”After weeks of parrying between New York City officials and ’Occupy Wall Street’ protesters, the police finally moved in at 1:00 am on November 15. The site of the protest, Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan, was cleared out after the city ruled that the area had become unsanitary. Here one of the demonstrators, Brent Schmidt, is seen being arrested in the dim light. The interesting photo by Mary Altaffer shows the face of the protesters in full view, while the police remain a shadowy force. The city said protesters could return to the park, but without sleeping bags and tents.” Photo by Mary Altaffer/AP, “Lens,” New York Times

”Another night scene made interesting by light: These silhouetted figures are part of the police force in Portland, Oregon, forming a wall around the city’s Chapman Square on November 13. The area had been the site of the Occupy Portland encampment, until the police evicted protesters.” Photo by Don Ryan/AP, “In Focus,” The Atlantic

”The Atlantic’s formidable ’In Focus’ photo blog published an entire portfolio of images showing police crackdowns on ’Occupy’ protesters around the country. Here, a group of protesters stand outside the courthouse in Eureka, California on November 14. The previous Monday police had arrested 32 people while clearing out an encampment.” Photo by Josh Jackson/AP, “In Focus,” The Atlantic

”In Seoul, South Korea, police used water cannon to turn back a group demonstrating against a South Korea-United States free trade agreement. Apparently the protesters were expecting to get wet and dress accordingly.” Photo by Jo yong-Hak/Reuters, “Framework,” Los Angeles Times

”Two different teams from two very different times are on view in this single image: Workers charged with cleaning up Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant wait outside their operations base—a building in northern Japan that was once a soccer training facility.” Photo by David Guttenfelder/AFP/Getty Images, “Lens,” New York Times

”Veterans Day, 2011: Alison Malachowski (facing the camera), mother of U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. James M. Malachowski, embraces Susanne Muller, mother of Marine Cpl. Ian M. Muller, at Arlington National Cemetery. The two soldiers served together in Afghanistan, and both died in combat there. The picture’s tiny details—the markings on Sgt. Malachowski’s gravestone, the plastic party balloons decorated with pink, yellow, red, and blue butterflies—tell the story: A soldier’s life, a mother’s loving memories.” Photo by Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP, “Lens,” New York Times

”The slow-moving flood that has swamped Thailand inundated a Honda car factory in Ayutthaya Province, turning a fleet of new models into modern art.” Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters, “Lens,” New York Times

”The floodwaters also rose in Bangkok, though his man seemed to take the devastation in stride. Nicolas Asfouri photographed him on November 3.” Photo by Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images, “In Focus,” The Atlantic

”When all is said and done, what we love the most—and what magazines like People give us, week after week—is romance. Last summer, for instance, People gave us the exclusive photos of Kim Kardashian’s wedding, for which it paid $1.5 million (or roughly $20,833 for each day of Kardashian’s 72-day marriage). This week the magazine published an exclusive excerpt from a new book by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head last January by a deranged would-be assassin. Photographer Nigel Parry shot a lovely portrait of Giffords for the new issue, but it was his cover image—Giffords smiling in the arms of her adoring husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly—that transformed a story of survival into a story about love.” Photos by Nigel Parry, People

”Speaking of love, Jennifer Lopez told Glamour magazine that she’s ready for it again, following her divorce from singer Marc Anthony. Is it culturally significant that Lopez, an icon of the opulent pre-recession era, has turned 2011 into a comeback year with a new TV show, a new single, and new boyfriends? Are we tired of the blahs and ready for some more bling? If so, J.Lo will guide the way. Glamour named her one of its ’Women of the Year’ and offered not just one but two shots of her with a special double cover.” Photos by Matthias Vriens-McGrath, Glamour

”An icon of more recent vintage, Scarlett Johansson, is featured in the new issue of Vanity Fair. Mario Sorrenti’s sumptuous photos of the actress accompany an interview in which Johansson talks about the photo scandal that erupted recently when a number of nude self-portraits turned up on the Internet. The pictures, she said, were meant for her husband at the time, actor Ryan Reynolds. Speaking of her sexting, Johansson told the magazine, ’I know my best angles’.” Photos by Mario Sorrenti, Vanity Fair

”Photographer Jason Schmidt and Harper’s Bazaar collaborated with Martin Scorsese and a number of Hollywood actors for a fashion story that recreated famous scenes from the director’s movies. Here, Chloe Moretz (wearing a $3,250 Yves Saint Laurent dress worn as a shirt) and Keanu Reeves (in an Ermenegildo Zegna shirt) stand in for Jodie Foster and Robert De Niro in a scene from Taxi Driver.” Photo by Jason Schmidt, Harper’s Bazaar

”The photographer Platon is noted for his portraits of political strongmen—his 2011 book Power: Portraits of World Leaders is a collection of 150 images shot over the course of a year at the United Nations. Among his best-known images was a color photo of Libya’s Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi dressed in resplendent brown robes and gray hat. But for an article about Qaddafi’s fall in the November 7 issue of The New Yorker, the magazine’s editors chose a different Platon photo—Qaddafi seen in an entirely unresplendent black-and-white mug shot, wrinkled, jowly, and aged.” Photo by Platon, The New Yorker