SF State of Mind..

2008 Year In Photographs

These photos are only a few from the The Boston Globe's 120-photo series cataloging some of the most important, shocking, beautiful and poignant moments from 2008. Really makes you reflect on this historic time we live in. Enjoy.

Students practice martial arts at Xuecheng Martial Arts School in Zaozhuang, Shandong
province, China on June 11, 2008.

A man runs next to balloons placed at Copacabana beach, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The balloons - released by demonstrators - represent the 4,000 people expected
to become victims of violence over the next six months (June 27, 2008).

South Korean firefighters battle a fire as it consumes the Namdaemun gate in central
Seoul. The fire, started by an arsonist, destroyed the gate - the oldest wooden structure in
Seoul, first constructed in 1398 and rebuilt in 1447 (February 11, 2008).

Soccer superstar Ronaldinho attends his presentation at San Siro Stadium in Milan,
Italy after being newly signed by Italian soccer club AC Milan (July 17, 2008).

A U.S. Army helicopter gunner with his helmet face painted as a skull, awaits
soldiers to board his Chinook transport helicopter for transport out of the
Korengal Valley in eastern Afghanistan (October 30, 2008).

Muslim women pray on the eve of Ramadan - an Islamic month of fasting - at a mosque in
Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia (August 31, 2008).

A Kenyan boy screams as policeman approach the door of his home in the Kibera slum of
Nairobi (January 17, 2008).

Images of books on shelves projected on the walls of the Tower of David in Jerusalem's Old City. The display was part of a show called "Or Shalem, Jerusalem Lights the Night" put on by a group called Skertzò (October 7, 2008).

A man stands in front of the Marriott hotel after a terrorist bombing in Islamabad, Pakistan
(September 20, 2008).

Kerby Brown rides a huge wave in an undisclosed location southwest of Western Australia (July 6, 2008).

The Chinese Shenzhou-7, the Long-March II-F rocket and the escape tower are
transferred to the launch pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu province,
China (September 20, 2008).

U.S. soldiers search for weapons on an Afghan truck driver near Kandahar, Afghanistan
(April 27, 2008).

Then-Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama waves to the crowd
at a rally in the rain at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va. (September 27, 2008).