TIME's Best Portraits of 2013

  • Kathryn Bigelow. From "Art of Darkness," Feb. 4, 2013 issue.
    Paola Kudacki for TIME
    1 of 40
  • Philip Glass. From "Mortal Mouse," Feb. 4, 2013 issue.
    Lucia Herrero for TIME
    2 of 40
  • Sally Field. From "Great Performances," Feb. 18, 2013 issue.
    Paola Kudacki for TIME
    3 of 40
  • Christoph Waltz. From "Great Performances," Feb. 18, 2013 issue.
    Paola Kudacki for TIME
    4 of 40
  • John Goodman. From "Great Performances," Feb. 18, 2013 issue.
    Paola Kudacki for TIME
    5 of 40
  • Amy Adams. From "Great Performances," Feb. 18, 2013 issue.
    Paola Kudacki for TIME
    6 of 40
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman. From "Great Performances," Feb. 18, 2013 issue.
    Paola Kudacki for TIME
    7 of 40
  • Tina Fey. From "Tina Fey Rocks On," March 8, 2013 issue.
    Paola Kudacki for TIME
    8 of 40
  • Aleksandar Hemon. From "Speak, Memory," March 25, 2013 issue.
    Peter Hapak for TIME
    9 of 40
  • Elaine Harley, left, and Mignon R. Moore. From "How Gay Marriage Won," April 8, 2013 issue.
    Peter Hapak for TIME
    10 of 40
  • Jay Z. From "The 100 Most Influential People in the World," April 29, 2013 issue.
    Mark Seliger for TIME
    11 of 40
  • Jennifer Lawrence. From "The 100 Most Influential People in the World," April 29, 2013 issue.
    Mark Seliger for TIME
    12 of 40
  • Jimmy Kimmel. From "The 100 Most Influential People in the World," April 29, 2013 issue.
    Marco Grob for TIME
    13 of 40
  • Malala Yousafzai. From "The 100 Most Influential People in the World," April 29, 2013 issue.
    Mark Seliger for TIME
    14 of 40
  • Mario Draghi. From "The 100 Most Influential People in the World," April 29, 2013 issue.
    Olaf Becker for TIME
    15 of 40
  • Greta Gerwig. From "Leap Year," May 13, 2013 issue.
    Therese + Joel for TIME
    16 of 40
  • Natalie Maines. From "10 Questions," May 20, 2013 issue.
    Peter Hapak for TIME
    17 of 40
  • Daft Punk. From "Robots, Rebooted," May 27, 2013 issue.
    Sebastian Kim for TIME
    18 of 40
  • Ethan Hawke, left, and Julie Delpy. From "They'll Be Your Mirror," May 27, 2013 issue.
    Peter Hapak for TIME
    19 of 40
  • David Cameron. From "Cameron's Gamble," June 3, 2013 issue.
    Peter Hapak for TIME
    20 of 40
  • Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson. From "10 Questions," June 24, 2013 issue.
    Peter Hapak for TIME
    21 of 40
  • James Turrell. From "Prince of Light," July 1, 2013 issue.
    Sebastian Kim for TIME
    22 of 40
  • Cate Blanchett. From "The Queen Stands Alone," July 29, 2013 issue.
    Bill Henson for TIME
    23 of 40
  • John Lewis. From "One March," Aug. 26 / Sept. 2, 2013 issue.
    Marco Grob for TIME
    24 of 40
  • Rachel Robinson. From "One March," Aug. 26 / Sept. 2, 2013 issue.
    Marco Grob for TIME
    25 of 40
  • Harry Belafonte. From "One March," Aug. 26 / Sept. 2, 2013 issue.
    Marco Grob for TIME
    26 of 40
  • Jerome Smith. From "One March," Aug. 26 / Sept. 2, 2013 issue.
    Marco Grob for TIME
    27 of 40
  • Yoko Ono. From "10 Questions," Sept. 16, 2013 issue.
    Peter Hapak for TIME
    28 of 40
  • John Baldessari. From "Legends at Work," Sept. 23, 2013 issue.
    Eugene Richards for TIME
    29 of 40
  • Michael Bloomberg. From "Bloomberg Unbound," Oct. 21, 2013 issue.
    Charles Ommanney – Reportage by Getty Images for TIME
    30 of 40
  • Charles, Prince of Wales. From "Heart of a King," Nov. 4, 2013 issue.
    Nadav Kander for TIME
    31 of 40
  • Alan Greenspan. From "10 Questions," Nov. 4, 2013 issue.
    Peter Hapak for TIME
    32 of 40
  • Donna Tartt. From "Rare Bird," Nov. 4, 2013 issue.
    Peter Hapak for TIME
    33 of 40
  • Hailee Steinfeld. From "Of a Certain Age," Nov. 11, 2013 issue.
    Carlos Serrao for TIME
    34 of 40
  • David Hockney. From "Force of Nature," Dec. 2, 2013 issue.
    Ian Allen for TIME
    35 of 40
  • Carl Icahn. From "The Original Wolf of Wall Street," Dec. 16, 2013 issue.
    Platon for TIME
    36 of 40
  • Taylor Schilling and Uzo Aduba. From "The Best of Culture 2013," Dec. 30, 2013 issue.
    Peter Hapak for TIME
    37 of 40
  • M.I.A. From "The Best of Culture 2013," Dec. 30, 2013 issue.
    Peter Hapak for TIME
    38 of 40
  • Jared Leto. From "The Best of Culture 2013," Dec. 30, 2013 issue.
    Peter Hapak for TIME
    39 of 40
  • 40 of 40
By TIME Photo Department

In a year when the still image maintained its unparalleled power to inform, to shock and, at times, to delight, TIME’s portraits once again put a human face on many of 2013’s most relevant and gripping stories. As photographers traveled around the globe to illuminate the personalities of the year’s signature newsmakers, the regional, racial and ideological diversity of those depicted comprise a kind of meta-portrait of a world both deeply fractured and profoundly interconnected. Mark Seliger’s picture of Malala Yousafzai evinces an air of quiet, undeniable dignity; composer Philip Glass’ gaze in a marvelous, painterly portrait by Lucia Herrero is unsentimental and almost unnervingly direct; while the solitude suggested in Nadav Kander’s image of Charles, Prince of Wales, conveys intimacy and a kind of decorous warmth, rather than — as the viewer might first infer — the chill of isolation. Paola Kudacki was commissioned to photograph our Hollywood Best Performances package in early 2013, and Marco Grob and Peter Hapak, both TIME contract photographers, continued to prove their mastery of subject and light in numerous assignments throughout the year. These and the other portraits that make up this LightBox gallery remind us that, as powerful as the grand gesture might be, it is often the quiet, unfiltered gaze of a fellow human being that makes for the most intense, and the most revelatory, of all pictures.

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