Image 1 of 55: VLADIMIR PIROGOV (April 7: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan) “It had been drizzling since morning. There was a rally to protest against tariff hikes planned. I predicted about 1,000 people would participate. I even imagined that police might apply force, arrest the participants - everything except the events that actually occurred. The territory around the office was blocked by police. The rally was badly organized, with each volunteer grabbing a loudspeaker and delivering his speech. When a few buses with special mission units inside drove to the location, it was clear that no good would come out of it. When the action started, we tried not to get into the heat of the moment. People, who were being detained, cried out for us to photograph them to capture the lawlessness. All of a sudden, a part of the crowd broke the cordon, crossed the street and rearranged into a separate unit. When they began gathering stones, there was trouble in the air. We started thinking of a place to hide when the first stones were raised into the air. The crowd screamed, youngsters holding sticks and armor attacked the police. Some officers fell down to the ground, others ran trying to conceal themselves in nearby yards. Enraged people stormed the police buses to release their arrested comrades. Every second we had to watch all directions as the trouble could have come from anywhere. Activists set a few cars on fire and again stones were set in motion. Finally, policemen dropped their weapons – one-time grenade launchers, machine guns, sniper rifles, Kalashnikovs – and fled from the site. It was hard to believe but at that moment I felt that the people could seize the White House. The crowd divided into three groups and attacked the police from different sides, using grenades and other weapons. When the gunfire burst, I was scared. To the bitter end I wanted to believe that we’d be able to avoid dead bodies like in the 2005 March revolution. But the fire intensified and I noticed the first victims. I tried not to think of the worst but realized that it was war all around.” Canon EOS-1D Mark III, lens 16-35mm, f2.8 , 1/2500 sec, ISO 1250
Image 2 of 55: ADREES LATIF (August 7: Muzaffargarh district, Pakistan) “A week into the biggest humanitarian crises in decades, the Pakistan floods had moved on to submerge areas of southern Punjab province while leaving a trail of death, damaged infrastructure and an uncertain future in the north of the country. As the flood waters ravaged villages and towns along the Indus River basin, I too followed its trail of destruction. After spending days wading through flood waters to tell the story, I arrived in Multan on August 6 in hopes of getting a seat upon a chopper taking part in relief efforts. My goal was to bring light to the vast amount of landmass the floods had covered, the same viewpoint that made U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon note the Pakistan floods were the worst disaster he had ever seen. On the morning of August 7, I was granted a seat on an Army helicopter that was to deliver relief supplies to flooded villages in the Muzaffargarh district of Punjab. After loading the chopper with packets of cooked rice mixed with chickpeas, the crew and a handful of journalists departed in search of marooned villagers. We soon spotted families taking refuge on a cemetery, the only landmass in the area above water. As the helicopter came down to land, dozens of men and boys started to charge, forcing the pilots to hover over the crowd. As the doors to the helicopter opened to distribute food supplies, I saw my chance for a different angle and took a step back before leaping past the crewmen and jumped meters below onto the ground. I knew I had as much time to document the reality of the moment as it would take the crewmen to distribute the relief supplies they had brought. Tripping over mounds and gravestones, I managed to find enough distance from the helicopter to show dozens of hands reaching into the air to catch food rations being thrown down. Seconds later, I fought the dust and force from the propellers to return under the belly of the hovering craft to capture images of villagers hanging onto the skids in hopes of being rescued. After capturing an image that showed their desperation, I went behind the crowd to make eye contact with the crewmen, letting them know I wanted back on before they departed. After getting the visual go-ahead to return, I raced towards the doorways and with the help of a villager, hurdled over the crowd before being pulled up single-handedly by a crewman. As the helicopter started to take off, the elderly man in the photograph, with a white scarf around his neck, managed to hang on and was pulled to safety.” Canon EOS 5D Mark II, lens 16mm, f5.6, 1/400 sec, ISO 250
Image 3 of 55: DENIS SINYAKOV (August 7: Ryazan region, Russia) “I was really lucky to find this religious procession. It happened by accident when I drove to the village of Kriusha, which was partially burnt by wildfires. I spent a night in my car parked on a roadside in Kriusha. I began to drive away to look for a new location. There was smog. The huge area of the Ryazan region was covered with smog due to hundreds of forest fires in the surrounding areas. I'd already spent two days taking pictures of destroyed villages and firefighters so I was surprised to see an Orthodox priest followed by masked elderly women. I believed that it would be an additional angle to the story I was covering. There were about 30 or 40 women, residents of Kriusha. They prayed and walked in a procession around the village asking God to save their houses, lives and asking for rain. They held the same religious procession twice a week for several weeks. A few days later I saw pictures of the procession taken by another photographer, but there was no smog. I guess I was lucky, because the main point of the picture is the background - a background covered with milky smog.” Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, f5.6, 1/500sec, ISO 400
Image 4 of 55: LEE CELANO (June 8: East Grand Terre Island, Louisiana, USA) “This photo was taken at the height of the oil onslaught following the Deepwater Rig explosion and spill. I rented a boat with another photographer at dawn, and we began looking for the impact of the oil spill on the small islands near Grand Isle. After walking through several yards of oil and mud, I spotted this hard hat sitting in a giant pock of oil. Although the hard hat was not from workers aboard the Deepwater rig, it helps remind viewers of the 11 workers who died and 17 others who were injured in the explosion.” Canon 5D, lens 24-70mm, f2.8, 1/125 sec, ISO 200
Image 5 of 55: VALENTIN FLAURAUD (January 23: Chateau-d’Oex, Switzerland) “Hot Air Balloon Week has taken place in Chateau-d’Oex during the last week of January every year since 1979. The old village itself is beautiful, as is the surrounding landscape. Add in up to a 100 balloons during peak years and you get the perfect photographer’s playground! From early in the morning as the balloonists prepared their gear till dusk when the last balloons landed, I kept shooting. Everything from the colors and shapes of the balloons to the huge flames, snow landscape and great people provided fantastic picture opportunities. I had a flight planned in a small balloon in the morning, unfortunately the wind quickly swept us away with very few balloons around us and we landed after a 30 minute flight. The experience of the gentle and silent hot air balloon flight was amazing and the local liquor the Belgian team had brought from their hometown to warm us up after the flight even made up for the harsh landing. But, I knew it was possible to make better pictures so I asked for another flight in the afternoon. Luckily, in the afternoon the balloon was much bigger and the wind had changed direction. This promised a much higher and longer flight. My balloon quickly flew higher than the others. I squeezed between the other passengers to snap pictures of the participants below. The balloons moved rather slowly, allowing me to shoot multiple shots of the same angle. For this picture shot straight from above however, it had more to do with luck than multiple frames. As we flew straight above the colourful balloon I only got one picture, the aligned houses, the light and the right angle were there and I was fortunate to be looking straight under my balloon at that precise moment.” Canon 1Ds Mark III, lens 70-200 +1.4 times teleconverter, f8, 1/320 sec, ISO 320
Image 6 of 55: CARLOS BARRIA (January 27: Port-au-Prince, Haiti) “I was out on a routine morning drive around the city when someone told me food was being distributed near the presidential palace, so I asked my driver, Polanco, to take me there. When I arrived the distribution was almost over. U.N. soldiers were running out of food and the lines were still long. Tension was starting to simmer over. After taking a couple of frames, I walked around looking for something different, another way to show the frustration that people were experiencing. I walked along a line of people who had been waiting for hours. The line had moved up against a wall, as people sought shade. I saw a woman in her 40’s, with a tired face that seemed to reflect hours spent waiting for food for herself and her family. She put her hand on a cracked wall to lean in and rest a bit. I stopped next to her and I shot the picture.” Canon 5D Mark II, lens 35mm, f1.4, 1/1600 sec, ISO 50
Image 7 of 55: BOB STRONG (August 22: Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan) “It was during an embed with a U.S. Army medevac unit based at Camp Dwyer in Helmand province. The Marine had lost a lot of blood from gunshot wounds and had no vital signs by the time we picked him up and the medic started working on him. The medic later told me that the soldier was almost certainly clinically dead by the time he was loaded onto the chopper, but in spite of that he and the flight engineer performed CPR for 20 minutes until we reached the hospital. There was a contrast between the medic’s frantic efforts to save a life and the Marine's faraway glazed eye that was very poignant to me. Embed rules prohibit photographers from sending any images of deceased soldiers until their families have been notified and it wasn't until several days later that I saw the soldier's obituary and filed my pictures. “ Canon Mark IV, lens 50mm, f2.8, 1/400 sec, ISO 250
Image 8 of 55: EDGARD GARRIDO (September 2: El Guante, Honduras) “Sixteen bodies of Hondurans were repatriated on September 1. They were found in the group of the 72 immigrants executed by a drug cartel in Tamaulipas, Mexico, near the border with the U.S. When I heard the news I called relatives of one of the slain immigrants, Miguel Carcamo, in Tegucigalpa. I travelled to El Guante, the town where he was to be buried. After viewing her father’s body and heading to the cemetery, Miguel’s daughter Isabel and her mother fainted on countless occasions. It was the circumstances surrounding this photo that touched me the most. For me, the picture shows all the anguish, pain and abandonment the Carcamo family feel.” Canon EOS1 5D Mark II, lens 17-35mm, f3.5, 1/1300 sec, ISO 100
Image 9 of 55: BAZ RATNER (March 16: East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Wadi al-Joz) “It was what the Palestinians called a “day of rage” in Jerusalem and the West Bank over continued Jewish settlement building. I was taking pictures for a few hours in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Wadi al-Joz of a violent protest, mainly youths throwing stones at Israeli police. There was the sound of a stun grenade from the centre of the disturbance. An undercover Israeli police officer pointed a weapon towards me while another officer detained a Palestinian suspected of throwing stones. There were a few teams of undercover police doing the same thing on the road. The whole thing took just a few seconds and it was finished quickly.” Canon Mark III, lens 16mm, f5, 1/800 sec, ISO 400
Image 10 of 55: ADREES LATIF (May 19: Bangkok, Thailand) “It was the day thousands of anti-government ‘red shirt’ protesters feared might happen every night since they seized the most popular shopping district in central Bangkok. Demands for new elections by the protesters failed after repeated negotiations. On May 19, Thai troops came in to clear the ‘red shirts’ from a several kilometer stretch of trendy shopping malls, luxury hotels and key intersections they had occupied. Led by armored vehicles, the soldiers charged past a fence constructed with hundreds of tires and bamboo sticks. What followed was a violent confrontation between protesters and the military, leaving the streets stained with blood as plumes of smoke rose over the Thai capital. I started my coverage at daybreak from within the red shirt encampment. Half past six in the morning, protesters, sensing battle, started releasing paper lanterns which are generally symbolic for problems or worries floating away. An hour later, military rounds echoed off nearby buildings and the first group of protesters defending the barricades were shot. As others went in to assist the injured, they were also shot. For the next hour, bullets showered off-and-on into the ‘red shirt’ encampment. I had taken cover between two buses, and later behind trees, while chronicling the events. When sounds of gunfire seized, I moved out of the fire zone and into safety, hundreds of meters away. From the driveway of a hotel, I witnessed dozens of injured protesters being rushed away by motorbike. Not being able to move freely or provide adequate coverage, I decided to leave the ‘red shirt’ encampment and find a way to get behind the advancing soldiers. Although the Army was only 500 meters away, it took me an hour and a half to encircle the road-blocks of the metropolis to find myself exactly at the same point I had departed, but this time behind the soldiers’ arms. The ‘red shirt’ leaders had surrendered but the protesters were still on the offensive and the soldiers steadily advanced. I spent the next few hours photographing arrests and taking cover as a firefight still insisted. A grenade was launched towards the Army, badly injuring a soldier and journalist. Before the day ended, my aim was to get back and document what was taking place near the main stage and heart of the anti-government protests. I left the Army and once again encircled the city for several hours to find myself in the midst of where tens of thousands massed and rallied each day for six weeks. Once reaching my final destination, there was an absolute eerie silence. The main stage, where the songs and slogans from microphones bounced off the structures of shopping malls through the nights, was left deserted. The protesters vanished, leaving their belongings still in place. Pet dogs, with red bandannas tied around their necks, walked aimlessly and confused through the stretch of empty tents. I surveyed the area for some time, desperately seeking a human element to fill my camera lens. I saw a lone fire fighter, on his radio and then photographed a man cycling through a street left flooded by gushing fire extinguishers from nearby shopping centers. After a day of witnessing one of the fieriest firefights in my professional career, followed by death and plumes of smoke over one of the largest capitals in this world, another chapter in Thai history was written. As dawn turned to dusk I stood and photographed a lone statue, ironically adorned by a worn Thai national flag, as Bangkok’s Central World shopping complex burned to the ground.” Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, lens 50mm, f4, 1/500 sec, ISO 640
Image 11 of 55: MARKO DJURICA (March 8: Belgrade, Serbia) “During Women’s Day celebrations, men in Serbia and most of the former Yugoslavia traditionally give flowers to women, in recognition of their role in society. Sometimes people on the street present flowers to every woman passing by. I encountered these two people during the festivities in downtown Belgrade. The man was holding the rose as he was about to present it to the elderly lady. I could not say whether the two knew each other or if they had just met for the first time, but there was enough emotion and color that I made the photo.” Canon EOS 5D, lens 70-200mm (at 200mm), f2.8, 1/800 sec, ISO 320
Image 12 of 55: LARRY DOWNING (May 31: Elwood, Illinois, USA) “I remember the day quite well; my raincoat is still wet from it. U.S. President Barack Obama traveled to a Memorial Day event at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood to first lay a wreath and then address a crowd of veterans and tourists elsewhere inside the cemetery. After he placed the wreath at a group of grave stones he jumped into his motorcade and drove about a half-mile to the speech site. During that short drive the sky turned from a mild, even gray to a swirling, black sky - as dark as Dorothy's Kansas farm in the opening minutes of the Wizard of Oz movie. Within seconds after the president’s arrival the sky dropped a thick bucket of rain over everyone and everything in sight as the crowd broke ranks trying to take cover. President Obama walked out to announce to the crowd they should seek cover for their safety and then walked away from the podium. Thirty seconds and he was gone. While Obama was on stage thunder erupted and no one could hear what he said. It was every man, woman and child for themselves. I shot two or three frames of the scene before losing sight of the President through the solid wall of water. The president never gave that speech in Illinois.” Canon Mark IV, lens 70-200mm, f2.8, 1/200 sec, ISO 800
Image 13 of 55: LUCAS JACKSON (April 12: New York, USA) “It's something that happens all the time at premieres but is usually not seen. These little moments usually happen before we see them or they are hidden from view, because by the time the talent reaches the photographers, they are projecting the image they want us to capture. It's a constant challenge to come back from an event like this with a different image. This situation is one of the rare times that the light, moment, and view all came together to allow me to take an image that goes beyond your typical entertainment photo.” Canon 1D Mark IV, f2.8, 1/1000 sec, ISO 200
Image 14 of 55: ADNAN ABIDI (March 9: New Delhi, India) “Around 8.30 in the morning I received a message that Tibetans were going to storm the Chinese embassy at 9am. I immediately rushed towards the embassy. When I reached the location I saw my colleague Vijay, so we decided that it would be good if both of us would cover the event. Within no time dozens of exiles, including monks and girls, got off a bus and started shouting slogans and running towards the main gate of the embassy. Police started detaining them. It all happened so fast that within 10 minutes everything was finished. At the end I saw police carrying an exile towards a police vehicle so I immediately started shooting. His facial expressions were so good that I just kept shooting. When the police put him inside the vehicle, I took off the hood of my 16-35mm and kept my lens on the glass of the vehicle to avoid the glare and reflections. I shot more than a dozen frames because there was no time to change my camera ISO and the vehicle was moving. After the shoot it was the time to select the best frame, there were some frames in which photographers and cameramen were reflected in the glass and only one frame in which I could see a policeman was standing behind me. I said to myself, “yes that’s the frame.” Canon March II-N, lens 16-35mm, f4.0, 1/125 sec, ISO 400
Image 15 of 55: RONEN ZVULUN (August 4: Netanya, Israel) “The daughter of Israeli Lieutenant-Colonel in the Reserves Dov Harari saluted next to her father’s grave, after his military funeral in Netanya. Harari was killed after Lebanese Army troops fired warning shots at Israeli soldiers along the usually quiet but tense frontier. On the day of the funeral the weather was very hot and humid. Many people came to the funeral. It was crowded. After the official ceremony was over I found myself pressed towards the edge of the grave, witnessing this very emotional and personal moment, showing a girl’s admiration of her father. The photo is an example of how an intimate moment can become a national story, or how a public news story is really a very private one for the people involved.” Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, lens 16-35mm, f5.6, 1/125 sec
Image 16 of 55: KIERAN DOHERTY (March 11: Wootton Bassett, southern England) “This was the second time I had been sent to cover this story and I soon realized that witnessing people's grief doesn't get any easier the more acquainted you become with it. In fact, it’s the complete opposite. This was also the second and last time I would ever bring a ladder with me to this story. Although I would not have managed to get this picture without the ladder, it had begun to feel far too obtrusive. The other thing about covering this story is that you have to pick who you want to concentrate on pictorially. There isn't enough time to keep looking for pictures elsewhere, especially when there is more than one hearse. I had seen this young man prior to the arrival of the cortege, and he was obviously very emotional then, so I guessed I would keep my camera on him. It was a really cold day and wide open I just kept clicking in single shot mode. In my opinion, motordrives never suit this type of situation. You just have to wait and pick your moment.” Nikon D3, lens 200mm, f2.8, 1/250 sec, ISO 400
Image 17 of 55: DANIEL NAUPOLD (July 24: Duisburg, Germany) "Since I am not a fan of huge crowds I only visited the Love Parade to test my new lens. But after 4:30 pm I decided to leave the area. I packed up my SLR and switched to a small camera as I went in the direction of the tunnel to exit. As the pushing in the crowd became harder, I stopped taking pictures and climbed up a dusty hill at the end of the wall. From this elevated position I was able to see the overwhelming crowd of people which fluctuated in scary wavelike movements from one side to the other. Without being aware of the tragedy I was witnessing, I unpacked my camera again and started shooting, concentrating on the people at the entrance of the tunnel. I saw this woman being carried by police officers through the crowd and finally rescued over the stairs. A few seconds later I was prompted by police to proceed and to leave." Canon EOS 500D, lens 70-200mm, f4.0
Image 18 of 55: THIERRY ROGE (February 15: Halle, Belgium) “I was driving my car to the office when I heard on the radio that a train had crashed near Halle. I was not too far from the site. I made my way there very quickly as my colleague Yves Herman prepared to a fly over the site in a helicopter. I arrived less than one hour after the crash. Nothing was organized. Rescue workers and police were still busy trying to evacuate injured passengers. I walked along the track, crossed it and was in the middle of the scene. There were still a lot of people leaving the train. The weather was cold and snow was falling with a strange feeling of silence. A plainclothes police officer walked along the tracks in my direction carrying a little girl. A few moments later I had to leave the area.” Canon EOS Mark III, lens 28-300mm (at 100mm), f6.4, 1/300 sec, ISO 1000
Image 19 of 55: FINBARR O'REILLY (March 6: Krugersdorp, South Africa) “While most white South Africans still enjoy lives of privilege and relative wealth, the number of poor whites has risen steadily over the past 15 years. White unemployment nearly doubled between 1995 and 2005. Seeking to reverse decades of racial inequality, the ruling ANC government introduced affirmative action laws that promote employment for blacks and aim to give black South Africans a bigger slice of the economy. This shift in racial hiring practices coupled with the fallout from the global financial crisis means many poor white South Africans have fallen on hard times. Many poor whites have ended up in places like Coronation Park in Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg; a leafy former caravan site beside a water reservoir and a public picnic park frequented by middle-class families at weekends. These boys attend school and play rugby and cricket in their spare time, but this photo was taken on an idle Saturday when there was little else going on. It was my first day at the camp and the boys were bored and happened to congregate on this tire, which had been set up as part of a blockade to the entrance of their squatter camp.” Canon 5D Mark II, lens 24-70mm (at 28mm), f3.5, 1/250 sec, ISO 160
Image 20 of 55: MIKE SEGAR (April 15: New City, New York, USA) “With tax day on April 15 in the U.S. and a national focus on government spending and taxes generally in the news, we were encouraged to contribute to a pictures package about tax day. I had looked for “Tea Party” activist events in our local area knowing that this small but vocal anti-tax group which had been getting growing national attention would surely be out protesting on tax day. When I arrived at this small rally the crowd was only 20 or 30 people of mostly older, mostly white locals, some carrying signs milling about outside the New City town hall. I was struck immediately by the sign the man on the right was holding, seemingly associating President Barack Obama with Communism. The couple were chanting along with the man holding the sign “stop the government takeover”. With the emergence of the “Tea Party” in America and their growing influence on the political process I was simply looking for one or two images that conveyed their message on Tax Day and added to our file. I mingled in and out of the small crowd for only about 20 minutes. I was the only member of the press there. I was asked more than twice by protestors why I was there? Was I “working for the Government?” I was called a “lame stream media member” by one gentleman who was holding an American flag on a pole which was when I decided to leave. The picture is simple, not particularly dynamic, but I think what makes it successful is that it illustrates the somewhat radical nature of the “Tea Party” with the sign, but also how these are mostly just common people, from common American towns.” Canon EOS 5D, lens 35mm, f2.0, 1/2000
Image 21 of 55: DYLAN MARTINEZ (August 28: London, England) “Never leave home without your camera. Well, luckily on this summer's day I didn't. It was late evening and I had a sudden desire for an ice cream. As I strolled to the very nice "gelateria" near my house I could hear the thud of what I think is still called "house music". My family and I had just returned from holiday that afternoon and were unaware that a music festival was taking place on Clapham Common - a large park some five minutes from home. As I walked to get my ice cream I noticed this couple, obviously in high spirits and blissfully unaware of all around them. I picked up my camera, a quiet unassuming Nikon D700. I pointed, focused and guessed the light. I then bought my ice cream and tried to look for another picture, but it's hard to shoot with one hand holding a cone.” Nikon D700, lens 50mm, f1.8, 1/60 sec, ISO 1000
Image 22 of 55: VINCENT WEST (April 21: Santurce, Spain) Vincent West April 21: Santurce, Spain “This couple was waiting to catch the P and O ferry “The Pride of Bilbao” from Santurce to Portsmouth, England following the closure of European airspace after the eruption of an unpronounceable Icelandic volcano brought planes to a standstill and made lots of taxi drivers a small fortune. I spent the morning with a few hundred of the many millions of travelers stranded throughout April while they sunned themselves on the grass, exchanged airport nightmare stories and organized small committees to lobby for soft drinks and sandwiches for the children (the mild underlying threat being that the kids were being very well behaved for now but....). I was left with the impression that the English are sometimes glad to be given the opportunity to display their famed stoicism in the face of minor adversity.“ Nikon D3, lens 24-70mm (at 56mm), f2.8, 1/4000 sec
Image 23 of 55: DANISH SIDDIQUI (July 22: Mumbai, India) “I was amazed to see the response of cinema goers to “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” (The Big Hearted Will Take the Bride), a movie which had been released 15 years ago and had been playing at this cinema ever since. The people inside the theatre were not at all concerned about any one taking their picture as they were totally engrossed in watching the movie. This particular shot was taken during a song sequence and I loved the expression of the young man. He seems to be enjoying every moment of the romantic song starring Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan and dreaming about his own destiny. The best part about Bollywood is that it makes you dream and the dreams are always very colourful.” Canon 5D Mark II, lens 16-35mm (at 35mm), f2.8, 3.2 sec, ISO 1600
Image 24 of 55: JON NAZCA (August 22: Malaga, Spain) “It’s Sunday, and the last bullfight of the week. People from Malaga are exhausted from so many days of fiesta and bulls. There isn’t much traffic around the bullring so I get there earlier than other days. The temperature is a suffocating heat and not too many people are there yet, only a few brave souls sitting in the stands waiting for the bullfight. These are not good times for bullfighting, at least in Catalonia, where the regional government voted to prohibit bullfights as of 2012. But here, in Malaga, tradition rules and the spectators swarm to the fair each year to enjoy the spectacle. I take my position in the ring to shoot some pictures of the bullfighters and their assistants being presented in the ring. Intense concentration and seriousness is reflected on their faces. No one present knows what is about to unfold. In a certain way, it is reminiscent of gladiators preparing for a fight, being presented to the spectators hungry for a spectacle. I hurry to my next shooting position, a barrier behind the bullfighters alley. If a bull were to jump over the barrier I would be safe here. Everything goes to plan. I have a habit of shooting the first three bullfights of the afternoon from this position. For the next three, I usually run up to the stands, and from there shoot the rest with a 300mm or 135mm lens. But this afternoon is different. The fifth bull runs out and I rush to go up… Reaching the highest area of the bullring seems impossible. The bull is already in the ring and I am still not in place. I take a spot in the first place I can find, and it happens to be the VIP area of the bullring. I have to block a waiter with a tray full of drinks trying to get by, but until there’s a pause in the action I can’t afford to move. As soon as I can, I grab a spot in another balcony, this time a private one. Fortunately there aren’t too many spectators in this one. The “Banderillero” comes into the ring. His job is to weaken the bull by stabbing it in the neck with “Banderillas” which are essentially long colored harpoons with razor-sharp tips. Pedro Muriel, decked out in a silver and purple bullfighters suit, comes in close to the bull but fails to lodge the “Banderillas” in its neck. He runs away quickly, but just when he thinks he is a safe distance away, the bull surprises him and traps him against the barrier. The spectators rise to their feet and start shouting. Six seconds must seem like an eternity in which the Banderillero is at the mercy of the bull and even if he can escape, he can’t avoid being gored in his right thigh. Fortunately, he was able to walk to the bullring infirmary on his own two feet. He was not critically wounded.” Canon EOS 5D Mark II, lens 300mm, f2.8, 1/500 sec
Image 25 of 55: KIERAN DOHERTY (August 12: Salisbury Plain, southern England) “The Perseid meteor showers happen once a year. I decided to go to the Stonehenge Neolithic monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire to try and shoot this spectacle. Using a tripod, a Nikon D700 and a 24mm lens, with an exposure of 7 minutes at 2.8, I somehow managed to capture a classic looking tipped perseid meteor directly over the stones. I wanted the stars to streak to give the picture some aesthetic impact, and in doing so it also widened my chances of catching a meteor on a long exposure. I sat there with my flask of tea for about 5 hours, trying to shoot in between security guards patrolling the stones with their torches. I didn’t know that I had anything until I got back to the car. The cold had really forced me to give up by then, even though it was mid August. I was pretty happy with the frame. I just got lucky.” Nikon D700, lens 24mm, f2.8, 7 minutes
Image 26 of 55: ELIANA APONTE (July 28: Lecheria, Mexico) “Around nine in the morning I arrived at a shelter for immigrants on their way to the United States. I saw about 30 men, most of them sleeping in the streets in front of the house. It was cold with a little sun. I started to talk with some of them; they were very quiet, tired and hungry. They had been travelling the whole night on the train. When I started to ask how the journey was and introduced myself to them as a journalist they started to talk about their situation. Very brave people, they just wanted to arrive in the U.S. and work to make money for their family. They didn’t care about how dangerous it is. God is with them, as one of the men told me.” Canon 5D Mark II, lens 24mm, f1.4, 1/8000, ISO 100
Image 27 of 55: ENRIQUE CASTRO-MENDIVIL (March 25: Lima, Peru) “I had been covering a story on one of the biggest old people's homes in Latin America for about a week. On the last day I received permission to visit the senile dementia building. After shooting some really sad moments of a priest giving Holy Communion to terminally ill patients in the rooms, I went out to the hall and watched a few old people in their wheelchairs staring out a window with a lost expression on their faces. One of them, an elderly lady sitting at a table, completely changed her expression when a nurse put a dish with soup in front of her and touched her gently on the head. The old woman reacted with a big smile, like she was happy to return from a faraway place and for being real or important to somebody. It was lunch time…” Lens 17-35mm (at 28mm), f5.6, 1/60 sec, ISO 400
Image 28 of 55: KEVIN ZHAO (April 19: Gyegu town, Yushu county, China’s remote Tibetan plateau) “Tibetan monks who came from some of the Lama Temples around Yushu county and Sichuan province, assembled themselves at the sloping area near the horse racetrack, praying for the victims of the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck Yushu county. After the ritual for the victims, the weather changed suddenly and a squall blew together with gravel surrounding the area. The monks covered themselves with their frocks, and continued to walk down the slope.” Canon EOS 1D Mark II, lens 24mm, f1.4, 1/500 sec, ISO 50
Image 29 of 55: AJAY VERMA (September 8: Punchkula, northern India) “I received information from local police personnel that there was a flash flood in the river Ghaghar. Three women were stuck in the floodwaters and the rescue team was going to rescue those women. When I reached the location I saw a huge crowd on the bridge of the river. The police were controlling the crowd. Rescue workers, members of the army and locals were preparing to conduct the rescue. The rescue operation got underway and took some 30 minutes to complete. The victims were in shock following their ordeal and were rushed t o a nearby hospital. This was the first rescue operation I had covered and I was amazed to see how these flash floods could destroy lives and property in mere minutes.” Canon EOS 5D, lens 200mm, 1/500 sec, ISO 640
Image 30 of 55: LUCAS JACKSON (August 26: New York, USA) “It was during the peak of the controversy regarding the building of Park51, a Muslim cultural center proposed to be built two blocks from Ground Zero. I had been to the site a handful of times to photograph demonstrators both supporting and protesting against the center and when I spoke to a general news reporter we decided to do a story on the Islamic Cultural Center of New York that was built in 1991. We went to the center on a day when I could capture the daily 5pm prayer session. I met a young boy who showed me how to cleanse my feet, face, hands, arms, elbows, ears, and even nose before entering the room you see in the photograph. While working I kept noticing that numerous members of the New York Police Department's traffic enforcement agency were Muslim. This gave me a graphic element to work with and I felt added an important element to the story.” Canon 1D Mark IV, lens 24mm, f2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO 2000
Image 31 of 55: SUSANA VERA (October 25: “El Gallinero” settlement, Madrid, Spain) "El Gallinero" is a shanty town settlement of some 500 Romanian gypsies just 15 kilometers away from Madrid's center. They live in precarious conditions, without running water or sewer services. The children play amidst garbage, copper cables and rats. I had visited it a couple of times over the past month and had become familiar with some of the people living there. One of them called another photographer friend of mine saying that the municipal police and a digger were in the settlement tearing down some of the shacks. By the time I arrived the only thing I could photograph was the debris of the five shacks that had been demolished and people collecting what they could salvage to rebuild them. It was not the first time, and it won´t be the last. The inhabitants started rebuilding their dwellings back up right after the police were gone. They are used to it, since Madrid´s planning board orders the demolition of the shacks they claim to be new constructions every so often in order to prevent the shanty town from growing "out of control". “ Canon Mark IV, f16, 1/160 sec, ISO 100
Image 32 of 55: IVAN ALVARADO (March 1: Constitucion, Chile) “Take my picture with the dog,” the survivor tells me. I take it as if ordered to, and see that his face shows tremendous pain. “I lost my home, the sea took my son and my wife, and this is all that was left. I can’t leave the dog here. He was my son’s.” He pauses. “I found my wife (alive), but my boy is still missing.” Before he finishes speaking I lower my camera and cry. I walk together with him thinking what to say to lessen his suffering, but there is only silence. I never sent this poorly-focused photo of the earthquake survivor. The preconception of what makes a good photograph, the aesthetics, the layers of composition, and the sharpness or lack of it, all became reasons not to choose it. It was some time later when I realized that the sadness of the out-of-focus man with his pet is still transmitted as pain and devastation even through the picture’s technical defects, and banishes all the photographic concepts I hold true in my own little world. I blame Reason for overcoming Emotion. Technically the photograph isn’t good but, all modesty aside, I think it’s the best photo I took. Today, it’s clearer than ever to me that in editing a story we don’t always show all we’ve seen, and that we never stop learning in the process. I feel fortunate that this was the only person I encountered who had suffered a death first hand in Constitución. I like to believe that we never met again while roaming the same streets because he eventually found his son. The photo of the man with his dog was never sent to the news media, but nevertheless it is the earthquake image that remains engraved in my mind out of the 3,645 shutter clicks that my camera registered.” Canon EOS Mark IV, f2.8, 1/5 sec, ISO 2000
Image 33 of 55: ADREES LATIF (July 29: Islamabad, Pakistan) “I was having a coffee and reading the morning newspaper in Bangkok when a colleague from the Reuters Islamabad office called on July 28. In an all too familiar voice driven by adrenaline, he struggled to say, “A passenger plane has crashed into the Margalla Hills and I fear a large number of casualties. I am on my way!” As head of picture operations in Pakistan, my next decision was to either stay in Bangkok and remotely edit the images or try to get on the next flight back to Islamabad. Fearing the story could become much larger, I prepared for my return. I arrived in Islamabad at 2300 hours that evening to an exhausted crew of photojournalists and hundreds, if not thousands, of images to re-edit. Hours later, on my way home early into the next morning, I decided to head to the hospital where bodies of victims were being taken. Relatives from all over Pakistan were arriving in Islamabad to identify their loved ones. Sensing I was a journalist, a family member of a passenger walked up to me. “Please take a picture of this ring, brother,” he said weeping. “This is how I identified the body of my charred mother.” With a heavy heart, I sat with him as he shared stories of his mom who he had not seen in years. At sunrise, I waited for the rain showers to let-up before attempting a hike to the site of the wreckage. As monsoon rains kept pouring down, morning turned into late afternoon and I had no choice but to hike through the extreme weather. I grabbed my camera, a raincoat, and hiking stick before negotiating past several police check-posts to get as close to the crash site by vehicle. I saw soldiers standing on the roadside and realized they had linked the fastest trail to the crash site. Soaked within seconds of exiting the vehicle, I caressed my camera and lens within my raincoat while starting my hike. Some rescue workers had already started their descent for the day as I fought heavy rain and gravity before arriving at the last 500 meter vertical stretch towards the crash scene. I then climbed upward using a rope the army had tied between trees as it led me to a pungent smell of fuel and debris. After arriving at the site, I took cover under the wing of the airplane that was lying atop a charred tree and joined a few other journalists waiting for the heavy rain to subside. One man attempted to exit the cover of the wing and was badly cut by falling rocks amidst rain-wash overhead. Seconds later, a waterfall of large boulders started crashing down and I rushed to take cover along the wall face of the hill. Realizing this was the only safe vantage point I could photograph from, I pulled my camera out from my raincoat and covered it with a leather chamois. Instantly it was soaked in water, mixed with clay, and I realized I did not have much time before it would die. As I waited for a unique moment, a large bolder came flying down towards the rescue team that were searching for the cockpit voice recorder. Seconds later, another large bolder came flying their way as they kept digging. I noticed a trend and every time the team – a dozen members made up of police, soldiers and volunteers – would escape death or injury, they would raise their arms and yell, ‘Allahu-Akbar,” or “God is Great,” in appreciation for having life. After capturing a few frames of their reaction, the camera no longer functioned. I stood fast for some time to make sense of the rain and clay that covered me red and the unfolding tragedy I was witnessing amidst the green rolling hills before I raced back towards the refuge of the aircraft wing. Without a functional camera to capture any further images, I used the rope tied between trees to descend downwards and back to a trail that would take me back to the main road.” Canon EOS 5D Mark II, lens 27mm, f2.8, 1/200 sec, ISO 3200
Image 34 of 55: ALEJANDRO BRINGAS (September 18: Ciudad Juarez, Mexico) “Covering Mexico’s northern border is always a latent risk. Every day, there are parts that one should not go because in those places there is no authority. All the coverage I do on the border is very dangerous. I should not risk everything for a picture. My family motivates me to follow my passion for photography. The story that all Mexicans live affects us a lot. This is why we must tell the world how bad life is for us.” Canon EOS 30D, lens 16mm, f4.5, 1/30 sec, ISO 1250
Image 35 of 55: GORAN TOMASEVIC (February 13: Marjah town, Helmand province, Afghanistan) “I was following the U.S. Marines from the 1st Battalion, 6th Regiment Bravo Company during the U.S.-led offensive on the Taliban stronghold of Marjah in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan. Bravo was one of two companies dropped right in the middle of the town to clear the most difficult areas while other units approached by ground from the outskirts. It was dark and freezing cold when the first wave of Marines dropped from helicopters to begin the offensive. Their first target was a local market known to be a Taliban opium and weapons trafficking point. As Marines approached, a man emerged from a small house holding his son and told soldiers he wanted to greet them. When I saw him I thought it was a good sign: the locals usually know when Taliban are around and if they come out that’s usually an indication they’re gone. Seconds later however, the area exploded with gunfire as snipers unloaded on the Marines, sending three of them diving on top of the Afghan man and his son to give them cover from the flying bullets.” Canon EOS 5D Mark II, lens 24mm, f8.0, 1/320 sec, ISO 125
Image 36 of 55: IVAN ALVARADO (August 26: Copiapo, Chile) “The miner in this photo is Johnny Barrios. This was part of the first video that the government distributed showing the condition of the miners. My first impulse was to take a clean photo just of the screen as a simple reproduction or frame grab. I looked for a dark place to eliminate reflections and put the laptop on top of a vehicle. I took one step back and the composition just came to me. The lights on the rocky horizon are from the mine, and the moon appeared just above. What I originally meant to be a simple reproduction became my way of illustrating a part of the miners’ story.” Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, f5.6, 1/25, ISO 1600
Image 37 of 55: MICHAEL KOOREN (January 17: Muiden, Netherlands) “Early this year the Swedish car company SAAB decided to pull the plug on the production of the Swedish icon of the car industry. The reaction from most SAAB owners was one of disbelief. Immediately a huge international SAAB rally was organized in several countries to protest the closing of the factory. In Holland, with a huge number of SAAB owners, several thousand SAAB drivers took to the road to demonstrate their love for their car. After a long drive through the Netherlands the cars parked in Muiden , near Amsterdam, and the owners left their cars for a refreshment. As I arrived, I marveled at the many different, often classic, models of the Swedish brand that were to be no longer. Out of all the pictures that I took that day, one stands out in particular; that of a white American Bulldog sitting proudly behind the windscreen of his owner's SAAB. The dog looked very proud and remained in his place, closely eyeing all the people who came just a little bit too close to the car. The late sunlight caught the white head of the dog as I framed the picture.” Canon EOS 5D Mark II, lens 16-35mm, (at 35mm), f4.0, ISO 640
Image 38 of 55: NAVESH CHITRAKAR (April 17: Kathmandu, Nepal) “It was very early in the morning that I received a call from a friend of a friend that there was a fire at the Nepal Bank building. Since this bank is the oldest private bank in the country and has large sums of deposits from all over the country, the fire struck me as a very serious incident. I immediately grabbed my gear and rushed to the fire site. After discovering that the fire was not in the main building but at the store adjoining the main building, I went past the struggling band of Army, police and firemen. As the bank’s store house was built near the privately owned houses I could hear the women of that house crying and screaming fearing the fire might engulf their house. The shot I took was of one of those private houses and the owners trying to put out the fire to save their house from the approaching flames. The people were desperately trying to spray water from every angle possible. The panic-stricken neighbors were finally at ease when the firefighters gradually put out the fire.” Canon EOS 1D Mark II, lens 200mm, f2.8, 1/640 sec, ISO 800
Image 39 of 55: AHMAD MASOOD (May 27: Kabul, Afghanistan) “It was a sunny summer day in Kabul and quiet news wise so I thought I would go to the swimming pool. By the time I got there, the weather had started to change towards a dusty and rainy day. I only got to shoot this image and a few more frames, before everybody started to leave the pool due to the sudden change of weather.” Canon 5D Mark II, lens 50mm, f1.2, 1/6400 sec, ISO 50
Image 40 of 55: EDDIE KEOGH (June 27: Bloemfontein, South Africa) “For the England versus Germany World Cup game I was sitting down the side of the pitch about 20 metres from the corner flag. I was shooting the game with 3 cameras. I was using two Canon EOS 1d Mark 4 cameras with a 70-200mm and a 400mm. The third camera, which took this image, was set up on a mini tripod behind the goal and was triggered remotely by my camera with the 70-200mm. This camera was also sending pictures live via an Ethernet cable to our picture desk in Johannesburg. At the time Germany was 2-1 up and Frank Lampard beat the German goalkeeper with a great shot. The ball hit the crossbar, went over the line and bounced out. It was an incredibly important goal but neither the linesman nor the referee saw the ball go over the line. I was shooting the goalkeeper trying to save Frank’s shot as it made a great picture of him totally horizontal in the air. However, when I looked at the file at half time, I realised that the picture taken by the camera behind the goal was perfect as it clearly showed the ball bouncing over the line with the German goalkeeper looking on suspended in mid air.” Canon EOS 1D Mark III, lens 16-35mm (at 16mm), f2.8, 1/1000 sec, ISO 400
Image 41 of 55: LUCAS JACKSON (April 22: Eyjafjallajokull volcano, Iceland) “The natural phenomenon called the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) happened to show up on a clear night when I was taking photographs of the volcano the evening before I left to return to New York. During this assignment some of the more interesting images of the volcano had come at night when I had the ability to take long exposures and get the glow of the lava in the camera. Out of the week I was there, only about 3 or 4 evenings were clear enough to see the mountain at night. This was the last evening and as the ash plume was very high I was excited to take images of the glow of the lava against the ash cloud. The Northern Lights showed up around midnight and only stayed for maybe 30-40 minutes before disappearing. It was extremely exciting to see them and even more exciting to know I was in a position to photograph them. I knew the story had begun to die down but these images would renew a bit of interest in it for another day or so. It's a rare time when preparation meets the occurrence of something as beautiful as this so it was easily a once in a lifetime experience that I enjoyed.” Canon 5D Mark II, lens 16-35mm (at 16mm), f2.8, 6 secs, ISO 1600
Image 42 of 55: LUCAS JACKSON (September 11: New York, USA) “This image came about purely because I didn't just walk away after taking the images I had come to take. I had attempted to take a photograph of the annual 9/11 memorial lights the year before from this vantage point but because of rain I was unable to. But I wound up taking some great images in the lights themselves. This year the night was clear so I was able to take several images of just the Empire State Building with the memorial behind it. As I was preparing to walk out of the building I noticed this reflection. I attempted to take it with a tripod but was chastised by building security that tripods were banned from that area so I had to handhold it. The lights in the room that are reflected actually changed colors and people were walking all over the area so I had to wait a fair amount of time for someone to frame themselves in the portion that I could see. Luckily, this gentleman stood there for a number of seconds and I managed to get one sharp frame of him standing there with the memorial lights and Empire State Building behind him. It's an image that took some attention to detail to find and patience to make. Those are my favorite photos to take.” Canon 1D Mark IV, lens 70mm, f2.8, 1/25 sec, ISO 1600
Image 43 of 55: BOB STRONG (August 8: Bazaar e Panjwaii, Kandahar province, Afghanistan) “I was embedded with the Canadian Army at a base near Bazaar-e-Panjwaii village in Kandahar province. I had seen these two soldiers playing foosball earlier in the day but it wasn't quite dark enough for them to use their lights and the pictures were not so interesting. I went into a tent for a patrol briefing and when I came out later they were still playing using their headlights. It looked like a great scene with just a tiny bit of light still in the sky behind them. I pushed the ISO all the way up to 3200 to freeze the action but that left me at f1.4 and a very shallow depth of field. It was hard to get both of them in focus and the guys were moving around a lot so I just kept shooting until I had a picture I liked.” Canon 5D Mark II, lens 24mm, f1.4 lens, 1/60 sec, ISO3200
Image 44 of 55: JASON LEE (September 30: Beijing, China) “Billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill Gates' were holding a joint news conference in Beijing. On that day, many reporters were there and almost all wanted to ask them questions, as they had just had a closed dinner with Chinese billionaires about the hot topic of beneficence. Reporters wanted to know who attended and what they had said. Many Chinese people see Buffett as the Sage of Omaha, including reporters. I know of a journalist who collected a can of coke that Buffett had drunk from. Due to the tight schedule of the two financial legends, I was in an even bigger hurry than them. I had only 10 minutes to shoot and leave for the next venue for their following business event. I knew it was a big business story, so from the beginning, I worried that I didn’t have enough time to wait for a good action moment or expression. I took out my 400mm lens and walked towards the door of the hall. I turned back and tried to get a picture of a question being asked. I’d almost never tried this at a news conference but I was lucky to make this one good frame.” Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, lens 95mm, f4.5, 1/250 sec, ISO 640
Image 45 of 55: JESSICA RINALDI (April 4: New York, USA) “The Easter Bonnet Parade is one of the less structured parades that happen in New York City. Each Easter, people come dressed in their Sunday best wearing all sorts of crazy hats and outfits to walk along a portion of 5th Avenue that runs in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral in what ends up being more of a directionless stroll than a coordinated show of pageantry. I had never covered it before so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. When I got there people were lined up along the sidewalk waiting for the road to be shut down so that they could take to the street. I started to make my way through the crowd when I noticed the mother and daughter in this photograph waiting at the crosswalk. I made a bee line for them and got there just as the streets were opening up. I shot a few pictures of them from the front as they were walking up the street but it was when I slowed down to let them pass and shot the image of them from behind with 5th Ave stretching out in front of them that I felt I had really conveyed the sense of nostalgia that drew me to them in the first place.” Canon Mark III, lens 16-35mm, f4.5, 1/1600 sec, ISO 400
Image 46 of 55: ALY SONG (April 25: Shanghai, China) “Every day, there was something interesting going on at the Shanghai Expo. I was walking around the Expo site when I saw this girl posing for photographs in a very professional and funny way. After I took this picture, I looked back at her mother, only to find that the mother was also beautiful and stylish, like a model. I said to myself “like mother, like daughter”. Canon EOS 5D Mark II, lens 50mm, f1.6, 1/3000 sec, ISO 50
Image 47 of 55: ALEJANDRA BARTOLICHE (June 18: San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina) “On Thursday, June 17 I was told that residents of the Boris Furman neighborhood were trying to take control of Police Post 28 after 15-year-old youth Diego Bonnefoi had been killed by police at 4:30 that morning. His parents and relatives, along with neighbors and friends, were protesting against police guarding the post. As the day passed, violent clashes ended with the deaths of two more, Sergio Cardenas, 27, and Nicolas Carrasco, 16. I took this photo on the following day, when civic organizations appeared on the scene to try and avoid more violence.” Nikon D200, lens 70mm, f4.5, 1/250 sec, ISO 400
Image 48 of 55: DAVID GRAY (February 18: Vancouver, Canada) “Russia’s figure skating champion Evgeni Plushenko, the favourite to take the gold medal, was beaten by Evan Lysacek of the U.S., after Plushenko skated far below his best on the second night of competition. However, this was still a massive surprise for the Russian and all watching. As I have photographed Plushenko at the last three Winter Olympics, I knew he was a fiery character and would probably react somehow when he came out to receive his silver medal. So, I made sure I watched him from the moment he appeared from behind the curtains for the medal ceremony, until the moment he left the ice. As a result, he did something that was an obvious 'slur' to the judges, when he jumped from one side of the medal dais to the other, over the gold medal position he felt he deserved to be standing on. It was a picture that summed up his feelings and matched the biggest story of the men's figure skating perfectly. I made sure I got myself into a position where the Olympic rings would be behind the gold medalist once he was standing on the dais as this is important for placement at an Olympics.” Lens 70-200mm with a 1.4 x converter, f5, 1/250, ISO 800
Image 49 of 55: FEISAL OMAR (September 23: Mogadishu, Somalia) “It was an unexpected moment as I saw the young man coming towards me carrying a shark on his shoulders as I was heading to other assignments. The background of the picture tells the whole story. This young man is a fisherman striving to do his work in a city like Mogadishu. As you can see the back ground is littered with bullet scarred buildings.” Sony 13.6 mega pixels camera
Image 50 of 55: ALY SONG (August 10: Zhouqu County of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, China) ““Zhouqu” in Tibetan means the Bailong River, which runs across the once peaceful county. At Zhouqu, thousands of residents mourned their missing relatives at the site of devastating landslides. This woman was crying, and couldn’t stand without the help of her companions. Sounds of misery came from every direction in the valley, up and down like waves. Together with the machines growling, the shovels and rocks colliding, it seemed that I was listening to a live symphony of sorrow. To be honest, my mind was blank during that time, and pressing the shutter became my body’s conditioned response.” Canon EOS 5D Mark II, lens 16-35mm, f2.8, 1/1500 sec, ISO 100
Image 51 of 55: DANIEL LECLAIR (June 10: Guatemala City, Guatemala) “The Guatemalan people woke up to messages left by prison gangs. Four severed heads, one each left in front of the Congress, near a pre-school, a fire station and on a pedestrian overpass leading to one of the busiest commercial centers and hotels. The gangs had made their demands clear a month earlier in a letter to government officials and now they were making good on their threats. Severed heads are not uncommon in Guatemala, I’ve covered a dozen or so, but it was usually in the prisons and the message was to a competing gang. As the local news radio started reporting one severed head after another, I took a taxi to the congress, then quickly to the shopping center. Getting there fast meant having access; it meant people would still be reacting. From below it was hard to tell anything was going on at all. “Chicleros” were selling gum and cigarettes to people waiting for the overcrowded buses. Men stopped for a shoe-shine and read the papers. Police investigators could be seen on the first landing of the concrete stairs. I went directly there, made a few pictures from up close, trying to remain focused and not think too much about what I was photographing. Then I headed further up the stairs to where shoppers were lining the walkway with a bird’s-eye view. Most were chatting about the head that was clearly visible as the police worked the scene. No one seemed outwardly upset. The telephoto images were too graphic, I was sure they wouldn’t move on the wire. I shot quickly and headed out. I shuddered as I edited and transmitted the pictures from the taxi. I was off to the pre-school, then the fire station. Before I finished transmitting the heads, I was off to a bus bombing which left 7 people injured. To me the messages were loud and clear.” Canon 5D Mark II, lens 35mm, f4.5, 1/300 sec, ISO 160
Image 52 of 55: JUAN MEDINA (June 29: Madrid, Spain) “An unexpected strike on Madrid’s subway meant people had to return home following their work day using alternative public transports. In this instance, citizens were taking a fully packed public bus in the main financial area of the capital.” Canon EOS Mark IV, lens 16-35mm (at 16mm), f7.1, 1/125 sec, ISO 640
Image 53 of 55: ANDREW BIRAJ (June 30: Dhaka, Bangladesh) “I received news of the garment workers demonstration from an activist friend, and rushed to the scene. The garment workers came out of the factories and took to the street as they demanded a pay raise and the cancellation of a fellow worker’s dismissal. The whole of Mirpur road was blocked and thousands of garment workers were demonstrating peacefully. A police officer tried to negotiate with the worker’s leaders, but suddenly he jumped on the microphone the protestors were using and snatched it. While the workers tried to resist, police became aggressive and started using their batons. I followed the police and watched until all the protestors had been scattered in a fraction of a moment. Police were beating everyone and throwing tear gas shells as protestors took shelter in the lanes and threw pieces of brick at the police. Suddenly, I discovered a woman brandishing a bamboo stick as at least 6-8 policemen cordoned her off and began to beat her. The woman tried to resist and fight back on her own. On the other side of the street, other protestors were throwing pieces of bricks at police from their hiding spot. I was in the middle of the situation. I just kept taking pictures, as the police forced the woman to the ground. As her head began to bleed I took this shot. Later, her fellow protestors came on the scene and took her to the hospital. Pictures of Rahela, the woman who fought the police by herself to demand the worker’s rights and fair pay, became an icon of the power of resistance.” Canon 5D Mark II, lens 16-35mm (at 35mm), f2.8, 1/5300
Image 54 of 55: TIM WIMBORNE (June 15: Gosford, Australia) “Towards the end of the match against the Australian Barbarians team, England’s David Flatman, whose ears ordinarily identify years of rugby abuse, stood midfield during a conversion attempt. I didn’t see the moment this may have happened but he was in the thick of it so it could have been an injury that was compounded through the game. I saw that he was bleeding only when he stopped during play. It really didn’t seem to faze him at all. Perhaps he’s so used to blood and pain that it makes no impact on him.” Canon Mark IV, lens 400mm, f2.8, 1/1250 sec, ISO 2000
Image 55 of 55: MIKE BLAKE (September 12: Los Angeles, USA) “I had just come back to the editing room after having shot the MTV Video Music Awards show. The room we were working in was a hotel across the street from the venue and there was a back stage photo room set up not far away. After dropping my 600mm and sorting out with the editors that everything had landed I grabbed a camera, flash and short lens to go in and see if my colleague Mario Anzuoni needed any help with the rush that usually happens at the end of these shows. The winners tend to all come backstage after the show is over and it can all get backed up. I had just shot Lady Gaga during the show, but I was so far away and using a 600mm lens that I had no idea she was in a meat dress until I saw her backstage. Mario had the head on angle and I just stood at the side and made some frames of her as she came up and posed for a quick photo opportunity. She never bothered to hold any of her awards so I just started getting tight on the dress and seeing what else I could make that would be different than what Mario had head on.” Canon Mark IV, lens 70-200mm (at 200mm), f4.5, 1/200 sec, ISO 160, with flash
http://blogs.reuters.com/fullfocus/2010/11/15/best-of-the-year/#a=2
http://blogs.reuters.com/fullfocus/2010/11/15/best-of-the-year/#a=2
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