Photo essays
Desertification in an Iraqi Bread Basket
The Basra region has been the bread basket of Iraq. But because of salinization of lands, decrease of water flow into rivers due to upstream damming, climate change and pollution, farmers are increasingly unable to farm. People dependent on fish and buffaloes in the marshlands are in competition for food.
Disappearing Glaciers Hurt India’s Cold Desert
The system of contiguous mountain ranges that run from Afghanistan to China, which includes the Himalayas, the Hindu Kush and the Karakoram, is often referred to as the Third Pole because it contains the world’s third largest storage of frozen water. But those critical ice reserves are quickly diminishing.
A Vanishing Craft: Khartoum’s Handmade Skull Caps
Many Muslim men cover their head with a skull cap, while others view the cap as any other piece of clothing. Before mass production prevailed, such hats were always handmade. But these days, in most countries, handmade caps are hard to find — except here in Sudan.
Mosul’s Walls Tell a Story of Brutality and Recovery
Walls get painted, crumble or are rebuilt. Some of the graffiti disappeared a few months after I photographed them. From this point, I have made a resolution to document Mosul’s walls and what stones may speak on behalf of their inhabitants.
East Africa’s Worst Drought in 40 Years Is Threatening Countries’ Future
An estimated 1.4 million livestock have died because of drought in Kenya in the final months of 2021, which has taken a toll on herder communities. But these climate change challenges have perhaps come with a silver lining: Class sizes have increased, especially among girls.
Nairobi Gang Members Turn to Greenery to Change Their Lives and City
"Nature has saved a lot of youths who might have been killed.” In impoverished areas of Kenya’s capital, gang members are putting down their guns and instead creating green spaces in the urban jungle.
A Polish Village Is Tested
The haphazard but generous relief response appears to be the result of a relatively hands-off approach by Poland’s authorities, who in recent years have had much more experience in turning away refugees than welcoming them. The burden of organizing the logistics of support for refugees has instead fallen on local municipalities as well as NGOs and thousands of independent volunteers.