The year in pictures: National Geographic looks back at 2020 for better or worse

SAN FRANCISCO -- It's hard to quantify the year 2020. Whatever words you use may not be able to reflect this past year, so National Geographic turned to another medium: photos.

It has a special issue, "The Year in Pictures," publishing just a handful of photos from more than 1.7 million taken throughout the year.

NatGeo divided it up into four categories: The year that tested us, isolated us, empowered us, gave us hope.

This is the first time in its 133-year history that National Geographic has singled out one year for an issue like this.

Here's more from National Geographic's Year in Pictures campaign.