  The suppression of hadrons with large transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) in
central Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 200 GeV compared to a binary
scaled p+p reference is one of the major discoveries at RHIC. To understand the
nature of this suppression PHENIX has performed detailed studies of the energy
and system-size dependence of the suppression pattern, including the first RHIC
measurement near SPS energies. An additional source of information is provided
by direct photons. Since they escape the medium basically unaffected they can
provide a high $p_{\rm T}$ baseline for hard-scattering processes.
  An overview of hadron production at high $p_{\rm T}$ in different colliding
systems and at energies from $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 22.4 - 200$ GeV will be
given. In addition, the latest direct photon measurements by the PHENIX
experiment shall be discussed.
