One of the greatest essays I've seen...

Has to be this essay from Berehulak.

Daniel Berehulak's

'They Are Slaughtering Us Like Animals'

Here it is from his website: https://www.danielberehulak.com/philippines/

And here it is in a multimedia piece in the NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/07/world/asia/rodrigo-duterte-philippines-drugs-killings.html

This photo essay is about how the government is dealing with a drug epidemic in the Philippines.

It is one of the best photo essays that I have seen yet because the photographer seems to normalize something that is so horrific but doesn't minimize how big of a problem it is. This essay has one major theme through it all - the lethal force used to fight a drug epidemic in Manila - but it shows the multiple facets of it. It incorporates dead bodies on the streets and the gory images juxtaposed with images of families mourning at their loss during funerals. It also shows the overcrowded prisons full of drug users and images of people going on with their lives while of their own are being murdered. 

I think that it's just a super strong essay that has that one thread going through the entire thing. It is also so visually coherent that every image gives off this ominous vibe.