PJL: January 2014 (Part 1)

Features and Essays

Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times

Daniel Berehulak: Afghanistan’s Child Hunger Crisis (NYT) Afghanistan’s worsening, and baffling, hunger crisis

Michele Palazzi: Gobi Nomads in Mongolia (Wired Rawfile) Nomads mix solar panels and iPhones with the brutal herding life

Gaël Turine: India’s Wall of Shame (The New Yorker Photo Booth) Turine has been documenting the border between India and Bangladesh

Andri Tambunan: Chongqing: The world’s little-known megacity (CNN Photos) China

Stephen Dupont: A Haiyan Portfolio (The New Yorker Photo Booth) Dupont’s work documenting the typhoon aftermath

The biggest day of the year for horse racing fans has arrived. Nineteen horses will gallop out of the stalls for the Kentucky Derby on Saturday evening, with a tough field of jockeys looking to join a list of champions in the first leg of the Triple Crown. The 1.25-mile race at Kentucky's Churchill Downs features a tight field, but the admired California Chrome is the clear betting favorite to win the race after number-two favorite horse Hoppertunity was forced to withdraw due to an issue in his front hoof. Here's a list of the top competitors at the 140th Kentucky Derby: California Chrome may be the first California-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby in 52 years. The three-year-old chestnut colt has six wins and a second in 10 starts and has a huge hoof up in the betting odds, but was bred from comparatively humble origins. His trainer, Art Sherman, is trying to become the oldest to win the derby at age 77. Victor Espinoza, who as a jockey has already won the Derby before, will ride California Chrome Saturday. Wicked Strong, the competition's early second favorite was named to honor Boston's spirit after last year's bombings. The horse has strong odds, but he was placed on the outside gate, to the disappointment of trainer Jimmy Jerkens. Wicked Strong won the Wood Memorial in New York with a hard kick of the kind often seen at the Kentucky Derby. He'll be ridden by jockey Rajiv Maragh. Another favorite of the race who emerged with second-place odds in Saturday betting, Danza is named after television actor Tony Danza. The horse has powerful acceleration and won a big victory at the Arkansas Derby closing the last quarter of a mile in just 12 2/5 seconds. Joe Bravo will be Danza's jockey. Other top horses include Intense Holiday, ridden by John Velazquez, Samraat, ridden by Jose Ortiz, and Wildcat Red, whose jockey is Luis Saez. Expect a winning time in the low 2-minute range as competitors push to beat the record 1:59 2/5 seconds winning time The winner will bring home $2 million.

Moises Saman / Magnum

Moises Saman: Syria’s Dispossessed (The New Yorker Photo Booth) Syrian refugees, which number more than a million in total, have scattered throughout the Middle East, mainly to Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iraq

Ed Kashi: Syrian Refugees (VII) To reveal the turbulent lives of Syria’s displaced youth, Kashi travelled to Iraq and Jordan to illustrate the plight of this lost generation

Lynsey Addario: Syrians Living as Outsiders, as Squatters or in Camps (NYT) About 2.3 million refugees have fled the civil war, but only about one-fifth of them live in refugee camps, making it harder for aid to reach them

Andy Spyra and Younes Mohammad: Rojava: Life and War in Kurdish Syria (Jadaliyya)

Dmitry Kostyukov : Refugees in Syria Put Strain on Bulgarian Resources (NYT) Bulgaria, unready, is poor host to Syrians

Tanya Habjouqa: Palestinian Pleasures (NYT Lens) Avoiding cliches in documenting lives life of Palestinians

The biggest day of the year for horse racing fans has arrived. Nineteen horses will gallop out of the stalls for the Kentucky Derby on Saturday evening, with a tough field of jockeys looking to join a list of champions in the first leg of the Triple Crown. The 1.25-mile race at Kentucky's Churchill Downs features a tight field, but the admired California Chrome is the clear betting favorite to win the race after number-two favorite horse Hoppertunity was forced to withdraw to an issue in his front hoof. Here's a list of the top competitors at the 140th Kentucky Derby: California Chrome may be the first California-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby in 52 years. The three-year-old chestnut colt has six wins and a second in 10 starts and has a huge hoof up in the betting odds, but was bred from comparatively humble origins. His trainer, Art Sherman, is trying to become the oldest to win the derby at age 77. Victor Espinoza, who as a jockey has already won the Derby before, will ride California Chrome Saturday. Wicked Strong, the competition's early second favorite was named to honor Boston's spirit after last year's bombings. The horse has strong odds, but he was placed on the outside gate, to the disappointment of trainer Jimmy Jerkens. Wicked Strong won the Wood Memorial in New York with a hard kick of the kind often seen at the Kentucky Derby. He'll be ridden by jockey Rajiv Maragh. Another favorite of the race who emerged with second-place odds in Saturday betting, Danza is named after television actor Tony Danza. The horse has powerful acceleration and won a big victory at the Arkansas Derby closing the last quarter of a mile in just 12 2/5 seconds. Joe Bravo will be Danza's jockey. Other top horses include Intense Holiday, ridden by John Velazquez, Samraat, ridden by Jose Ortiz, and Wildcat Red, whose jockey is Luis Saez. Expect a winning time in the low 2-minute range as competitors push to beat the record 1:59 2/5 seconds winning time The winner will bring home $2 million.

Yuri Kozyrev / NOOR for TIME

Yuri Kozyrev: Pussy Riot’s Next Act (LightBox) Kozyrev hung out with members of Pussy Riot, photographing their busy first days of freedom

Misha Friedman: Gay And Lesbian Russians (Buzzfeed) What life is like for gay and lesbian Russians far from Moscow

Yuri Kozyrev: Kiev Uprising (NOOR) Ukraine

Stanley Greene: Love in the Barricades (NOOR) Ukraine

Kosuke Okahara / Prospekt

Kosuke Okahara: In Sochi’s Shadow (Newsweek) Life in Georgia’s disputed Abkhazia region, which neighbors Russia’a winter Olympics city

Eirini Vourloumis: In Waiting: The Greek Economic Crisis in Pictures (The New Yorker Photo Booth)

Philipp Ebeling: Vibrant Communities in Neglected London Suburbs (Feature Shoot)

Michael Robinson Chavez / The Los Angeles Times

Michael Robinson Chavez: Charcoal and Steel (LA Times Framework) Brazil struggles toward progress

Sebastian Liste: People’s Republic of Corinthians (The New Yorker Photo Booth) Liste’s photographs of the supporters of Brazilian soccer club Corinthians

Kai Wiedenhöfer: Confrontier (Wired Rawfile) Panoramic wall photos examine the world’s most volatile borders

Gianmarco Panucci: The life of a Cape Flats gangster (CNN Photos) The lingering effects of racial segregation can still be seen in Cape Flats, a violent, gang-infested area of Cape Town

Nancy Borowick: Life, and Death, With Cancer (NYT Lens) Borowick has been documenting her parents’ battle with cancer

Thomas Alleman: The American Apparel (NYT Lens) A Fashion Fetish in Los Angeles

Darcy Padilla: Drill Baby Drill (Agence Vu) New black gold rush in North Dakota

Articles

The biggest day of the year for horse-racing fans has arrived. Nineteen horses will gallop out of the stalls for the Kentucky Derby on Saturday evening, with a tough field of jockeys looking to join a list of champions in the first leg of the Triple Crown. The 1.25-mile race at Kentucky's Churchill Downs features a tight field, but the much-admired California Chrome is the clear betting favorite to win the race after number-two favorite horse Hoppertunity was forced to withdraw due to an issue in his front hoof. Here's a list of the top competitors at the 140th Kentucky Derby: California Chrome may be the first California-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby in 52 years. The three-year-old chestnut colt has six wins and a second in 10 starts and has a huge hoof up in the betting odds, but was bred from comparatively humble origins. His trainer, Art Sherman, is trying to become the oldest to win the derby at age 77. Victor Espinoza, who as a jockey has already won the Derby before, will ride California Chrome Saturday. Wicked Strong, the competition's early second favorite, was named to honor Boston's spirit after last year's marathon bombings. The horse has strong odds, but he was placed on the outside gate, to the disappointment of trainer Jimmy Jerkens. Wicked Strong won the Wood Memorial in New York with a hard kick of the kind often seen at the Kentucky Derby. He'll be ridden by jockey Rajiv Maragh. Danza, another favorite of the race who emerged with second-place odds in Saturday betting, is named after Taxi star Tony Danza. The horse has powerful acceleration and won a big victory at the Arkansas Derby closing the last quarter of a mile in just 12 2/5 seconds. Joe Bravo will be Danza's jockey. Other top horses include Intense Holiday, ridden by John Velazquez, Samraat, ridden by Jose Ortiz, and Wildcat Red, whose jockey is Luis Saez. Expect a winning time in the low 2-minute range as competitors push to beat the record 1:59 2/5 seconds winning time The winner will bring home $2 million.

David Silverman / Getty Images

Susan Sontag was right: War photography can anesthetize (Salon.com) Chloe Pantazi’s critical take on celebrated War/Photography exhibition, currently on show at Brooklyn Museum of Art

Excess and Emotion in the Photographic Archive (No Caption Needed) Robert Hariman’s thoughts on Pantazi’s Salon article about War/Photography exhibition

The Controversial Death of a Teenage Stringer (Foreign Policy) On Molhem Barakat

Picture Story: Life Under Austerity in Appalachia (PDN) Discussing Peter van Agtmael’s recent work in Eastern Kentucky

Craig Mod: Goodbye, Cameras (New Yorker) Mod on why he’s done with cameras

Photographer of the year: Goran Tomasevic (Guardian) The Guardian’s photo team have chosen Goran Tomasevic, of Reuters, as their agency photographer of the year. We look back over his work in 2013 including coverage of the conflict in Syria and the Westgate shopping centre attack in Kenya

A horse goes for a workout at Churchill Downs prior to the race, May 3, 2014, in Louisville, Ky.

Narciso Contreras / AP

New York Times: Year in Pictures (NYT)

National Geographic’s Year in review (National Geographic)

Magnum Photos The Year in Review (Magnum)

The best photographs of 2013 – in pictures (Guardian)

The Observer’s 20 photographs of the year (The Observer) From the image of an evicted Roma family sheltering from a storm to the death of Nelson Mandela, photographers describe how they captured 20 defining images from 2013

The death toll of a catastrophic landslide in a remote part of Afghanistan reportedly rose to at least 2,100 on Saturday, after a rescue effort slowed by lack of equipment and bad conditions. Rescuers called off a search in the mountainous Argo district of the northeastern state of Badakhshan after over 2,000 villagers were buried under hundreds of feet of mud, Reuters reports, and turned their attention to the estimated 4,000 displaced by the disaster. "More than 2,100 people from 300 families are all dead," Naweed Forotan, a spokesman for Badakhshan's provincial governor, told Reuters. Two consecutive landslides took place on Friday morning after the area had been pummeled by heavy rains all week, according to the United Nations. The organization said that in addition to the mounting loss of life, the landslide had caused widespread damage to property and agriculture in the district. Badakhshan, a mountainous province in the far northeast of the country, borders Tajikistan, China and Pakistan. Local officials had warned that the search for survivors and bodies would be slow, given the lack of equipment on hand in the far-flung district. Rescuers themselves faced a third potential landslide as they set to manually trying dig through the some 330 feet of mud. With scores assumed dead, the U.N. mission in Afghanistan was said to have shifted its attention to at least 4,000 people forced to leave their homes, either directly due to Friday's landslide or as a precautionary measure against future landslides. The operation will test the capacity of Afghan security forces, which were deployed to the area to assist on Friday, according to reports. President Hamid Karzai, who is set to step down in the next few months once a new government is formed, said in a statement that he was "deeply saddened," and that he had "ordered relevant entities to provide immediate assistance to people affected by the natural disaster and to urgently rescue those who are trapped under the debris." President Barack Obama, offering his condolences to the victims and their families during a press conference on Friday, said the U.S. was ready to help if requested. “Even as our war there comes to an end this year, our commitment to Afghanistan and its people will endure,” Obama said. "We stand ready to help our Afghan partners as they respond to this disaster." The disaster follows close on the heels of deadly flash floods in northern Afghanistan that left over 100 dead and displaced thousands more. “On behalf of the UN humanitarian agencies, I wish to extend our condolences to all those families who have lost loved ones as a result of these landslides,” Mark Bowden, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Afghanistan, said in a UN news release. “There have now been more Afghans killed through natural disasters in the past seven days than all of 2013.”

Atish Saha / Demotix / Corbis

The Year in Photojournalism (The New Yorker Photo Booth) Photographers choose an image that particularly affected them over the past twelve months

Documenting the World for 125 Years (NYT Lens) A new book collects images from the round-the-globe travels conducted for National Geographic magazine, the investigative eye for the rest of the world since 1888

Empire by Jon Tonks – review (Guardian) Photographer Jon Tonks investigates four far-flung outposts where the British empire lives on – at least in spirit

From the Front Lines, Regional Photographers Make All The Difference (LightBox) Although it has become more prevalent in recent years, regional photographers have worked for Western news organizations for decades. Here, TIME showcases work made over the past year by three of the strongest local image-makers, examining the wider context and evolution of their work and the issues they face

Senior government officials, celebrities and the nation's press corps congregated in Washington D.C. Saturday for the annual dinner hosted by the White House Correspondents' Association. Joel McHale, the star of NBC's Community, is the featured comedian at the dinner, where he and President Barack Obama will crack jokes for senior government officials and members of the press corps. A smattering of other stars will reportedly be attending the event, according to the Hollywood Reporter, including Robert De Niro, who is promoting a documentary on his artist father, 12 years a Slave director Steve McQueen and actress Lupita Nyong'o, Gravity director Alfonso Cuaron, and Her director Spike Jonze. McHale isn't known for political comedy, but he's used to mocking celebrities as the host of E!’s The Soup.The White House Correspondents' dinner has often served as a springboard for aspiring comedians, providing a national spotlight for funnymen like Stephen Colbert in 2006 or Seth Meyers in 2011. The president, meanwhile, can be expected to dig into a healthy repertoire of self-deprecating jokes, and take some jabs at the right, too. At last year's dinner, for example, he fired off against billionaire donor Sheldon Adelson. “Did you know that Sheldon Adelson spent $100 million of his own money last year on negative ads? You’ve got to really dislike me to spend that kind of money…You could buy an island and call it “Nobama” for that kind of money," Obama said. Tune in tonight at 10p.m. for President Obama and McHale's remarks. [time-gallery id="86896"]

John Dominis / Time & Life Pictures / Getty Images

John Dominis, a Star Photographer for Life Magazine, Dies at 92 (NYT)

Gerda Taro: The forgotten photojournalist killed in action (BBC)

Harlem In Photographs: Troubled Neighborhood To Source Of Pride (NPR) Camilo José Vergara’s photographs of Harlem

‘In No Great Hurry,’ a Documentary About Saul Leiter (NYT) Review of the documentary film on the late photographer

Observance, an exhibition by The New York Times’ James Estrin (BJP) James Estrin is best-known in photography circles for his work on Lens, a photography blog at The New York Times. But the editor is also a senior staff photographer, and he currently has an exhibition in New York | More on Lens blog here

‘Global City’ triple exposures (Seattle Times) Marcus Yam on documenting Seattle using multiple exposures

Shaul Schwarz: Music, Guns and Drugs in the film ‘Narco Cultura’ (PROOF)

Mustafah Abdulaziz photographs the Ganges (Phaidon blog) Ex-Wall Street Journal photographer took a trip along India’s sacred river

Photographing Hiroshima, Fukushima and Everything in Between (NYT Lens) The career of Kikujiro Fukushima, who is still an active photojournalist at 92, spans from the aftermath of the dropping of the atomic bomb in 1945 to the Fukushima disaster of 2011

Mark Seliger’s greatest portraits – in pictures (Guardian) Highlights from an exhibition of Seliger’s work on show in London

Michael McFaul, who served as president Obama's ambassador to Moscow until February, warned in an interview that the Ukraine crisis is approaching a state of war that could trigger a large scale invasion by Russian military forces. "The last 24 hours was a major escalation," McFaul told TIME in a Friday interview, amid the start of an operation by Ukraine's military to reclaim eastern cities and towns taken over by pro-Russia militants. The offensive has led to violence, including reports that Ukrainian helicopters were shot down by pro-Russian forces. Brewing violence in the southern port city of Odessa also claimed dozens of lives Friday. "This is real," McFaul said. "This is war." And amid reports that pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine are urging Russia's military to intervene on their behalf, McFaul says he's now reconsidering the widely-shared assumption that Russian President Vladimir Putin would prefer to destabilize Ukraine from a distance, without staging a cross-border invasion that would compel the west to take new retaliatory steps, possibly including arming the Ukrainian military. "It would be very costly for Russia to invade Ukraine," McFaul said. "It’ll be real fight — maybe guerilla warfare for years. That's not something one does lightly. But it got a lot more likely in the last 12 hours." Russia's parliament has authorized Putin to intervene in Ukraine, though Putin said last month "I very much hope that I will not have to exercise this right." But many experts fear the rising violence may provide Putin with an excuse, even if it brings a harsh western response. "It would be a very foolish move on Russia’s part," says Olga Oliker, an international security and defense policy analyst at the Rand Corporation. "However that does not mean that it can be ruled out." The chaos deepened on Saturday as the Ukrainian military continued to press its offensive. The pro-Kremlin news outlet RT alleged on Saturday that residents in the eastern city of Kramatorsk chased off Ukrainian military forces with chants of "fascists." In one bright spot, however, a team of international observers held for days by pro-Russian forces were released unharmed. But the larger picture remains bleak. The events of the past couple of days, McFaul said, "make me more worried than ever before."

Sim Chi Yin / VII Mentor Program

“Her work has the potential to bring insights from within a culture that is often difficult to penetrate emotionally” – Sarah Leen, Director of Photography at National Geographic, on photojournalist Sim Chi Yin

British Journal of Photography’s Ones to Watch in 2014 (BJP) Following a nomination process involving an international panel of photographers, editors, curators and educators, thirty photographers were selected as Ones to Watch

Pentti Sammallahti’s best photograph: ice fog in stormy northern Russia (Guardian)

End Frame: Marcus Bleasdale on Philip Jones Griffiths (PDN)

Photo Project Breaks Barriers in Morocco (NYT)

One to Watch: Matt Eich (American Photo) Eich hustles commercial work to fund his photojournalism and fine art projects

Featured photographer: Marika Dee (Verve Photo)

Featured photographer: Olaf Schuelke (Verve Photo)

Interviews and Talks

A woman makes her way to the track in a stunning black and red Derby hat.

Rodrigo Abd / AP

Rodrigo Abd (Esquire) Associated Press photographer Abd on his career so far

John Tlumacki (Image Deconstructed) Tlumacki on his iconic Boston Marathon bombing photos

Jacquelyn Martin (CNN) AP photographer Martin tells how one of her photos ended up reuniting a family

Mariella Furrer (LA Times Framework) Furrer on her child sexual abuse project My Piece of Sky, that just came out as a book in November 2013

James Estrin (L’Oeil de la Photographie) Estrin on his career

David Guttenfelder (National Geographic Live!) Guttenfelder offers a glimpse inside North Korea’s tightly controlled society, where the truth is rarely simple

Joel McHale, the star of NBC's Community, will be the featured comedian at Saturday night's White House Correspondents' Dinner, where President Barack Obama will crack jokes for senior government officials and members of the press corps. McHale's Community is now in its 5th season. He's also the host of E!’s The Soup. McHale has appeared in movies as well, recently finishing work on the forthcoming thriller Deliver Us From Evil produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. The White House Correspondents' dinner has often served as an opportunity for aspiring comedians, providing a national spotlight for funnymen like Stephen Colbert in 2006 or Seth Meyers in 2011. A smattering of other stars will reportedly be attending the event, according the Hollywood Reporter, including Robert De Niro, who is promiting a documentary on his artist father, 12 years a Slave director Steve McQueen and actress Lupita Nyong'o, Gravity director Alfonso Cuaron, and Spike Jonze. The President can be expected to dig into a healthy repertoire of self-deprecating jokes, and take some jabs at the right, too. At last year's dinner, for example, he fired off against billionaire donor Sheldon Adelson. “Did you know that Sheldon Adelson spent $100 million of his own money last year on negative ads? You’ve got to really dislike me to spend that kind of money…You could buy an island and call it “Nobama” for that kind of money," Obama said. Tune in tonight at 10p.m. for President Obama and McHale's remarks.

Yunghi Kim / Contact Press Images. Comfort Women of South Korea. 1996.

Yunghi Kim (NPPA) Kim on core values

Brett Carlsen and Juan Madrid (Roads and Kingdoms) Carlsen and Madrid on their project documenting Flint, Michigan

Meaghan Looram (World Press Photo Vimeo) The deputy photo editor at The New York Times discusses photo editing as well as the Joop Swart Masterclass and her role in it

Mike Davis (A Photo a Day blog)

John Minchillo (AP YouTube channel) Minchillo is a New York City-based freelance photographer for the Associated Press

Mikko Takkunen is an associate photo editor at TIME.com. Follow him on Twitter @photojournalism.

Contact us at letters@time.com.