art Walk.

The collection this year is “Photographers’ Choice,” featuring favorites chosen by the photographers themselves; essays on life as we lived it during the second year of the pandemic; and the future of lobstering as told through the people of Vinalhaven.