The Best WIRED Photo Stories of 2017
Meryl Meisler01*[Powerful Images From Female Photographers at the Women's March](https://www.wired.com/2017/01/powerful-images-female-photographers-womens-march/)*. WIRED talked with 14 women who not only attended the Women’s Marches in January, but also documented them. Nearly a year later, as women across the country break their silence about sexual harassment, these photos feel as poignant as ever.
Jim Naughten02*[The Fake Mountain Range That Appeared on Maps for a Century](https://www.wired.com/story/the-fake-mountain-range-that-appeared-on-maps-for-a-century/)*. During the 19th century, people believed a vast mountain range stretched across West Africa. It didn't. But if it had, it might have looked something like the images in Jim Naughten’s photo series *The Mountains of Kong*.
Mike Kelley03*[From Factory to Boneyard: The Life Cycle of Planes, as Told in Stunning Aerial Photos](https://www.wired.com/story/photo-gallery-aerial-life-of-planes/)*. Planes have beginnings, middles, and ends—all of which Mike Kelley beautifully captured for *Life Cycles*.
Philippe Glade04*[Behold Burning Man’s Awesome and Totally Bizarre Architecture](https://www.wired.com/story/behold-burning-mans-awesome-and-totally-bizarre-architecture/)*. Most people go to Burning Man for the costumes and parties. But Philippe Glade goes for the architecture. He’s been photographing the temporary, makeshift structures revelers construct since 1996 and compiled some recent favorites in his book *Black Rock City, NV*.
Didier Bizet05*[Humans Killed the Aral Sea. Now, It’s Come Back to Life](https://www.wired.com/2017/02/didier-bizet-aral-dreams/)*. Few environmental stories have happy endings, but the Aral Sea one does. Photographer Didier Bizet's photographs celebrate the Kazakh fishermen casting their nets into the lake once again.
Aydın Büyüktaş06*[Surreal Drone Photos Transform America Into a Roller Coaster](https://www.wired.com/2017/03/aydin-buyuktas-flatland-ii/)*. Turkish photographer Aydın Büyüktaş took a road trip through the American southwest for *Flatlands II*. His drone photos of the journey are stunning—but they might make you feel carsick.
Craig Burrows07*[Remarkable Photos Capture the Light That Plants Emit](https://www.wired.com/2017/01/craig-burrows-fluorescence-plants-glow/)*. All flowers glow. Don’t believe us? Check out these incredible photos of plants fluorescing by Craig Burrows.
Ayesha Malik08*[Inside the Surreal Saudi Suburbia Built by an Oil Giant](https://www.wired.com/story/ayesha-malik-aramco-above-the-oil-fields/)*. Dhahran Camp may look like an American town, but it sits in Saudi Arabia. This exclusive, gated community houses international employees of Aramco, the world’s biggest oil company. Ayesha Malik’s photos capture the cultural limbo.
Lauren Greenfield/Institute09*[America’s Obscene Wealth, in Pictures](https://www.wired.com/2017/05/americas-obscene-wealth-pictures/)*. Lauren Greenfield examined the desire for affluence—or at least the trappings of affluence—in *Generation Wealth*. It’s an exhaustive study of the materialism and vanity that infects society at every level.
Nick Hannes10*[The Mad Opulence of Dubai, From Water Villas to Fake Forests](https://www.wired.com/story/nick-hannes-dubai/)*. Some 15 million tourists visit Dubai every year. Photographer Nick Hannes documented the over-the-top luxury that attracts them for *Dubai: Bread and Circuses*.
Robert Shults11*[Out on the Texas Ranch Where Scientists Study Death (NSFW)](https://www.wired.com/2017/02/robert-shults-the-washing-away-of-wrongs/)*. The 50-odd corpses that dot this 26-acre stretch of hill country belonged to people who donated their bodies so that scientists may better understand decomposition. It's a harrowing place, but important work. Robert Shults respectfully documented it for *The Washing Away of Wrongs.*
Edoardo Delille and Giulia Piermartiri/Institute12*[Wanna See How Divided the Country Is? Visit the US-Mexico Border](https://www.wired.com/story/wanna-see-how-divided-the-country-is-visit-the-us-mexico-border/)*. Militiamen and humanitarian workers both patrol the border territory looking for folks who might try to cross. One group wants to stop them. The other wants to help them. Photographers Edoardo Delille and Giulia Piermartiri documented both.
Olivier Douliery/Getty Images13*[Why Photos of President Trump Are So Aggressively Boring](https://www.wired.com/2017/05/photos-president-trump-aggressively-boring/)*. For a businessman who knows the power of branding, the POTUS has showed a surprisingly inability to craft a presidential image that isn't awkward, impersonal, and formulaic. This long read explores why.
Angie Smith14*[15,000 UFO Enthusiasts Space Out Hard in Roswell](https://www.wired.com/story/15000-ufo-enthusiasts-space-out-hard-in-roswell/)*. In July, WIRED sent photographer Angie Smith to document the annual UFO festival in Roswell, New Mexico. It was as weird as you'd expect. "Everywhere you looked you saw neon green,” Smith said.
