The jittery energy backstage at a Broadway theater 30 minutes before showtime, or in the seconds before the curtain rises at the Metropolitan Opera. Björk and Erykah Badu in all their regalia, and the happily-ever-after Swiss life of Tina Turner in retirement, but hardly retiring. Two lions in winter, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, remembering when they were cubs.

These were some of the pictures that stayed with us as we looked back at our favorite arts photography published this year by The New York Times.

In a world obsessed with image, there is an industry devoted to feeding pictures of stars and wannabe stars — as they would like to be seen — to hungry Instagram feeds and celebrity publications. The photographers The Times sent out to capture the rich world of culture this year were aiming for something different: striking pictures that revealed deeper truths about art and the people who make it, and how we experience it.