Photojournalism Daily: Jan. 7, 2015

2 minute read

Today’s daily Photojournalism Links collection highlights Adam Dean‘s work on opium poppy farming in the valleys of eastern Burma. The country, which used to be the world’s largest supplier of heroin until the 1980s, is experiencing a resurgence in cultivation. Conflict, corruption and poverty have driven an increasing number of farmers back to growing the plants’ opium sap, the key ingredient of the drug. The United Nations is trying to persuade them to switch their focus to other crops such as coffee, but it faces a difficult task: opium is far more profitable and an easier way for smalltime farmers to pad their incomes. Dean’s photographs offer a poignant glimpse to the boom that gives so many of Burma’s poor a hard fought livelihood, one that they know isn’t good for society but one that they aren’t eager to give up.

Adam Dean: Poppies Bloom Again in Myanmar (The New York Times)

Timothy Fadek: Rebuilding Haiti (Bloomberg Businessweek) These pictures take a different look at Haiti by showing how five years after the massive earthquake, businesses are working to rebuild the country

Muhammed Muheisen: Young Survivors of the Peshawar School Attack (TIME LightBox) Portraits and words of the students who survived

Glenna Gordon (BBC Radio 4 World at One) Gordon talks about photographing the clothes of missing Nigerian school girls.

Jane Bown obituary (The Guardian) The English photographer known for her portraits, died in December 2014 aged 89

A farm worker harvests opium from poppies in Long Douay Village, Shan State, Myanmar.
The New York Times: Poppies Bloom Again in MyanmarA farm worker harvests opium from poppies in Long Douay Village, Shan State, Myanmar, Dec. 6, 2014. Growing opium poppies is illegal in Myanmar, but small-scale farmers see it is a relatively low-risk cash crop. Adam Dean—The New York Times/Redux
Bloomberg Businessweek: Rebuilding HaitiIn May 2010, the U.S. passed the Haiti Economic Lift Program (HELP) Act allowing duty-free imports of some Haitian goods, including textiles. The apparel sector accounts for 90 percent of exports, almost one-twentieth of Haiti's gross domestic product. Clothing imports from the country include Hanes T-shirts made by Multitex, a Haitian-owned factory. Timothy Fadek for Bloomberg Businessweek
Survivors
TIME LightBox: The Young Survivors of the Peshawar School AttackBilal Ahmad, 16, a student who survived the Pakistani Taliban's attack on the Army Public School on Dec. 16, in the school's yard. Peshawar, Pakistan, Dec. 20, 2014. "For almost an hour we were on the ground silently hearing our own breaths," Bilal said. "And the sound of firing was endless till soldiers arrived and grabbed us and took us through the back doors out of the school."Muhammed Muheisen—AP for TIME
Chibok girl's school uniforms. One was clearly made in a hurry, in messy stitching and different color threads. Another one was well made but utilitarian – probably stitched by the girl’s mother. Another dress was especially dirty and threadbare. Maybe the girl was going to wash it tomorrow. Maybe she couldn’t afford soap and was waiting until she could. It’d been stitched again and again at the sides – torn and repaired, probably the only uniform she had.
BBC Radio 4 World at One: Interview with Glenna Gordon about photographing missing Nigerian school girls' belongingsChibok girl's school uniforms.Glenna Gordon
Anthony Burgess
The Guardian: Jane Bown obituaryPortrait of English writer and composer Anthony Burgess, in 1992. Jane Bown

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