Photos have a way of transporting us to a place that words cannot. What's captured in the fraction of a second can live forever. During 2012, we saw some truly inspiring moments; moments now seared into our minds because of the photography that captured the subtleties of emotion, triumph and grace in the face of adversity.  An Afghan boy sells balloons on the side of a road on November 11, 2012 in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)  Chinese folk artists perform the lion dance at a temple fair to celebrate the Lunar New Year of Dragon on January 22, 2012 in Beijing. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)  22. WWII Veteran is greeted by Navy Seebees  WWII veteran Roosevelt Robinson of Friars Point, Mississippi is greeted by U.S. Navy Seabees as he returns home to Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport in Gulfport on Tuesday, April 24, 2012. This was the third Honor Flight to Washington D.C. for WWII veterans from South Mississippi. (John Fitzhugh/Biloxi Sun Herald/MCT via Getty Images)  21. Dog rescued during Manila floods  Rescuers help residents from a boat after being evacuated from their flooded homes in the village of Tumana, Marikina town, in suburban Manila on August 7, 2012, after torrential rains inundated most of the capital. (Photo by TED ALJIBE/AFP/GettyImages)  A five-month-old orphaned elephant named "Tembo" plays with his keeper Thomas Chalice, who has nurtured the elephant at Tony Fitzjohn's Mkomazi rhino sanctuary on June 19, 2012 in Mkomazi, Tanzania. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)  19. Sandy victim at voting site  On November 6, 2012, Raena Lamont, 3, wears a Captain America costume at a polling center doubling as a donation site in the Staten Island borough of New York City. As Staten Island continues to recover from Hurricane Sandy, a few polling stations were relocated due to power outages. (Photo by Allison Joyce/Getty Images)  18. A veteran returns home  Gavin Shaw, 5, flashes a smile as he hugs his father, Master Sergeant Adam Shaw, during a Welcome Home Ceremony for approximately 230 4th Brigade Combat Team soldiers, November 4, 2012 in Fort Carson, Colorado. The soldiers had been deployed for nine months in various regions of Afghanistan. (Photo by Marc Piscotty/Getty Images)  17. Psy and Ban Ki-moon dance Gangnam Style  South Korean singer Psy, whose real name is Park Jae-sang, visits U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations on October 23, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Allison Joyce/Getty Images)  16. Last day of Ramadan  Palestinians enjoy a day at a beach during Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan on August 21, 2012 in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)  15. Happy Birthday, Nelson Mandela  Children at the Bethany Home -- Place of Safety sing "Happy Birthday" to Nelson Mandela on his 94th birthday on July 18, 2012 in Mthatha, South Africa. (Photo by Bonile Bam/Gallo Images/Getty Images)  14. World Trade Center becomes tallest building in New York City ... again.  People sit in Exchange Place in Jersey City, N.J as construction continues on One World Trade Center. After workers moved a steel column into place on April 30, 2012, it was New York City's tallest building. One World Trade Center's height is now just beyond the 1,250 feet of the observation deck of the Empire State Building. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)  13. Girls cheer for their classmates  South Korean high school girls cheer for their senior classmates taking the College Scholastic Ability Test on November 8, 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)  A mother helps her baby wash her hands on Global Handwashing Day on October 15, 2012 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Celebrated in over 100 countries, Global Handwashing Day is an annual awareness day which aims to put the global spotlight on handwashing with soap as a lifesaving habit. (Photo by Oscar Siagan/Getty Images for Unilever)  11. Boy waits in Syrian breadline  A boy waits holding a stack of flatbreads in Syria during The Battle of Aleppo on August 30, 2012.(Photo by Alvaro Canovas/Paris Match via Getty Images)  Protesters with "Occupy Wall Street" rest on the ground during demonstrations on September 17, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)  9. President Obama hugs Gabriel Giffords  U.S. President Barack Obama embraces U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords as members of Congress applaud before his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill, January 24, 2012 in Washington, D.C. The president made a populist pitch to voters for economic fairness, saying the federal government should more do to balance the benefits of a capitalist society. (Photo by Saul Loeb-Pool/Getty Images)  Oscar Pistorius of South Africa waits for the baton during the Men's 4 x 400m Relay of the London 2012 Olympic Games on August 9, 2012. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)  7. Well built in Africa  Kalahari Bushmen, workers and a member of US NGO Vox United install a pump for a water well on February 19, 2012 in the Kalahari Game Reserve in Molapo. After winning a long court battle with Botswana's government, new water wells mean the Bushmen of the Kalahari can now return to their ancestral lands -- but with many already adopting the ways of modernity, their legendary desert civilization may be a thing of the past. (STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images)  Three-year-old burn victim Isabella Pippie Kruger blows bubbles with her mother, Anice Kruger during her first visit home, following a revolutionary skin transplant, August 10, 2012 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Isabella was severely burned on 80 percent of her body when a gel firelighter exploded in her father's hands on New Year's Eve. She underwent a groundbreaking operation which grafted skin, grown from her own cells in a laboratory in the United States, onto her body. (Photo by Loanna Hoffmann/Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images)  An Afghan health worker administers a polio vaccination to a boy on the second day of a vaccination campaign in the city of Jalalabad on November 20, 2012. A new three-day nationwide immunization campaign against polio began on November 19 in a joint operation with the Ministry of Public Health, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). (Noorullah Shirzada/AFP/Getty Images)  4. President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama on reelection night  US President Barack Obama embraces First Lady Michelle Obama during his last campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on November 5, 2012. After a grueling 18-month battle, the final U.S. campaign day arrived Monday for Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney, two men on a collision course for the world's top job. (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)  3. Gay couple becomes a family  Kelly Vielmo and partner Jack Montgomery see their portrait turn into total chaos after getting married and adopting Ravyn, 2, Cardel, 6 and Raine, 3 on the same day in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, July 26, 2012. The children, who are from the same birth mother, have been living with the couple as foster children for a year. Montgomery and Vielmo decided to do both events on the same day out of convenience for family members who came to town. (Photo by Linda Davidson / The Washington Post via Getty Images)  2. Lybian women gain voting rights  A Libyan woman is comforted by friends as she cries with joy outside a polling station after voting for the Libyan General National Assembly on July 7, 2012. (Photo by GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/GettyImages)  1. Egypt celebrates the election of Mohamed Morsi  Egyptians celebrate the election of their new president Mohamad Morsi in Tahrir Square on June 24, 2012 in Cairo. Morsi received more than 13 million, or 51.7%, of the votes, while his main rival, former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, received 48.27 percent. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)  What are your favorites? Were there other photos that inspired you this year? Share them with us in the comments.
25 of the most inspirational photos of 2012. From Chinese New Year to Gabriel Giffords, 2012 brought us some inspirational moments.