--- title: TIME Magazine's Best Portraits of 2019 description: From Nancy Pelosi to Lil Nas X, and Margaret Atwood to the Dalai Lama canonical: https://time.com/5750849/best-portraits-2019/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-12-18T17:02:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:39:22.468Z og:title: TIME Magazine's Best Portraits of 2019 og:description: From Nancy Pelosi to Lil Nas X, and Margaret Atwood to the Dalai Lama og:url: https://time.com/5750849/best-portraits-2019/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7921773e59daff35/698a07b6096a940c646a778c/featured-2019-best-portraits.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2250 og:image:height: 1266 og:image:alt: featured-2019-best-portraits og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: TIME Magazine's Best Portraits of 2019 twitter:description: From Nancy Pelosi to Lil Nas X, and Margaret Atwood to the Dalai Lama twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7921773e59daff35/698a07b6096a940c646a778c/featured-2019-best-portraits.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- # TIME's Best Portraits of 2019 > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Worth Your Time: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Worth Your Time is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more. Worth Your Time is a curated guide to the culture worth knowing, from the biggest conversations of the moment to the books, shows, ideas and discoveries worth your attention. Culture editor Eliza Berman taps TIME's collective taste and perspective to surface what is worth watching, reading, talking about and sharing, and why. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. Dec 18, 2019 5:02 PM UTC  by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Dec 18, 2019 5:02 PM UTC In July, Robert Chelsea became the first African American to receive a face transplant after his face was disfigured in a harrowing car accident. His remarkable before-and-after photos were published in TIME alongside a story titled “[The Face of Change](https://time.com/5709294/first-african-american-face-transplant/).” While that title describes Chelsea quite literally, it’s befitting of many of the portraits TIME commissioned this year. As startling structural shifts took place around the world, TIME was there to capture both the leaders and the followers of the movements driving them — as well as those on the sidelines whose lives were forever changed. In Stockholm, [Greta Thunberg posed](https://time.com/collection-post/5584902/greta-thunberg-next-generation-leaders/) in a resplendent green dress with well-worn sneakers peeking out from underneath the hem, a nod to her travels around the globe demanding that leaders take action on climate change. (She was later named [TIME’s 2019 Person of the Year](https://time.com/person-of-the-year-2019-greta-thunberg/)). In Washington, the new class of congresspeople, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Lauren Underwood, were captured in kinetic dialogue, foreshadowing the tenacity and iconoclasm they would bring to their jobs on Capitol Hill.  Cicely Tyson: Djeneba Aduayom for TIME; Chasten and Pete Buttigieg: Ryan Pfluger for TIME; Margaret Atwood: Mickalene Thomas for TIME; Emmanuel Macron: Christopher Anderson—Magnum Photos for TIME; Greta Thunberg: Evgenia Arbugaeva for TIME; Dalai Lama: Ruven Afanador for TIME; Colson Whitehead: Wayne Lawrence for TIME; Lil Nas X: Kelia Anne for TIME; Taylor Swift: Pari Dukovic for TIME In portraits of unexpected newcomers who came to dominate the cultural conversation, including Lil Nas X, Lizzo and Naomi Osaka, the subjects stare defiantly into the camera, as if daring anyone to tell them they don’t belong at the top of their respective fields. These images include both well-known figures — like the Dalai Lama, Margaret Atwood and Donald Trump — and faceless unknowns fighting against injustice. Some depict everyday people in mundane situations that speak to the state of the planet in 2019, as in one photograph of two ice-sellers pausing from their jobs on a sweltering day in Jacobabad, Pakistan, one of the hottest cities on earth. Each portrait assignment is an opportunity for TIME to create an original and lasting visual. The success of that mission depends on factors like how much time we get with the subject (about five minutes with French President Emmanuel Macron); what they may do or wear in front of the camera (Lil Nas X wore a custom suit); and which photographer we choose to execute it all. How will they take command with the subject? Do they need an hour, or can they nail it in just a few minutes? Sometimes it all goes according to plan. Sometimes everything changes when the subject walks into a room. Each time — and each year — brings something new. Below, see TIME’s best portraits of 2019.  Greta Thunberg. "Next Generation Leaders," May 27 issue. Hellen van Meene for TIME  Ice sellers in Pakistan. "The Hottest City on Earth," Sept. 23 issue. Matthieu Paley for TIME  Naomi Osaka. "The Heir," Jan. 21 issue. Cait Oppermann for TIME  Lil Nas X. "It's His Country," Aug. 26 issue. Kelia Anne for TIME  Subha, 35, and the hands of her children: Fahad, 15; Fahdi, 13; Linda, 10; Liza, 7; and Salam, 5\. "What Remains of ISIS," June 3 issue. Newsha Tavakolian—Magnum Photos for TIME  Christine Blasey Ford, "TIME 100 Most Influential People," April 29 issue. Danielle Levitt for TIME  Pete Buttigieg. "First Family," May 13 issue. Ryan Pfluger for TIME  Sandra Oh. "TIME 100 Most Influential People," April 29 issue. Pari Dukovic for TIME  Rachel Kahan nurses her daughter Michaela, while nanny Annie Nabbie trims the child's toenails. "At What Cost?," Oct. 21 issue. Anastasia Taylor-Lind for TIME  Cierra Smith, 18, of Portland, Ore. "America's Forever War," Oct. 21 issue. Gillian Laub for TIME  A 17-year-old former boy scout from Michigan. "These Men Say the Boy Scouts' Sex Abuse Problem Is Worse Than Anyone Knew," June 17 issue. David Kasnic for TIME  Dalai Lama. "The Survivor," March 18 issue. Ruven Afanador for TIME  President Donald Trump. "'My Whole Life Is A Bet'," July 1 issue. Pari Dukovic for TIME  Front row, from left to right: Rep. Antonio Delgado (D–NY), Rep. Deb Haaland (D–NM), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D–MI), Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R–PA); Second row, from left to right: Rep. Xochitl Torres Small (D–NM), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–NY), Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D–NJ), Rep. Max Rose (D–NY), Third row, from left to right: Sen. Josh Hawley (R–MO), Rep. Carol Miller (R–WV), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D–MA), Rep. Katie Porter (D–CA); Fourth/last row, from left to right: Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D–VA), Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R–TX), Rep. Lauren Underwood (D–IL), Sen. Kevin Cramer (R–ND). "The class of 2019 looks more like America," Jan. 21 issue. Jeff Brown for TIME  Mattel gender-neutral doll. "It can be a boy, a girl, neither or both," Oct. 7 issue. JUCO for TIME  Jojo Siwa. "A Brand is Born," Sept. 2 issue. Charlotte Rutherford for TIME  Jeff Daniels. "Playing Atticus Finch on Broadway, Jeff Daniels marvels at the appetite for public decency," June 3 issue. Amy Lombard for TIME  United States Women National Soccer Team. "Athletes of the Year," Dec. 23 issue. Cait Oppermann for TIME  Amandine Henry. "Players to Watch," June 3 issue. Nhu Xuan Hua for TIME  Paul, from Boston, on the front porch of The Atlantic House in Provincetown, Mass. "From Florida to Alaska, America’s LGBTQ Bars Feel Like Home to Many," June 27, 2019. Richard Renaldi for TIME  Zach Spaulding and Farzad Alikozai at Stonewall. "From Florida to Alaska, America’s LGBTQ Bars Feel Like Home to Many," June 27, 2019. Rebecca Kiger for TIME  Nancy Pelosi. "TIME 100 Most Influential People," April 29 issue. Pari Dukovic for TIME  Donice Schilling at My Sister's Room. "From Florida to Alaska, America’s LGBTQ Bars Feel Like Home to Many," June 27, 2019. Peyton Fulford for TIME  Aidyn Sucec. "'This Isn't Just About A Pronoun'," Nov. 15, 2019. Maddie McGarvey for TIME  Michael B. Jordan. "The Best of Fall," Sept. 16 issue. Mickalene Thomas for TIME  Margaret Atwood. "The Best of Fall," Sept. 16 issue. Mickalene Thomas for TIME  Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez. "TIME 100 Most Influential People," April 29 issue. Collier Schorr for TIME  Jenny Holzer. "The Art of Optimism," Feb. 18 issue. Djeneba Aduayom for TIME  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "'The Strong Survive'," July 22 issue. Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME  Robert Chelsea. "The Face of Change," Nov. 4 issue. John Francis Peters for TIME  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "The Reckoning," Oct. 7 issue. Stefan Ruiz for TIME  Ida Dickens. "Private Jones Comes Home," March 11 issue. Benjamin Rasmussen for TIME  Lizzo. "Entertainer of the Year," Dec. 23 issue. 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