A look back at the year's biggest stories through our best photographs and illustrations

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In a year when Donald Trump and Kamala Harris battled for the White House and the Israel-Hamas war continued to roil the Middle East, when the Olympics and “brat summer” brought escapism to a bitterly divided nation, NBC News collaborated with photographers and illustrators to produce art that captured the year’s biggest stories. NBC News also published images that enhanced our most impactful and enterprising journalism, from reporting on the national medical debt crisis to an investigation into the use of unclaimed bodies for medical research.

Here are some of the most notable illustrations and photographs.

'Making peoples' lives hell': When he couldn't pay for cancer treatment, the hospital sued.

In North Carolina, a state hard hit by the national crisis of medical debt, Terry Belk has spent 20 years struggling to get free of "this ... anvil I'm dragging around."

Photography by Mike Belleme

A sheriff, a felon and a conspiracy theorist walk into a hotel. They're there for the same conference.

The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association is urging lawmen to form posses, seize voting machines and investigate baseless claims of voter fraud.

Photography by Mark Abramson

D-Day's last living links recount brutal, and inspiring, memories on Normandy’s beaches.

“We cannot let what happened here be lost in the silence of the years to come. We must remember it, must honor it and live it,” President Joe Biden said on the landings' 80th anniversary.

Photography by.Rafael Yaghobzadeh

Instances of anti-LGBTQ vandalism reported in nearly two dozen states during Pride Month.

An NBC News tally found that Pride decorations were stolen or vandalized at least four dozen times in large cities and small towns across the country this month.

Illustration by Tara Anand

Curvy influencers post a lot about body positivity. But what happens when they use Ozempic?

Some in the body positivity community are concerned weight loss drugs are setting the movement back. That sentiment has put influencers who need the medications for health reasons in a difficult position.

Illustration by Chelsea Stahl

Swimming, cycling ... canine athletics? Test your knowledge of Olympic sports.

Illustration by Leila Register

Japanese Americans play historic baseball games at prison camp to recall a pastime — and a lifeline.

The games honored Japanese Americans who formed baseball teams at prison camps after they were forced to relocate during WWII.

Photography by Ricardo Nagaoka

Photos from Trump's rally in the South Bronx.

On one of his days off from his criminal trial in Manhattan, Trump ventured up to the Bronx for a rally.

Photography by Lucia Buricelli

'You lost this vote': Arab Americans in Dearborn struggle in an election where they don't feel heard.

Arab American voters in Dearborn face tough choices in the 2024 election, disillusioned by U.S. policies on Gaza and other key issues.

Photography by Mustafa Hussain

Cut up and leased out, the bodies of the poor suffer a final indignity in Texas.

The University of North Texas Health Science Center built a flourishing business using hundreds of unclaimed corpses. It suspended the program after NBC News exposed failures to treat the dead and their families with respect.

Illustration by Anuj Shrestha; Photography by Zerb Mellish, Maddie McGarvey and Shelby Tauber

Lesbian Connection: How a grassroots magazine shaped generations of queer women.

What started with a cross-country road trip in 1973 culminated in a decadeslong legacy of writing by and for women-loving women.

Illustration by Justine Goode

Why abortions rose after Roe was overturned.

Contrary to many predictions, abortions did not decline nationally after the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision. Here's what's behind the trend.

Illustration by Xinyue Chen

The smallest victims: Why does America keep allowing toddlers to shoot themselves?

Nearly every day, a child unintentionally fires a gun and injures or kills someone. It's one of the most preventable forms of gun violence — but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to solve.

A gunshot — then ‘a miracle’

Skye McBride, age 3, survived a self-inflicted gunshot wound in February. Then her long months of recovery began.

Photography by Cydni Elledge

Mexican drug cartels are targeting America’s ‘last best place’.

Cartel associates have flooded Montana with fentanyl and meth – and also set up operations on Indian reservations, where law enforcement is scarce.

Photography by Erin Trieb

Christians flock to Washington to pray for America to turn to God — by electing Trump.

Conservative organizers of the “Million Women” worship rally billed the event — and the November election — as “a last stand moment” to save the nation from satanic forces.

Photography by Maansi Srivastava

Sacre bleu! Camembert and brie 'on the verge of extinction,' French scientists warn.

Some beloved cheeses “could disappear,” owing to a decline in the strains of fungus that give them their unique taste, smell, color and texture, France’s science agency says.

Illustration by Andrew B. Myers

This small Missouri city could cash in on the eclipse. It's trying hard not to.

Businesses in Perryville, 80 miles south of St. Louis, are vowing not to price-gouge visitors, hoping they’ll come back after the big event is over.

Photography by Whitten Sabbattini

Paris Olympics 2024

With their country in crisis, Haitian athletes aim to showcase resilience at Olympics.

With heart, humanity and a killer kick, C.J. Nickolas eyes men’s taekwondo gold.

13 years after JimmerMania, a former college star aims for Olympic gold.

Photography by Philip Vukelich and Tarek Mawad; Elise Wrabetz; Roger Kisby