The Big Picture

The Big Picture http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/ News Stories in Photographs from the Boston Globe en Copyright 2012 Fri, 25 May 2012 14:46:16 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Finding community in America's Appalachian region Getty Images photographer, Mario Tama, spent time in and around Owsley County, Kentucky documenting the life and times of some of it's 5,000 residents. The 2010 U.S. Census listed Owsley County as having the lowest median household income in the country outside of Puerto Rico, with 41.5% of residents living below the poverty line. Familial and community bonds run deep, with a populace that shares a collective historical and cultural legacy uncommon in most parts of the country. The community struggles with a lack of jobs due to the decline in coal, tobacco and lumber industries. It's just a glimpse into their lives, but one we wanted to share. -- Paula Nelson (EDITOR'S NOTE: We will not post on Memorial Day, May 28, 2012.) (46 photos total)

Craig and Cora Adams, married nine years, outside their trailer in Owsley County, April 20, 2012, in Booneville, Kentucky. Daniel Boone once camped in the Appalachian mountain hamlet of Owsley County which remains mostly populated by descendants of settlers to this day. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=8d3571e686baae4316fb1e12b733f217 http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/finding_community_in_americas.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/finding_community_in_americas.html Fri, 25 May 2012 14:46:16 -0500 Joplin tornado: One year later The city of Joplin, Mo., on Tuesday marked a year since a tornado struck, killing 161 people and destroying a third of city. Many people marched during a “Day of Unity’’ through the city’s hardest hit areas. The tornado destroyed or damaged thousands of structures, including the high school and St. John's Regional Medical Center, both of which are being rebuilt. The storm is reported to have caused some $2.8 billion in damage. -- Lloyd Young (25 photos total)

Sarah Mcconnell-Pinjuv prays during a service in front of an iron cross that is all that remains of St. Mary's church after it was destroyed by the tornado one year ago on May 22, 2011 in Joplin, Mo. The EF-5 tornado devastated the leaving behind a path of destruction along with 161 deaths and hundreds of injuries, but one year later there are signs that the town is beginning to recover. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=40e7c4fa9fac4ab3f3d7405c6fb33da8 http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/joplin_tornado_one_year_later.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/joplin_tornado_one_year_later.html Wed, 23 May 2012 22:55:59 -0500 Ring of Fire Eclipse: 2012 A rare annular eclipse - a ring of sunlight as the new moon, passing between Earth and sun, blocks most, but not all, of the sun's disc. It is striking to see. Differing from a total solar eclipse, the moon in an annular eclipse appears too small to cover the sun completely, leaving a ring of fire effect around the moon. The eclipse cast its shallow path crossing the West from west Texas to Oregon then arcing across the northern Pacific Ocean to Tokyo, Japan. (Thanks to all Big Picture viewers for sending us your images of the eclipse.) -- Paula Nelson (49 photos total)

A partial solar eclipse as seen during sunrise in the coastal town of Gumaca, Quezon province, southeast of Manila, May 21, 2012. Thousands turned their eyes to the sky on both sides of the Pacific to gaze excitedly as an eclipse occluded the sun at dawn in Asia and at dusk in the western United States. An annular eclipse occurs when the moon passes in front of the sun, but is too far from the Earth to block it out completely, leaving a "ring of fire" visible. (Ted Aljibeted Aljibe/AFP/GettyImages)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=a27837b3d04eb3a84f19021b6d2d2a5c http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/ring_of_fire_eclipse_2012.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/ring_of_fire_eclipse_2012.html Mon, 21 May 2012 13:30:54 -0500 Daily Life: May 2012 Thousands of images are supplied by multiple wire services to newspapers across the country each day. Many of those images depict ordinary scenes of life in different countries around the world. There are three picture editors that contribute to the Big Picture blog, each of them seeing the world in a little bit of a different way. Their backgrounds, their experiences, their interests - all very disparate. Each of them given the same resources (the visual wire) to edit from, each choosing very different ways to tell a story. The following photographs are my choices of those images for the month of May (and a few from late April) illustrating daily life around the world. -- Paula Nelson (53 photos total)

Adam Ortiz, a fourth-grader at Fairview Elementary, stops traffic while classmates and parents cross Washington at North 11th Street in Klamath Falls, Ore. as part of Walk to School Days, something the school has participated in every Friday in May for three years, May 11. 2012. (Andrew Mariman/The Herald and News)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=603d8fbc2a34cc1e570f1e7de299c9ca http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/daily_life_may_2012.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/daily_life_may_2012.html Fri, 18 May 2012 16:54:51 -0500 Ways of the wind It's something often ignored unless it's annoying, harnessed for sport or energy, the cause of great damage, or sometimes used for fun. Wind is simply defined as "a natural movement of air of any velocity." Here is a collection of images showing its effects on us and nature. -- Lloyd Young(40 photos total)

A woman grips her umbrella against the wind in front of the Jubelpark - Cinquantenaire in Brussels as a storm moved over Belgium on Jan. 5. The Belgian Royal Meteorological Institute gave a code orange warning for the heavy storm weather that moved over Belgium this morning. (Benoit Doppagne/AFP/Getty Images)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=c2e6aa6e6778c729a9092174faf2d22c http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/ways_of_the_wind.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/ways_of_the_wind.html Wed, 16 May 2012 11:53:04 -0500 Food and nutrition crisis in Sahel region of Africa A potentially catastrophic food crisis in the Sahel region of West and Central Africa could affect as many as one million children. The food and nutrition crisis resulting from a severe drought, threatens the survival of an entire generation of children. Those children in eight countries - Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, Cameroon, Nigeria and Senegal - are at risk of severe acute malnutrition. Sparse rainfall, poor harvests and rising food prices have left many vulnerable and weak, seeking medical attention. Sahel is one of the poorest regions in the world where children already face daunting odds of survival. The current crisis makes their survival even more tenuous. Associated Press photographer, Ben Curtis, documented the conditions in the region. -- Paula Nelson (EDITORS NOTE: We will not be posting Monday, May 14) (32 photos total)

A woman carries her child amidst dusty winds in the desert near Mondo, a village in the Sahel belt of Chad, April 19, 2012. UNICEF estimates that 127,000 children under the age of 5 in Chad's Sahel belt will require lifesaving treatment for severe acute malnutrition this year, with an estimated 1 million expected throughout the wider Sahel region of West and Central Africa in the countries of Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Senegal and Mauritania. (Ben Curtis/Associated Press)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=ca7b4a5a331b2a8eb61a43a8281a6f78 http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/food_and_nutrition_crisis_in_s.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/food_and_nutrition_crisis_in_s.html Fri, 11 May 2012 16:54:27 -0500 Victory Day 2012 Russia and former Soviet republics marked the 67 years since the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in World War II today. Russia's newly inaugurated President Vladimir Putin promised a strong Russia during a speech he delivered during a military parade at Red Square in Moscow. The Soviet Union lost an estimated 26 million people in the war, including 8.5 million soldiers. -- Lloyd Young (31 photos total)

A World War II veteran walks at the Red Square in Moscow, on May 9, 2012, after the Victory Day parade. Thousands of Russian soldiers marched today across Red Square to mark the 67 years since the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. (Kirill Kudryavtsev/Agence/AFP/Getty Images)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=0278ea249da2896b33f6491fdbc9f320 http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/victory_day_2012.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/victory_day_2012.html Wed, 09 May 2012 13:41:35 -0500 Supermoon: the perigee moon of 2012 The night sky on May 5 was animated by the once-a-year cosmic event of the perigee moon. Popularly known as the "Supermoon", the moon appears much larger above us when the elliptical orbit brings it within 221,802 miles to Earth, the closest point. The effect is magnified during a full moon, when we see our nearest celestial neighbor appear roughly 20 percent brighter and 15 percent larger. Collected here are images taken just before, during, and just after the perigee moon of 2012. -- Lane Turner (27 photos total)

The May's full moon rises beside San Francisco's Coit Tower on May 5, 2012. (Frederic Larson/San Francisco Chronicle/Associated Press)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=1e30a8d1c51c97bcba27ec99b4f11df1 http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/supermoon_the_perigee_moon_of.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/supermoon_the_perigee_moon_of.html Mon, 07 May 2012 12:35:11 -0500 Afghanistan, May 2012 With well over a year before American forces pull out of Afghanistan, the conflict there drags on. Every month in The Big Picture, we feature a selection of recent images of events there, from the soldiers and insurgents at war, the people longing for peace, and daily life and culture in the country of 29 million. Afghanistan remains among the world's poorest nations, and struggles with issues not found in other places, like an ongoing fight against polio. Afghanistan still supplies about 90% of the world's opium, a major cash crop in a country with few viable exports. Gathered here are images from April, 2012. -- Lane Turner (33 photos total)

Afghan policemen are mirrored in glass from a broken window as they stand guard outside the building where Taliban fighters launched an attack in Kabul on April 16, 2012. A total of 36 Taliban militants were killed as they mounted a wave of attacks across Afghanistan. (Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=a4d18df9fa06cb8bd03e948db63414e9 http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/afghanistan_may_2012.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/afghanistan_may_2012.html Fri, 04 May 2012 14:53:04 -0500 May Day 2012 May Day was marked once again around the globe with political protests and demonstrations by organized labor. The Occupy Wall Street movement, which formed last year in New York, used the day to spread its message of social and economic inequality. Also known as International Workers Day, May 1 is marked in different ways around the world, and in many countries May Day is observed as a national holiday. This celebration of the international labor movement stemmed from a deadly 1886 labor demonstration in Chicago calling for an eight-hour workday. -- Lloyd Young(39 photos total)

An Occupy demonstrator confronts a police officer during a rally in the streets as part of a nationwide May Day protest in Oakland, Calif. on May 1. (Jana Asenbrennerova/Reuters)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=1530434bd7eb45f95db72840035b98d5 http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/may_day_2012.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/05/may_day_2012.html Wed, 02 May 2012 11:42:38 -0500 Young women in Chechnya Photojournalist Diana Markosian spent the last year and half covering Russia's volatile North Caucasus region. This year she started a personal project entitled "Goodbye My Chechnya" documenting the lives of young Chechen women as they come of age in the aftermath of war. She writes, "For young women in Chechnya the most innocent acts could mean breaking the law. A Chechen girl caught smoking is cause for arrest; while rumors of a couple engaging in pre-martial relations can result in her killing. The few girls who dare to rebel become targets in the eyes of Chechen authorities. After nearly two decades of vicious war and 70 years of Soviet rule, during which religious participation was banned, modern-day Chechnya is going through Islamic revival. The Chechen government is building mosques in every village, prayer rooms in public schools, and enforcing a stricter Islamic dress code for both men and women. This photo essay chronicles the lives of young Muslim girls who witnessed the horrors of two wars and are now coming of age in a republic that is rapidly redefining itself as a Muslim state." Markosian, who is based in Grozny, reports that "It has been quite challenging working as a female photojournalist in Chechnya. The region is undergoing significant change as Islam flourishes. The Chechen government is trying to adopt Islamic law and strengthen Chechen traditions. The attitude towards women becomes more conservative and tradition-based. Females are considered submissive and are expected to act demurely in the presence of men. This naturally makes it difficult to operate as many officials in male-dominated Chechnya don't take women seriously. It's something I try not to take personally and instead find ways to work around. There's also a certain level of fear you have when working and living in a region as unpredictable as the North Caucasus. Something I am still trying to get used to: my phone conversations are listened to. I am often followed on my shoots by federal security forces; my images have been deleted and I've been detained now more than a dozen times." Gathered here are images from the last several months of Markosian's reportage on the state of young women in Chechnya, a Russian republic of 1.3 million. -- Lane Turner (33 photos total)

A Chechen teen, who considers herself emo, puts on pink lip gloss. Chechens who dress in emo style are identified by wearing pink and black clothing, Keds, and having punk-style haircuts. They are targets for local authorities. (Copyright Diana Markosian)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=bb306d8fa47d935eb4b5d780e603cd43 http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/young_women_in_chechnya.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/young_women_in_chechnya.html Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:16:04 -0500 Sierra Leone: 10 years after Civil War After 10 years of civil war, Sierra Leone is at peace. Charles G. Taylor, the former president of Liberia and once a powerful warlord, was convicted April 26 by an international tribunal of 11 counts of planning, aiding and abetting war crimes committed in Sierra Leone during it's civil war in the 1990s. Taylor was guilty of involvement in crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, rape, slavery and the use of child soldiers. Prosecutors alleged that Taylor, from his base in neighboring Liberia, directed and armed the rebels and because of that, bears direct responsibility for the results of that war. The eleven-year conflict (from 1991-2002) left more than 50,000 dead and was marked by unprovoked and unjustified violence - especially the amputation of limbs. Sierra Leone is peaceful, a decade later, but is among the world's poorest countries, with a much longer recovery in store. Reuters' Photographer Finbarr O'Reilly gives us a glimpse of life in the West African nation today. -- Paula Nelson (28 photos total)

People walk through the town of Kailahun in eastern Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone's 11-year conflict from 1991-2002 left over 50,000 dead and became a byword for gratuitous violence, especially the amputation of limbs. A decade later, the West African nation is peaceful, but among the world's poorest. It is due to hold elections in November. April 23, 2012. (Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=fccd432192133b62cfa6ecbf5b9d4851 http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/sierra_leone_10_years_after_ci.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/sierra_leone_10_years_after_ci.html Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:49:43 -0500 Violence rages in Sudan-South Sudan conflict Fighting continues along the border of Sudan and South Sudan this week. President Salva Kiir of South Sudan said the latest attacks amounted to a declaration of war after more bombs were dropped on his country. The conflict stems from South Sudan temporarily taking control of the oil-rich border town Heglig, which Sudan claims as its own. Tension between the two countries over control of oil resources and where the border lies has been ongoing since South Sudan seceded from Sudan in July of last year as a result of a 2005 peace treaty that ended decades of war. -- Lloyd Young(24 photos total)

A Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) soldier looks at warplanes as he lies on the ground to take cover beside a road during an air strike by the Sudanese air force in Rubkona near Bentiu on April 23. Sudanese warplanes carried out air strikes on South Sudan on Monday, killing three people near the southern oil town of Bentiu, residents and military officials said, three days after South Sudan pulled out of a disputed oil field. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=51d39dc690b9f4775e4ad0f7db9f6ad0 http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/violence_rages_in_sudan-south.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/violence_rages_in_sudan-south.html Wed, 25 Apr 2012 22:54:54 -0500 Coachella 2012 Music fans gathered to hear a wide variety of musical styles at this year’s Coachella Music and Arts Festival, held over the past two weekends in Indio, Calif. More than 100 acts were on the bill to perform on both weekends. One of the highlights of this year’s festival was an appearance of the late rapper Tupac Shakur via a hologram projection during a performance by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. -- Lloyd Young (25 photos total)

Singer Jarvis Cocker of Pulp performs onstage during day 1 of the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Field on April 13 in Indio, Calif. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=c4a3d7df1e19d9887bc777faec0a6dad http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/coachella_2012.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/coachella_2012.html Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:38:53 -0500 Daily life: April 2012 The universality of our lives is never so evident as when we feature a collection of "slice of life" photographs from around the world on The Big Picture. If you don't immediately read the caption under the image, you might imagine the sunlit walk in the park or the child joyfully swinging in a number of places. Common experience is what brings us together as people. So, from St. Petersburg, Russia to Salem, Oregon, tour the world in images of everyday existence.-- Paula Nelson (38 photos total)

Pakistani boys, who make a living by collecting materials and selling them to a recycling factory, shower in a pool of water created by a broken water pipe on a roadside, after their daily work on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, April 17, 2012. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=4905f712dc31215919f7d85791ed72da http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/daily_life_april_2012.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/daily_life_april_2012.html Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:02:40 -0500