The California governor, Gavin Newsom, declared a state of emergency in five counties on Sunday due to wildfires. It was prompted by the Creek fire that started on Friday night, forcing evacuations and road closures in the Fresno area
Continue reading...Category Archives: Photography
The girls and women fighting to stop child marriage – photo essay
Five women affected by child marriage tell their stories – and of their struggles to protect others
- Text and photographs by Thom Pierce
Twelve million girls are married every year before they reach 18, according to UN estimates. And in its first set of global statistics on child marriage rates among boys, the UN found one in 30 young men were married as children.
Advances have been made, however. Ending child marriage by 2030 is a target in the UN’s set of sustainable development goals, and many countries have launched strategies to stop the practice. But progress is slow and likely to be badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic as closed schools and financial pressures take their toll on families. In April, the United Nations Population Fund predicted that an additional 13 million children could be married over the next decade because of disruption to programmes.
Continue reading...Coronavirus curfew in Havana, Cuba – in pictures
Cuban authorities have launched a strict 15-day lockdown of Havana to try to stamp out the low-level but persistent spread of coronavirus. In addition to a curfew, most stores are barred from selling to shoppers from outside the immediate neighbourhood to prevent people from moving around the city
Continue reading...Magnum reviewing archive as concerns raised about images of child sexual exploitation
Agency to review historical photographs after issue raised on website and social media
Magnum Photos, one of the world’s most celebrated photographic agencies, is to re-examine the content of its archive of more than 1 million images after accusations it made available photographs that critics said may show the sexual exploitation of minors.
In a statement, the president of Magnum, Olivia Arthur, said the agency, whose founders included Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson, had begun an “in-depth internal review to make sure that we fully understand the implications of the work in the archive, both in terms of imagery and context.
Continue reading...Beirut explosion devastates Sursock Palace and Museum – in pictures
Among the many homes and buildings damaged by the Beirut explosion were the Sursock Palace and Museum. The 19th-century palace was once one of Beirut’s grandest town houses, and the mansion housing the museum was left to the city of Beirut in 1952
Continue reading...Police and protesters clash in Minsk, Belarus – in pictures
Police in Minsk use rubber bullets and stun grenades against protesters during second night of violence
Emergency in Mauritius after oil spill – in pictures
A tanker leaking tonnes of oil off the coast of the Indian Ocean island is breaking up, threatening ecological disaster
Continue reading...Mexican families mourn workers claimed by Covid in the US – photo essay
In July, the remains of nearly 250 migrant workers were repatriated to Mexico City. Two grieving families share their stories and loss
- Text and photographs by Alejandra Rajal
On Saturday 11 July, a plane arrived in Mexico City with the remains of nearly 250 Mexican migrant workers who had died of Covid-19 in the US. A solemn ceremony was held with the participation of the consul general for New York, Jorge Islas López, who had helped organise the repatriation flight.
Continue reading...The aftermath of the explosion in Beirut – in pictures
Lebanon is in mourning and surveying the damage to its capital, Beirut, after a massive explosion ripped through the city’s port and surrounding areas on Tuesday. At least 100 people were killed and 4,000 injured, with many still feared trapped under rubble
Continue reading...Beirut explosion – in pictures
An explosion has rocked central Beirut in Lebanon, shattering windows and shaking buildings for several hundred feet. The source of the blast is still unclear
- Beirut explosion – live updates
- Full report: huge explosion in Beirut
- Video: Beirut footage shows massive blast
‘Water is sacred’: 10 visual artists reflect on the human right to water
The UN declared access to water and sanitation a human right a decade ago, but 785 million people worldwide still have no water close to home
Ten photographs marking the 10th anniversary of access to water and sanitation being declared a human right by the UN have been commissioned from 10 visual artists by the charity WaterAid to show the impact of clean water on people’s lives.
Globally, 785 million people – one in 10 – still lack access to water close to home and 2 billion people – one in four – don’t have a toilet of their own.
Continue reading...Marcus Rashford scores cover of British Vogue’s September issue
The footballer is recognised for his activism in the magazine among 40 ‘faces of hope’
Marcus Rashford’s inspirational, policy-changing campaign against child poverty has garnered him accolades aplenty. Now it has also propelled the footballer on to the front cover of British Vogue’s September issue.
The Manchester United striker, who forced a government U-turn on the granting of free food vouchers for the poorest families over the summer, headlines a special edition dedicated to activism.
Continue reading...The images of ordinary Soweto that captured apartheid’s injustice
David Goldblatt’s photo essay from 1972 is a key document of an era. Now he is the subject of a major show in London
The photographer David Goldblatt, the great chronicler of the apartheid era in South Africa, is to be celebrated by one of the first London art galleries to re‑open this month.
Goldblatt, who died in 2018, has not been the subject of a major London show for more than 30 years. The new exhibition, David Goldblatt: Johannesburg 1948-2018, at the Goodman Gallery in Mayfair, will focus on a particularly moving photo essay, Soweto, from 1972. The photographs in the series were taken over six months in a febrile atmosphere that would lead to an uprising in this impoverished area of Johannesburg four years later.
Continue reading...Dining out during the coronavirus pandemic – in pictures
Around the world, whether seated in bubbles or next to teddy bears, customers are coming to terms with the new norms of eating out
Continue reading...Israelis protest against Netanyahu in Jerusalem – in pictures
About 2,000 Israelis rallied outside the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem on Tuesday amid protests against Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of the coronavirus crisis and alleged corruption
Continue reading...Great outdoors: life moves outside during pandemic – in pictures
From art to religion, coronavirus has forced educational, cultural and social life into the open air on an unprecedented scale across the world
Continue reading...Prayers and comets: Friday’s best photos
The Guardian’s picture editors select highlights from around the world
Continue reading...Fights break out in Taiwan parliament – in pictures
Brawls erupted inside and outside Taiwan’s parliament on Friday over the disputed nomination by President Tsai Ing-wen of a senior aide to a top government watchdog post, which the main opposition party has said is cronyism
Continue reading...Lisbon’s back-alley fado legends – photo essay
A portrait of Lisbon, saudade and the fado folk music of the city and its relationship with tourism. Henri Kisielewski is the 2019 recipient of the Joan Wakelin bursary, administrated in partnership with the Royal Photographic Society
Fado is Lisbon’s urban folk music, born in and around the brothels, alleyways and tascas of the city’s poorest neighbourhoods. Fado is to Lisbon what the Blues are to the Delta. Written records trace it back to the early 19th century, though some argue it is much older, connecting it to oral traditions imported from across the Portuguese empire.
At the heart of fado is saudade. This elusive word – apparently untranslatable from the original Portuguese – broadly refers to a sense of sorrow, of yearning, and a resigned desire for what once was. This is the underlying emotion of all fado and perhaps of Lisbon itself.
Continue reading...Masked not muzzled – the art of the political mask
Wearing a mask may feel like being muzzled to some, but across the world people are using masks to send political messages
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