The 10 Best Photo Essays of the Month

2 minute read
A family in El Chuparosa, Guerrero. When rain poured through their roof, the father said, ÒThe house is crying.Ó
The New Yorker Photo Booth: Guerrero and the DisappearedA family in El Chuparosa, Guerrero. When rain poured through their roof, the father said, “The house is crying.”Matt Black—Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
By Mikko Takkunen

This month’s Photojournalism Links collection highlights 10 excellent photo essays from across the world, including Matt Black‘s work from Guerrero state in Mexico. Black has documented impoverished indigenous communities in southern Mexico for years. This latest work captures communities affected by rampant crime and poverty, including the disappearance of the 43 students from a school in Iguala. The black-and-white photographs are extraordinary and the accompanying short-film, which includes a moving letter from a mother to his lost son, is definitely worth watching. The reporting was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center.

Matt Black: Guerrero and the Disappeared (The New Yorker Photo Booth) Watch “The Monster in the Mountains,” a short film based on Black’s work in Guerrero.

Adam Ferguson: The Deadly Global War for Sand (Wired) These stunning photographs document sand mining in India.

Lynsey Addario: India’s Insurgency (National Geographic) Addario’s pictures capture mineral-rich eastern Indian states, plagued by poverty and a continuing Maoist insurgency.

Josh Haner: The Ride of Their Lives (The New York Times) A fantastic year-long project that follows three generations of one rodeo-mad family | More on the Lens blog

Yuri Kozyrev: Cuba (TIME LightBox) TIME contract photographer’s beautiful work from the Cuban capital.

Mathias Depardon: Gold Rivers (TIME LightBox) Construction of the hydroelectric Ilisu Dam in Turkey threatens a cultural treasure.

Lynsey Addario: Afghan Policewomen Struggle Against Culture (The New York Times) A compelling series on Afghani women determined to make a difference.

Newsha Tavakolian: Stress and Hope in Tehran (The New York Times) These excellent portraits paired with insightful quotes give us a peek inside the minds of Iranians.

Eugene Richards: Lincoln (National Geographic) Richards’ photographs trail the assassinated president’s last journey home in 1865 and raise questions about his life and legacy.

Matteo Bastianelli: Young Syrian Refugee’s Journey Through Europe (MSNBC) The Italian photographer has documented a Syrian refugee’s life in Bulgaria and journey to Germany. | More on his agency’s website

A family in El Chuparosa, Guerrero. When rain poured through their roof, the father said, ÒThe house is crying.Ó
The New Yorker Photo Booth: Guerrero and the DisappearedA family in El Chuparosa, Guerrero. When rain poured through their roof, the father said, “The house is crying.”Matt Black—Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
WIRED: The Deadly Global War for Sand Indian workers crush stone into sand at an illegal mine near Raipur Village in India on March 18, 2015.
WIRED: The Deadly Global War for Sand Indian workers crush stone into sand at an illegal mine near Raipur Village in India on March 18, 2015.Adam Ferguson for WIRED
From the April issue of National Geographic magazine: India’s InsurgencyAt an ad hoc restaurant, men prepare breakfast for workers clocking in for the morning shift at the coal-based Jindal Tamnar thermal power plant, in the Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh.
From the April issue of National Geographic magazine: India’s InsurgencyAt an ad hoc restaurant, men prepare breakfast for workers clocking in for the morning shift at the coal-based Jindal Tamnar thermal power plant, in the Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh.Lynsey Addario—National Geographic
The New York Times: The Ride of Their Lives
The New York Times: The Ride of Their LivesA rodeo event in which members of the Wright family competed in at Ogden Pioneer Days in Ogden, Utah, July 22, 2014.Josh Haner—The New York Times
The National Cuban Capitol Building, El Capitolio, is being restored to house Cuba’s National Assembly, Havana, Cuba Dec. 2014.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
TIME LightBox: CubaThe National Cuban Capitol Building in Havana is seen during restoration work. December 2014.Yuri Kozyrev —NOOR for TIME
A tourist boat tour is visiting the former Savaçan Village flooded by the reservoir lake of the Birecik Dam on the Euphrates river. The dam was built on top of the ruins of the ancient city of Zeugma. The inhabitants of Halfeti and Savaçan were displaced to the city of Karaotlak (also called New Halfeti) where the building of the new town is now complete by the Housing Development Administration of Turkey. Halfeti,Turkey Turkey
TIME LightBox: Gold RiversA tourist boat visits the former village of Savaçan, flooded by the reservoir lake of the Birecik Dam on the Euphrates River. Turkey.Mathias Depardon
The New York Times: Afghan Policewomen Struggle Against CulturePolice training in Kabul.
The New York Times: Afghan Policewomen Struggle Against CulturePolice training in Kabul.Lynsey Addario—Getty Images Reportage for The New York Times
The New York Times: Stress and Hope in Iran Taraneh, architect, 29: "I love to travel, not just for fun, but to become familiar with other countries and have a kind of cultural interaction. But unfortunately as the sanctions became more and more intense, our money lost its value to U.S dollar gradually. So now I can’t afford to travel anymore. The irony is that I can find everything that I need here in my country, but the prices have skyrocketed so much that I cannot have them. "
The New York Times: Stress and Hope in Tehran Taraneh, architect, 29: "I love to travel, not just for fun, but to become familiar with other countries and have a kind of cultural interaction. But unfortunately as the sanctions became more and more intense, our money lost its value to U.S dollar gradually. So now I can’t afford to travel anymore. The irony is that I can find everything that I need here in my country, but the prices have skyrocketed so much that I cannot have them. "Newsha Tavakolian for The New York Times
From the April issue of National Geographic magazine: Lincoln Children in Washington, D.C., view a plaster cast of a life mask of Lincoln’s face, made nine weeks before his death in April 1865.
From the April issue of National Geographic magazine: Lincoln Children in Washington, D.C., view a plaster cast of a life mask of Lincoln’s face, made nine weeks before his death in April 1865.Eugene Richards—National Geographic
A Syrian family outside one of the containers in a former Bulgarian military base, turned into a refugee camp to meet the humanitarian emergency of asylum seekers fleeing the Syrian Civil War. Harmanli, Bulgaria 2014.
MSNBC: A look at one young Syrian refugee's journey through EuropeA Syrian family outside one of the containers in a former Bulgarian military base that was turned into a refugee camp in Harmanli, Bulgaria, 2014.Matteo Bastianelli—Echo

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