January 1, 2012. A kaleidoscope of fireworks designed by Marc Newson explode over the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Over one and a half million Sydneysiders lined the harbor vantage points to watch the spectacular pyrotechnic display usher in the New Year.

Torsten Blackwood—AFP/Getty Images

(via TIME Magazine’s Best Pictures of the Week, December 30 – January 6 - LightBox)