The 10 Best Photo Essays of the Month

2 minute read

This month’s Photojournalism Links collection highlights 10 excellent photo essays from across the world, including The New York Times staff photographer Damon Winter’s stunning aerial pictures documenting the ongoing drought in California.

Damon Winter: California Drought (The New York Times)

Bryan Denton: 100 Years Later, a Genocide Haunts the Armenian Psyche (The New York Times) These compelling pictures capture sites related to the Armenian genocide that took place one hundred years ago.

Newsha Tavakolian: Women Taking the Battle to ISIS (TIME LightBox) Powerful series on a cadre of female Kurdish soldiers fighting Islamic militants in Syria.

David Guttenfelder: Harnessing the Mekong (National Geographic) National Geographic Photography Fellow Guttenfelder’s work documents life along the Mekong River in five different countries.

Adriane Ohanesian: Inside Sudan’s War-Torn Darfur (TIME LightBox) These rare pictures capture rebels and fleeing civilians in Darfur.

Wayne Lawrence: Taking Back Detroit (National Geographic) Portraits and audio of Motor City residents.

James Mollison: Playground (Wired) Fascinating, insightful photographs of children’s playgrounds around world.

Moises Saman: Digging for Gold in the Andes (The New Yorker Photo Booth) Magnum photographer documents the unregulated gold mining in the Peruvian Andes.

Katie Orlinsky: Taken at the Border (The New Yorker Photo Booth) Orlinsky documents the U.S.-Mexico border from empty stash houses to young migrants who have been extorted.

Christopher Griffith: Foot Soldiers (The New York Times Magazine) Excellent photographs of Manhattan shoe shiners’ hands.

A housing development on the edge of undeveloped desert in Cathedral City, Calif.
The New York Times: California DroughtA housing development on the edge of undeveloped desert in Cathedral City, Calif., April 3, 2015.Damon Winter—The New York Times/Redux
The New York Times: 100 Years Later, a Genocide Haunts the Armenian PsycheThe Ani ruins, once the capital of an Armenian kingdom that stretched from eastern Turkey into modern-day Armenia, in Ani, Turkey, April 8, 2015.
The New York Times: 100 Years Later, a Genocide Haunts the Armenian PsycheThe Ani ruins, once the capital of an Armenian kingdom that stretched from eastern Turkey into modern-day Armenia, in Ani, Turkey, April 8, 2015. Bryan Denton—The New York Times/Redux
18-year-old YPJ fighter Torin Khairegi: “We live ina world where women are dominated by men.We are here to take control of our future..I injured an ISIS jihadi in Kobane. When he was wounded, all his friends left him behind and ran away. Later I went there and buried his body. I now feel that I am very powerful and can defend my home, my friends, my country, and myself. Many of us have been matryred and I see no path other than the continuation of their path." Newsha Tavakolian for TIME Zinar base, Syria "I joined YPJ about seven months ago, because I was looking for something meaningful in my life and my leader [ Abdullah Ocalan] showed me the way and my role in the society. We live in a world where women are dominated by men. We are here to take control of our own future. We are not merely fighting with arms; we fight with our thoughts. Ocalan's ideology is always in our hearts and minds and it is with his thought that we become so empowered that we can even become better soldiers than men. When I am at the frontline, the thought of all the cruelty and injustice against women enrages me so much that I become extra-powerful in combat. I injured an ISIS jihadi in Kobane. When he was wounded, all his friends left him behind and ran away. Later I went there and buried his body. I now feel that I am very powerful and can defend my home, my friends, my country, and myself. Many of us have been matryred and I see no path other than the continuation of their path."
TIME LightBox: The Women Taking the Battle to ISIS18-year-old YPJ (Women's Protection Unit) fighter Torin Khairegi: “We live in a world where women are dominated by men. We are here to take control of our future. I injured an ISIS jihadi in Kobani. When he was wounded, all his friends left him behind and ran away. Later I went there and buried his body. I now feel that I am very powerful and can defend my home, my friends, my country, and myself. Many of us have been martyred and I see no path other than the continuation of their path."Newsha Tavakolian for TIME
Mekong Dams
From the May issue of National Geographic magazine: Harnessing the Mekong Vietnam A riverboat loaded with rice moves slowly through one of the canals that crisscross the delta. Dams will trap fertile sediments upstream, threatening harvests.David Guttenfelder
Hundreds of women and children seek shelter in a cave from the bombing by the Sudanese government's forces outside of the town of Sarong in Central Darfur, Sudan, March 2, 2015.
TIME LightBox: Inside Sudan's War-Torn Darfur Hundreds of women and children seek shelter in a cave from the bombing by government forces outside of the town of Sarong in Central Darfur, Sudan, March 2, 2015.Adriane Ohanesian
TAKING BACK DETROITPERMITTED USE: This image may be downloaded or is otherwise provided at no charge for one-time use for coverage or promotion of National Geographic magazine dated May 2015 and exclusively in conjunction thereof. No copying, distribution or archiving permitted. Sublicensing, sale or resale is prohibited. REQUIRED CREDIT AND CAPTION: All image uses must bear the copyright notice and be properly credited to the relevant photographer, as shown in this metadata, and must be accompanied by a caption, which makes reference to NGM. Any uses in which the image appears without proper copyright notice, photographer credit and a caption referencing NGM are subject to paid licensing. Mandatory usage requirements: 1. Include mandatory photo credit with each image © Wayne Lawrence/National Geographic2. Show the May cover of National Geographic somewhere in the post (credit: National Geographic) unless using only one image3. Provide a prominent link to: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/taking-back-detroitat the top of your piece, ahead of the photos4. Mention that the images are from "the May issue of National Geographic magazine”Kenneth Morgan, a Gulf War veteran, returned to Detroit four years ago after 30 years away. Heleft when he was nine years old, traveling the world with his military father, but chose to settle his family in Detroitbecause, he says, “it’s home. There’s no place like home.” Morgan, his wife, Robin, and their children, Gary Effler andKenneth D. and Korey Morgan, are renovating a duplex they bought on the East Side for $1,800 plus back taxes. “I figureif I can fight for my country, I can definitely fight for my city.”
From the May issue of National Geographic magazine: Taking Back DetroitKenneth Morgan, a Gulf War veteran, returned to Detroit four years ago after 30 years away. He left when he was nine years old, traveling the world with his military father, but chose to settle his family in Detroit because, he says, “it’s home. There’s no place like home.” Morgan, his wife, Robin, and their children, Gary Effler and Kenneth D. and Korey Morgan, are renovating a duplex they bought on the East Side for $1,800 plus back taxes. “I figure if I can fight for my country, I can definitely fight for my city.”Wayne Lawrence—National Geographic
Aida Boys School,Bethlehem,West Bank
Wired: Playground Aida Boys School, Bethlehem, West Bank.James Mollison
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The New Yorker Photo Booth: Digging for Gold in the AndesMiners return home carrying bags filled with rocks, some of which may contain gold. The mines operate on an ancient labor system called cachorreo, which is usually described as thirty days of unpaid work followed by a single frantic day in which workers get to keep whatever gold they can haul out for themselves. Moises Saman—Magnum
A vehicle transporting 12 undocumented migrants is pulled over in La Joya near MCallen, Texas on the US-Mexico border. Photo by Katie Orlinsky.
The New Yorker Photo Booth: Taken at the BorderA vehicle transporting 12 undocumented migrants is pulled over in La Joya near MCallen, Texas on the US-Mexico border. Katie Orlinsky
The New York Times Magazine: Foot Soldiers Bolivar Gomez, Ecuador, 47.
The New York Times Magazine: Foot Soldiers Bolivar Gomez, Ecuador, 47.Christopher Griffith

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