The Big Picture

The Big Picture http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/ News Stories in Photographs from the Boston Globe en Copyright 2012 Fri, 11 May 2012 16:54:27 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 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 Mustang: Nepal's former Kingdom of Lo Photographer Taylor Weidman was given special permission by the government of Nepal to travel in the restricted area of Mustang. He writes, "Mustang, or the former Kingdom of Lo, is hidden in the rain shadow of the Himalaya in one of the most remote corners of Nepal. Hemmed in by the world's highest mountain range to the south and an occupied and shuttered Tibet to the north, this tiny Tibetan kingdom has remained virtually unchanged since the 15th century. Today, Mustang is arguably the best-preserved example of traditional Tibetan life in the world. But it is poised for change. A new highway will connect the region to Kathmandu and China for the first time, ushering in a new age of modernity and altering Mustang's desert-mountain villages forever." Collected here is a selection of Weidman's work from his book "Mustang: Lives and Landscapes of the Lost Tibetan Kingdom," proceeds from which support Weidman's Vanishing Cultures Project. -- Lane Turner (22 photos total)

The village of Tangge stands on the edge of a Kali Gandaki tributary. Buildings are packed tightly together to help protect the residents from the strong winds that pick up each afternoon. (Taylor Weidman/The Vanishing Cultures Project)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=fd63e54affa0a00bb0d9027c07f9a1b6 http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/mustang_nepals_former_kingdom.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/mustang_nepals_former_kingdom.html Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:47:17 -0500 Earth Day 2012 April 22 will mark Earth Day worldwide, an event now in its 42nd year and observed in 175 countries. The original grass-roots environmental action helped spur the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act in the United States. Gathered here are images of our planet's environment, efforts to utilize renewable alternative sources of energy, and the effects of different forms of pollution. -- Lane Turner and Leanne Burden Seidel (35 photos total)

A ladybug in flight spreads its wings as it flutters from grass blade to grass blade at Rooks Park in Walla Walla, Wash. on April 2, 2012. (Jeff Horner/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin/Associated Press)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=f01ac2ea8eb9df6cd6ad1ccc8ff44f50 http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/earth_day_2012.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/earth_day_2012.html Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:09:03 -0500 Afghanistan: March 2012 In early April, in an attempt to accelerate the transition of military responsibility to the Afghan government, the US agreed to hand control of special operations missions to Afghan forces, including night raids, relegating American troops to a supporting role. This deal cleared the way for the two countries to move ahead with an agreement that would establish the shape of American support to Afghanistan after the 2014 troop withdrawal deadline. Domestic support for the war (in the US) has dropped sharply. We look back at March in the troubled country. -- Paula Nelson (37 photos total)

Young Afghan women use an umbrella to shield themselves from the sun in Kabul, April 5, 2012. The position of women in Afghanistan has improved dramatically since the fall of the Taliban, with the number of girls in education soaring. But as the Americans and the Afghan government have pursued peace efforts with the Taliban, women are increasingly concerned that gains in their rights may be compromised in a bid to end the costly and deadly war. (Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=336517b022f9097fc6d5b2dc7cbfd602 http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/afghanistan_march_2012.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/afghanistan_march_2012.html Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:14:52 -0500 North Korea marks 100th anniversary of founder's birth North Korea will mark the 100th anniversary of its founding father's birth on April 15. Kim Il-Sung ruled the communist country from its inception in 1948 until his death in 1994. The country is also making international news with the planned launch of a satellite, which concerns many other countries because of the nuclear capabilities of the rocket being used. Officials escorted a group of international media from the capital to the see the rocket in Tongchang-Ri earlier this week. Compiled here are group of recent images from inside the country. -- Lloyd Young (30 photos total)

North Koreans pay their respects in front of two portraits, one of founding leader Kim Il-Sung (left) and the other of his son Kim Jong-Il in Pyongyang on April 9. North Korea is counting down to the 100th anniversary of its founder's birth on April 15 with top level meetings and a controversial rocket launch scheduled in coming days to bolster his grandson's credentials. (Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=bc6a84d060035dd7637bb2e567f27c06 http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/north_korea_marks_100th_annive.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/north_korea_marks_100th_annive.html Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:35:45 -0500 Easter and Holy Week Christians commemorated the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Sunday, a holiday that marks the end of Holy Week and the end of Lent. Observances around the world bring a diversity of traditions as varied as the countries celebrating. Eastern Orthodox Christians will observe Easter on April 15. Gathered here are images of Christians during Holy Week and Easter, including reenactments of the Crucifixion, pilgrimages, baptisms, sunrise services, and more. -- Lane Turner (37 photos total)

A girl wears an angel costume during Blood of Christ celebrations at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Managua on March 30, 2012. (Esteban Felix/Associated Press)

]]> http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=3791c50514d48fe1a9900881552fa524 http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/easter_and_holy_week.html http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/04/easter_and_holy_week.html Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:06:35 -0500