While the culture of social media did its best to ensure that 2014 had its fair share of entertaining, captivating and, above all, shareable photo moments, ultimately the past 12 months included as many genuinely shocking as surprising pictures. The year left us in varying states of outrage, bewilderment, bemusement and astonishment.
But there were some wonderfully unexpected and unusual images—from Darth Vader on the campaign trail in Ukraine and the Pope with a lamb around his neck, to pole dancing robots and a giant hippo in London’s Thames river—that delighted, enthralled and distracted us. Here, TIME looks back over the past 12 months and presents a selection of underreported, improbable and astounding images that caught the attention of TIME’s photo editors—and which, we trust, maintain their ability to utterly, thoroughly surprise.
An impersonator of Star Wars character 'Darth Vader' stands on the roof of a van during an election campaign event for the Ukrainian Internet Party. Party members have legally changed their names to resemble 'Star Wars' characters. Kiev, Oct. 21, 2014.SERGEY DOLZHENKO—EPAA giant statue of actress Marilyn Monroe is seen at the landfill site of a garbage collecting company in Guigang, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, June 18, 2014. CHINA DAILY—REUTERSThe body of boxer Christopher Rivera, who was shot to death, is propped up in a fake boxing ring during his wake at the community recreation center within the public housing project where he lived in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Jan. 31, 2014.Ricardo Arduengo—APA giant fork designed by Jean-Pierre Zaugg is set up on Lake Geneva, Switzerland, Oct. 17, 2014.FABRICE COFFRINI—AFP/Getty ImagesThe mother of Abdolah Hosseinzadeh, who was murdered in 2007, slaps the man who killed her son during his execution ceremony just before she removed the noose around his neck with the help of her husband, sparing the life of her son's convicted murderer, Nowshahr, Iran, April 15, 2014. ARASH KHAMOOSHI—AFP/Getty ImagesAn ultra-Orthodox Jewish girl wearing a costume sits in a cage during the Purim festival in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, Israel, March 16, 2014. Ariel Schalit—APCompetitors fight during a traditional wrestling tournament in the village of Draginovo, south-east of Sofia. Bulgaria, May 4, 2014. NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV—AFP/Getty ImagesA golfer plays as African migrants sit atop a border fence during an attempt to cross into the Spanish north African enclave of Melilla, Oct. 22, 2014. REUTERSA Ka'apor warrior chases a logger who tried to escape after he was captured during a jungle expedition to search for and expel loggers from the Alto Turiacu Indian territory, northeast of Maranhao state, Amazon basin, August 7, 2014. LUNAE PARRACHO—REUTERSDivaldo Aguiar, who is playing the part of character Pachencho, lies inside a mock coffin as villagers splash rum into his mouth during the annual "Burial of Pachencho" celebration at a cemetery in Santiago de Las Vegas, Cuba, Feb. 5, 2014.Franklin Reyes—APModels, who are being suspended from the roof of the Sony Building, walk on a wall during a fashion show in Tokyo, May 7, 2014.
The Asahi Shimbun— Getty ImagPeople throw turnips at the Jarramplas as he makes his way through the streets during the Jarramplas Festival in Piornal, Spain, Jan. 20, 2014.Andres Kudacki—APA cutout of a policewoman is seen on the highway that connects the Peruvian towns of Aucayacu and Tocache. The cutout is meant to remind potential criminals that police are in the area, Peru, Sept. 26, 2014. Rodrigo Abd—APRevelers of the Nene de Vila Matilde samba school perform during the second night of carnival parade at the Sambadrome, Sao Paulo, March 1, 2014. MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL—AFP/Getty ImagesDjalma Antonio Jardim who has a rare inherited skin disease known as xeroderma pigmentosum looks in a mirror at his home in the Araras community of Brazil's Goias state, March 3, 2014. Eraldo Peres—APFlyers are dropped over Gaza City by the Israeli army urging residents to evacuate their homes, July 30, 2014.MOHAMMED ABED—AFP/Getty ImagesPope Francis with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres during a joint peace prayer at the Vatican Gardens, Vatican City, June 8, 2014. Antonello Nusca—PolarisThe U.S. side of Niagara Falls, partially frozen from exposure to frigid air from a polar vortex, is pictured from Ont., Canada, Jan. 8, 2014. AARON HARRIS—REUTERSRussian President Vladimir Putin, and
his Serbian counterpart, Tomislav Nikolic,
attend a military parade in Belgrade, Oct. 16, 2014.
Marko Djurica—ReutersA sculpture of a giant hippopotamus built by artist Florentjin Hofman is towed up the Thames past the Houses of Parliament in central London, Sept. 2, 2014. ANDREW WINNING—REUTERSA harpist plays at a public maternity hospital in Caracas, Oct. 1, 2014. Carlos Garcia Rawlins—REUTERSSouth African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius is seen leaning back after applying eye drops as he prepares himself for another day in the dock during his murder trial in Pretoria, South Africa, March 14, 2014.Kim Ludbrook—Pool/APA painting is seen on the island of Yeonpyeong, which lies on the South Korean side of the Northern Limit Line, in the Yellow Sea, April 9, 2014. DAMIR SAGOLJ—REUTERSA paper frog is surrounded by paper pandas at an exhibition called "Pandas on Tour" at the National Theater, Taipei, Feb. 24, 2014. MANDY CHENG—AFP/Getty ImagesA huge tire blocks the door where Michel Dheilly and Bernard Glesser are being held. French workers held company bosses hostage at a Goodyear Factory in Amiens, France, Jan. 6, 2014. Michael Bunel—NurPhotoThe body of a passenger aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 that fell through the roof of a home near the crash site in Rasipnoye, Ukraine, July 18, 2014.Jerome SESSINI—MAGNUM An employee of the Russian Space Training Center hangs space suits out to dry, July 2, 2014.Alexander Zemlianichenko—APTwo bolts of lightning hit the antenna on top of One World Trade Center, New York, May 23, 2014.Gary Hershorn—CorbisA man dressed in protective hazmat clothing treats the sidewalk in front of an apartment where a second person diagnosed with the Ebola virus lives, Dallas, Oct. 12, 2014.Mike Stone—Getty ImagesA devotee is seen with swords inserted into his cheeks as he takes part in a street procession during an annual vegetarian festival, Phuket, Thailand, Sept. 29, 2014. CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT—AFP/Getty ImagesA man wearing a horse mask reaches out to shake hands with U.S. President Barack Obama during a walkabout in Denver, July 8, 2014.KEVIN LAMARQUE—REUTERSMembers of the Morphix Group inspect the eyelashes of a Baby Jesus statue to be displayed during the annual Candlemas celebrations at the Sanctuary of the Lord of the Holy Sepulchre, Mexico City, Feb. 1, 2014.TOMAS BRAVO—REUTERSTokyo Metropolitan Government employees are seen lighting a large underground regulating reservoir in Tokyo, July, 28, 2014. FRANCK ROBICHON—EPAA masked person smokes marijuana during the World Day for the Legalization of Marijuana in Medellin, Colombia, May 3, 2014. RAUL ARBOLEDA—AFP/Getty ImagesA woman argues with members from the Ukrainian Interior Ministry security forces during a rally outside a trade union building Odessa, May 3, 2014. GLEB GARANICH—REUTERSFormer astronaut Mamoru Mori, now director of the National Museum of Emerging Science a musuem staff appointment letter to a robot named Otonaroid, Tokyo, June 24, 2014. NICOLAS DATICHE—SIPAA couple sunbathe near a rhinoceros sculpture by Australian artist Mikaela Castledine on Sydney's Tamarama Beach, Oct. 23, 2014. WILLIAM WEST—AFP/Getty ImagesRobots perform a pole dance at a technology show booth occupied by the Tobit Software company, Germany March 9, 2014. JOHN MACDOUGALL—AFP/Getty ImagesAn Israeli woman wears a unicorn mask during the first Midburn festival, modeled after the popular Burning Man festival, near the Israeli kibbutz of Sde Boker, June 6, 2014. Oded Balilty—APCoaches from the U.S. and Canada wear chimpanzee masks and perch in a tree to watch the downhill portion of the men's supercombined at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics in Krasnaya, Polyana, Russia, Feb. 14, 2014. Luca Bruno—APLocals take part in a performance which involves being buried up to their waists as part of the commemoration of the National Week of Remembrance, Medellin, Colombia, Oct. 16, 2014. RAUL ARBOLEDA—AFP/Getty ImagesIn this handout photo taken on Jan. 23, 2014, a huge boulder is seen after it missed a farm house by less than a meter, destroying the barn, and stopped in the vineyard, while a second giant boulder, which detached during the same landslide on Jan. 21, 2014, stopped next to the house, in Ronchi di Termeno, in Northern Italy. Tareom.comA close-up of a Nepalese man's shaved head is seen after receiving rice and a leaf as a blessing from a priest during Father's Day at Gokarneswor Shrine, near Kathmandu, Nepal, Aug. 25, 2014. NARENDRA SHRESTHA—EPAThis aerial photo shows a massive mudslide that killed at least eight people and left dozens missing near Arlington, Wash., March 24, 2014. Ted S. Warren—APUprooted trees are pictured after a deadly tornado hit Vilonia, Ark., April 28, 2014. CARLO ALLEGRI—REUTERSUltra-Orthodox Jews inspect etrogs, or citrons, outside a shop in the Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem as they look to purchase an unblemished fruit ahead of the holiday of Sukkot, Oct. 7, 2014. JIM HOLLANDER—EPAAn entertainer performing as the character Mumtaz Begum, a fox-human hybrid creature, sits inside a wooden canopy in a small room called Mumtaz Palace to amuse visitors at Karachi Zoo in Karachi, June 20, 2014. AKHTAR SOOMRO—REUTERSMarta Llorente, 28, a contestant, poses backstage before taking part in a body paint pageant in the Andalusian capital of Seville in Spain, March 24, 2014. Marcelo del Pozo—REUTERSA cut-out prison guard silhouette with flashlight, part of a current exhibition at former prison Eastern State Penitentiary, stands in the grounds in Philadelphia, Pa., April 30, 2014. MARK MAKELA—REUTERSThe man that works as the mascot "Margarito" for the 2014 Caribbean baseball series rests at the backstage during a game between Dominican Republic's Tigres de Licey and Venezuela's Navegantes del Magallanes in Porlamar city, Margarita Island, Nueva Esparta state, Venezuela, Feb. 4, 2014. LEO RAMIREZ—AFP/Getty ImagesKim Jong Un, North Korean leader, looks out
from the submarine of a Korean People’s Army
naval unit during an inspection in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang, June 16, 2014. KCNA/REUTERSA fallstreak hole forms in the sky over Wonthaggi, Australia, Nov. 3, 2014. Leesa Willmott—APU.S. President Barack Obama acts out the line "gnashed their terrible teeth" from the children's book Where the Wild Things Are during the 136th annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., April 21, 2014.
KEVIN LAMARQUE—REUTERSJapan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) soldiers and firefighters conduct rescue operations at mountain lodges covered with volcanic ash, as volcanic smoke rises near the peak of Mount Ontake in Nagano and Gifu prefectures, Sept. 28, 2014.KYODO/REUTERSFormer Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ducks after a woman threw an object toward her while she was delivering remarks at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries conference in in Las Vegas, Nev., April 10, 2014. Isaac Brekken—Getty ImagesSyrian children perform in an adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear at the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Mafraq, Jordan, March 27, 2014. WARRICK PAGE—The New York Times/ReduxUkrainian fighters partly wearing non-official uniforms stands next to a tank in a military camp on the front line near Pervomaysk city of Lugansk region, Ukraine, Sept. 12, 2014. ROMAN PILIPEY—EPAProtective suits are left to dry after an Ebola training session held by Spain's Red Cross in Madrid training doctors, nurses and engineers before their deployment to Africa, Oct. 29, 2014. SUSANA VERA—REUTERSMembers of the anti-balaka, a Christian militia group, patrol outside the village of Zawa in Central African Republic, April 8, 2014. GORAN TOMASEVIC—REUTERSRwandan African Union peacekeepers remove the lucky charms from a suspected Anti-balaka Christian man who was found with a rifle and a grenade following looting in the Muslim market of the PK13 district of Bangui, Central African Republic, Jan. 22, 2014. Jerome Delay—APSinger Conchita Wurst is seen during a rehearsal for the second semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, May 7, 2014. Frank Augstein—APA scaffold carrying two workers hangs 69 floors up at One World Trade Center in New York City on Nov. 12, 2014. Spencer Platt—Getty ImagesA human skeletal anatomy model hangs on a stand in a forensic laboratory surrounded by coffins containing the exhumed remains of people slain three decades ago during the country's dirty war, in Huamanga, Peru, Oct. 26, 2014. Rodrigo Abd—APWingsuit jumper Joby Ogwyn glides during a practice jump wearing a prototype wingsuit as he prepares to attempt the first wingsuit jump off the summit of Mount Everest in May, near Perris, California, Feb. 26, 2014.DAVID MCNEW—REUTERSAn Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man sits in a hole and prays during a demonstration in Beit Shemesh, Israel, protesting against the construction of new housing units that he believes would be built at the site of ancient Jewish graves, Feb. 12, 2014. ABIR SULTAN—EPANuns from the enclosed monastery of Imaculada Conceicao celebrate Brazil's victory as they watch on television at the end of the 2014 World Cup quarter-final soccer match between Brazil and Colombia, in Piratininga, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, July 4, 2014. NACHO DOCE—REUTERSInmates play football in the courtyard of the prison facility in Rumbek, Lakes state in South Sudan, Feb. 19, 2014. TONY KARUMBA—AFP/Getty ImagesA Brazilian supporter poses for a picture before the start of the 2014 World Cup Brazil vs Mexico match at the FIFA Fan Fest public viewing event in Sao Paulo, Brazil, June 17, 2014. MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL—AFP/Getty ImagesMarta Asenjo holds a black cloth as her daughter Leyre Huerga, 9, descends representing an angel during a rehearsal of La bajada del Angel in Penafiel, Spain, April 19, 2014. David Ramos—Getty ImagesFrom left to right, Massimo Sinato, Rebecca Mir, Lexy Hill, Maite Kelly, Florent Raimond, guest, Johanna Klum attend the Rebekka Ruetz show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2014/15 at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Jan. 14, 2014. Andreas Rentz—Getty Images for IMGA female honor guard has lipstick applied as they prepare for an official welcoming ceremony for Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, June 11, 2014.JASON LEE—REUTERSA Balinese man in a state of trance stabs his chest in front of a palanquin, the symbol of god, during Ngusaba Gumang Ritual in Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia, Oct. 6, 2014. Agung Parameswara—Getty ImagesFormer President George H.W. Bush, left, strapped to Sgt. Mike Elliott, a retired member of the Army's Golden Knights parachute team, lands on the lawn at St. Anne's Episcopal Church after making a tandem parachute jump near his summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine, in celebration of his 90th birthday, June 12, 2014. Robert F. Bukaty—APVisiting the area for the first time, 64-year-old Fran Glod of Oswego, N.Y, walks down the steps to the beach which is covered by a king tide, an especially high tide on Tybee Island, Ga., Oct. 9, 2014. Stephen B. Morton—APAn Israeli model, who serves in the military, wears her uniform in the makeup chair before her turn on the catwalk of a show by Israeli designer Dorin Frankfurt at the Tel Aviv fashion week in Israel, March 11, 2014. Ariel Schalit—APA local youth takes a selfie in front of Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to St George's indoor market in Belfast, Northern Ireland, June 24, 2014. Peter Macdiarmid—Getty ImagesA model prepares to walk a runway before a fashion show in Neve Tirza prison, Israel's only women prison in Ramle, central Israel, Oct. 27, 2014. Oded Balilty—APA man dressed as a woman carries a pig's head on a platter balanced on his head during the celebration of Torovenado, a satirical dance festival, in honor of Masaya's patron saint, San Jeronimo, in Masaya, Nicaragua, Oct 26, 2014. Esteban Felix—APAn athlete warms up with his coach prior to the Men's individual Gundersen large hill/10 km Nordic combined training at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at the RusSki Gorki Ski Jumping Center in Sochi, Russia. Feb. 15, 2014. Lars Baron—Getty ImagesA woman dressed as a character from the nativity scene puts a lamb around the neck of Pope Francis as he arrives to visit the Church of St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori in the outskirts of Rome, Jan. 6, 2014. OSSERVATORE ROMANO—REUTERSRebecca Redwine from Grandma's in the Park has one eye visible from between nearly 100 towels, as she competes in the towel carrying contest during the 10th annual Iron Range Housekeeping Olympics held in AmericInn Lodge in Virginia, Minn., Sept. 8, 2014. Mark Sauer—APMilitants of Islamic State are seen before explosion of air strike on Tilsehir hill near the Turkish border village Yumurtalik in Sanliurfa province, Oct. 23, 2014. BULENT KILIC—AFP/Getty ImagesA sinkhole swallows eight classic and historic Corvettes at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky., Feb. 12, 2014. Michael Noble Jr.—APA hot air balloon in the likeness of Brazil's Christ the Redeemer statue wearing the colors of Australia's soccer team, floats through clouds over the Melbourne skyline, June 10, 2014. David Callow—sportsbet.com.au/APA Chinese shopper sleeps with her child on a bed in the showroom of an IKEA store in Beijing, July 6, 2014. Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesJosh Newton, newlyweds Michael Wolber and April Hartley pose for a picture near Bend, Ore. as a wildfire burns in the background, June 7, 2014. Josh Newton—APGao Bingguo is covered with 326,000 bees during an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for being covered by the largest number of bees, in Taian, Shandong province, May 27, 2014. CHINA STRINGER NETWORK—REUTERSAn ancient tower is seen balancing on the top of a dirt hill, with its base slightly eroded, along a grassland in Qixian county, Shanxi province in China, July 19, 2014. REUTERSA dwarf walks in between mushroom-shaped houses after his performances in Kingdom of The Dwarves at Kunming World Butterflies Garden, Yunnan province, China, May 21, 2014.WONG CAMPION—REUTERSA statue of a man sleepwalking in his underpants is surrounded by snow on the campus of Wellesley College, in Wellesley, Mass., Feb. 5, 2014. Steven Senne—APA Furry enthusiast uses a mobile phone as he attends the Eurofurence 2014 conference in Berlin, Aug. 22, 2014. Adam Berry—Getty ImagesPrisaida, 2, sits in the shallow waters of a polluted lagoon as her parents mine for gold nearby in La Pampa in Peru's Madre de Dios region, May 3, 2014. Rodrigo Abd—APA street performer dressed as the Statue of Liberty stands among light snow in Times Square in New York, Dec. 10, 2014. ANDREW KELLY—REUTERSA Chinese girl wears a face-kini to protect her from jellyfish stings, algae and the sun's ultraviolet rays as she floats in the water on the Yellow Sea in Qingdao, China, Aug. 21, 2014. Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesMolly Pederson, right, and her daughter Laura Patkotak take a picture as a bowhead whale caught by Alaska Native subsistence hunters from their family is brought ashore in Barrow, Ala., Oct. 7, 2014. Gregory Bull—AP
