It was breakfast time on Monday, February 27, when a someone armed with a gun opened fire on a group of students in a high school cafeteria in Chardon, Ohio, near Cleveland. By the following day, three students were dead, and their killer, identified as 17-year-old named T.J. Lane, was in police custody. Photographer David Maxwell arrived at the scene after the shooting: There he found a student from a nearby middle school taking shelter in the arms of his older sister. Photo by David Maxwell/EPA “Lens,” The New York Times

Afghanistan erupted in violence amid protests over the disposal by U.S. soldiers of Korans and other Islamic texts in a burn pit north of Kabul. Here, Afghan youths take cover from rubber bullets fired by U.S. soldiers at the gates of Bagram Airfield on February 21. Photo by Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images “Lightbox,” Time

An Afghan boy who works at a bakery in Kabul watches from behind a window as angry demonstrations over the Koran burning rocked the city. Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters “Lens,” The New York Times

It was nearly a year ago that an earthquake in the Pacific Ocean set off a devastating tsunami that changed much of the landscape of northern Japan. The Atlantic’s “In Focus” photo blog published a stunning set of before-and-after photos showing just how much has changed. Above left: An image made on March 11, 2011 shows tsunami waves overflowing a barrier in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture in northeastern Japan. At right, the same location, as seen on February 17, 2012. Photos via Miyako City Office and Toru Hanai “In Focus,” The Atlantic

Barton Silverman of the New York Times has seen baseball players come, and he’s seen them go. The legendary sports photographer was on hand as the pitchers and catchers of the New York Yankees reported for another spring training in Florida—a sure sign that winter will soon give way to another season in the sun. He snapped Yankee ace C.C. Sabathia bouncing a medicine ball with fellow pitcher Ivan Nova. Photo by Barton Silverman “Lens,” The New York Time

At the annual Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday night, the prize for Best Picture of the Year went to The Artist, a silent film that paid homage to Hollywood’s past. But it was Angelina Jolie’s right leg that stole the show. Wally Skaij of the Los Angeles Times took in all the glamour. Photo by Wally Skalij The Los Angeles Times

Sometimes the world just falls in love with a picture. That seems to be the case with this snap of U.S. Marine Sgt. Brandon Morgan, just returned from Afghanistan, being greeted by his partner, Dalan Wells. After it was posted on the Gay Marines Facebook page on Saturday, the photo received some 15,000 “Likes” and about 3,300 comments—most of them adoring. Of course some people didn’t like it. But after the shot went viral, Sgt. Morgan assured us that this kiss was just a kiss: “As for the whole PDA and kissing slash hugging in uniform...it was a homecoming,” he wrote. “If the Sergeants Major, Captains, Majors, and Colonels around us didn't care...then why do you care what these random people have to say?” Photographer Unknown Facebook

Usually, it’s a good thing when the person on the cover of a magazine is immediately recognizable. Not in the case of the March issue of Interview, which featured a never-before-seen version of pop star Katy Perry, shot memorably by Mikael Jansson. This cover intrigued because Perry is unrecognizable. Photo by Mikael Jansson Interview

There’s been a lot of talk recently about the distribution of wealth in the U.S.—and not just from our various presidential candidates. On Sunday night’s Oscar ceremonies, for instance, host Billy Crystal joked that “nothing takes the sting out of tough economic times like watching millionaires giving golden statues to each other.” Then the New York Times reported that conspicuous wealth seems to be making a comeback in magazines. (Did it ever go away?) There is a new magazine from the Bloomberg empire, called Pursuits, that is aimed at lucky 1 Percenters. Du Jour magazine, a high-end shopping vehicle from the founder of Hamptons magazine, has also made its debut. Meanwhile, older publications are seeing gains: W magazine is up 14 percent in ad rev, and Architectural Digest, the upscale shelter bible, seems to be thriving, at least photographically. Consider the recent layout on Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine’s Hollywood hovel. It makes you feel richer just looking it. Photos by Roger Davies Architectural Digest

An Internet meme was born during the broadcast of the Grammy Awards on February 12, when untold numbers of young people took to Twitter to ask, “Who the #@*% is Paul McCartney?” For instance, after seeing the ex-Beatle and writer of “Hey Jude” on television, one viewer wrote simply, “IDGAF… he is…too old.” Oh well—it only makes the photographs of Sir Paul by Nadev Kander in the new issue of Rolling Stone more splendid. Photos by Nadev Kander Rolling Stone

BuzzFeed, the website that gauges what stories and photos are trending online, is usually filled with pictures of cute cats and whatnot. But last week the site featured this snap of President of the United States Barack Obama apparently totally checking out the legs of First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama. It happened at groundbreaking ceremonies for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington. D.C. As we’ve noted before, photographs, being silent, are often misleading. We can’t say for sure what the president was actually thinking as Downing shot, and it’s wrong to simply surmise. But let’s go ahead and do it anyway. Photo by Larry Downing/Reuters BuzzFeed