Design, research and development for this project was done in partnership with Avans University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. Students in the Communication and Multimedia Design course worked under the guidance of Luuk Bouwman and Frederik Duerinck in a research project called CMD NetLab. TIME thanks the instructors and students Rodey Seijkens, Cas Cornelissen, Pien den Hollander, Maarten Oerlemans, Maarten Puts, Thomas Neelemans, Dennis Jacobs, Marilou van Kaam, Jill van Oord, Layana Mariouw Smit and Bram van Vugt.
Photography Credits
Abe: Takashi Osato for TIME; Abramovic: Christopher Wahl—Contour/Getty Images; Adams: Peter Hapak for TIME; Admati: Joe Pugliese—August; al-Sisi: Sasha Mordovets—Getty Images; al-Thani: Natalie Naccache—The New York Times/Redux; Al-kaddri: Michael Sears—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Anderson-Lopez: Therese + Joel for TIME; Bachelet: Felipe Trueba—EFE/SIPA USA; Barra: Paola Kudacki for TIME; Pope Francis: Franco Origlia—Getty Images; Bezos: Patrick Fallon—Bloomberg/Getty Images; Brown: Steve Schofield—Contour/Getty Images; Yao: Jason Kempin—Getty Images; Clinton: Rex USA; Collins: Paola Kudacki for TIME; Cousin: Adam Amengual for TIME; Cuaron: Platon; Cumberbatch: Paola Kudacki for TIME; Cyrus: Larry Busacca—AMA2013/Getty Images for DCP; Dangote: Chris Ratcliffe—Bloomberg/Getty Images; Dua: Illustration by Michael Hoeweler for TIME; Ellison: Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images; Fadell: Simon Dawson—Bloomberg/Getty Images; Gillibrand: Marco Grob for TIME; Green: Kai Nedden—laif/Redux; Guerekoyame-Gbangou: Johannes Eisele—AFP/Getty Images; Gul: David Levene—The Guardian; Haldane: Chris Ratcliffe—Bloomberg/Getty Images; Hayhoe: Ashley Rodgers; Holder: Paola Kudacki for TIME; Icahn: Platon for TIME; Xi: Jason Lee—Reuters; Kalanick: Cody Pickens; Kejriwal: Sajjad Hussain—AFP/Getty Images; Kelly: Jesse Dittmar—Redux; Kerry: Molly Riley—AP; Key: Chris Buck for TIME; Kim: Wong Maye-E—AP; Beyonce: Paola Kudacki for TIME; Ko: Ezra Shaw—Getty Images; C. Koch: Jamie Kripke—Corbis Outline; D. Koch: Henry Leutwyler—Contour/Getty Images; Kohan: Andrew Macpherson—Netflix; Kovac: Stu Rosner; Lanza: Floto + Warner—OTTO; Layama: Pierre Terdjman—Cosmos/Redux; Lopez: Therese + Joel for TIME; J. Ma: ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images; P. Ma: ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images; Madonsela: Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images; Maduro: Leo Ramirez—AFP/Getty Images; Massenet: Lynsey Addario for TIME; McConaughey: Peter Hapak for TIME; McMaster: U.S. Army; McQueen: Joe Pugliese—August; Merkel: Thomas Trutschel—Photothek/Getty Images; Meyers: Marco Grob for TIME; Modi: Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux; Mujica: Claudio Reyes—AFP/Getty Images; Murphy: J. Emilio Flores—Corbis; Muruganantham: Amit Virmani; Nyirumbe: Derek Watson; Nzapalainga: Issouf Sanogo—AFP/Getty Images; Obama: T.J. Kirkpatrick; Okolloh: Douglas Adesko; Okonjo-Iweala: Peter Hapak for TIME; Paul: Carl Kiilsgaard—Getty Images; Paulus: Jason Grow; Peele: Chris Buck for TIME; Pettigrew: Win McNamee—Getty Images; Philo: Michel Dufour—WireImage/Getty Images; Putin: Davide Monteleone—VII; Rahman: Tony Avelar—Bloomberg/Getty Images; Redford: Paola Kudacki for TIME; Ronaldo: Alexander Hassenstein—FIFA/Getty Images; Rose: Chris Pizzello—Invision/AP; Rouhani: John Minchillo—AP; Roy: Chiara Goia; Sherman: Elsa—Getty Images; Sinclair: Rick Groleau and Jake Miller; Snowden: Barton Gellman—Getty Images; Spiegel: J. Emilio Flores—Corbis; Steyer: Jason Madara for TIME; Sulistyaningsih: Courtesy of Erwiana Sulistyaningsih; Sullivan: Stephen Voss for TIME; Tartt: Peter Hapak for TIME; Taylor: Marco Grob for TIME; Turlington Burns: Josh Estey; Underwood: Christopher Polk—Getty Images for Wonderwall; Wainaina: Basso Cannarsa—LUZ/Redux; Walker: Kelly Campbell; Washington: Horst Diekgerdes—Trunk Archive; Waters: William Abranowicz—Art + Commerce; White: Jake Chessum for TIME; P. Williams: Kurt Iswarienko—Trunk Archive; S. Williams: Uli Seit—The New York Times/Redux; Wright: Vera Anderson—WireImage/Getty Images; Yellen: Peter Hapak for TIME; Yousafzai: Trunk Archive