CSMonitor.com: Photography Dept.

New Delhi’s pride: its modern metroStory and photos by Melanie...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:08:03 -0500

New Delhi’s pride: its modern metro
Story and photos by Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff photographer

New Delhi Efficient, clean, air-conditioned, safe: The Delhi metro is a modern wonder amid India’s chaos. Sleek silver trains pull into stations like clockwork. Orderly commuters line up exactly where the train doors will open. There’s no pushing, no shoving. Uniformed attendants in the busiest stations usher passengers aboard. The classiness of this public transportation system seems to have imbued riders with heightened civility. (Perhaps someday even the “no spitting” signs won’t be necessary!)

Although photography is usually forbidden, given fears of terrorist attacks, I got special permission to take photographs at three stations for exactly one hour. (TV crews got only 15 minutes.) I must have been yelled at by 50 passengers who felt it their civic duty to tell me to stop. Fortunately, I had a letter of permission to brandish.

The first metro line opened in December 2006, under budget and three years ahead of schedule. When finished, the system will be bigger than the sprawling London Underground. Officials say the metro has kept more than 150,000 cars off the road, cutting pollutants in a big way. It has also acted as a stimulus for urban renewal.

See photo gallery.

It was my last day in India. I was photographing the rickshaws...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:59:37 -0500

It was my last day in India. I was photographing the rickshaws underneath one of the new metro stations, engrossed in my composition. Suddenly I heard shouting. Suhasini, my translator, said: “They’re waving at you!” I looked up, and a whole busload of boys were pressed against the windows smiling, waving, yelling and blowing kisses. How could I resist? I took their photo and it ended up on the cover of our weekly magazine. Sometimes your favorite photos come at you out of nowhere.

–Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff photographer

Our photographers hit the ground running this year.By March, the...

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 19:48:23 -0500

Our photographers hit the ground running this year.
By March, the tragic events in Japan and the fastbreaking
developments of the Arab Spring left us
nearly breathless. But there’s no timeout in the
news business. Social issues like education, gay
marriage, immigration, as well as economic issues
– thrown into sharp focus by the “Occupy” movement
– gave us opportunities to meet a cross section of Americans. And still
the news goes on: We look forward to the challenge and opportunity the new
year will surely bring. For now, here are some of our images we like best from
2011, some seen here for the first time. See more

– Alfredo Sosa, director of photography

Mexico drug war casualty: Citizenry suffers post-traumatic...

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:06:42 -0500

Mexico drug war casualty: Citizenry suffers post-traumatic stress.

Outwardly, life seems normal; but as drug war kidnappings, extortion, and violence brush closer to the average citizen, experts say, the mental terrain looks like post-traumatic stress. Read this Christian Science Monitor story.

With less than 20,000 American troops left in Iraq from a...

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:52:46 -0500

With less than 20,000 American troops left in Iraq from a peak of more than 170,000, US commanders say they are on track for a total withdrawal by December 31, which will end the 8 1/2-year US military presence in Iraq that saw the toppling of Saddam Hussein, a brutal civil war and insurgency, and finally a deadlocked democratic Iraqi government.

Photos by Scott Peterson/The Christian Science Monitor/Getty Images

Earth welcomed its 7 billionth human late last month, according...

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:42:46 -0400

Earth welcomed its 7 billionth human late last month, according to
the United Nations Population Fund, an event greeted with both
hope and sober reflection.
The world’s population growth is slowing. Growth peaked in 1963,
at 2.2 percent per year, and began to decline. By 2009, it stood at 1.1
percent. Earth’s population will continue to grow, experts predict, but
more and more slowly, perhaps stabilizing by 2050 between 8 billion and
10 billion. Two undeniably positive trends help drive that decline: rising
levels of learning and gender equity for girls and women, which fuel
opportunity and prosperity – and result in smaller, better-off families.
Experts foresee a huge rise in middle-class incomes worldwide and a
corresponding decline in those who are abjectly poor.
On a macro level, access to food, clean water, jobs, safety, and justice
for all those people remains a huge and vexing problem. On a micro
level, as seen through the lenses of Monitor photographers, the elation
of activity, the pride of parenthood, the satisfaction of accomplishment
remain human universals and sources of comfort and joy. Check out the full gallery of our staff photos.

Top image: Manal Saber holds her child in the makeshift home she...

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:19:00 -0400

Top image: Manal Saber holds her child in the makeshift home she and her extended family have created out of an abandon water well near an orange field in Beit Hanon, Friday, September 30, 2011. Abel Al Rauf, the head of the family, is allowed to live on the site with 17 of his family members in return for guarding the orange grove which has been leveled by bombs twice in the past 10 years. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency classifies Al Rauf and his family as under the poverty line, “It is uncountable, the people here living like me,” Al Rauf says.

Bottom left: Zaki Al Ajrami lifts his hands to the sky at the sound of evening prayers to say, “Oh God, help me to change my situation,” outside his home in Jabalia on Friday, September 30, 2011. Ajrami, who has been unemployed since the end of his farming work in Israel in 1998, lives in a three room building with his two wives and 14 children. The family lives off of loans and food supplies from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. Ajrami has been unable to find permanent work in the area, “Where? There are no opportunities for work in Gaza,” he says.

Bottom right: A man washes his work horse in the ocean along the outskirts of the Al-Shati camp on the beach in Gaza City on Friday, September 30, 2011. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency reports that there are over 80,000 refugees in Al-Shati, which is the third largest refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

Ann Hermes/Staff

I went at dawn to the Gaza City port to photograph the fishermen...

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:44:00 -0400

I went at dawn to the Gaza City port to photograph the fishermen unloading their daily catch to be transported to local markets. Fishermen in Gaza deal with the threat of being detained or fired at by Israeli military forces past the 3 mile blockade from the shoreline. Contaminated fish are also a problem as proper waste water management remains a serious issue for the Gaza Strip.

Ann Hermes/Staff

I recently returned from an assignment to photograph daily life...

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:50:47 -0400

I recently returned from an assignment to photograph daily life in the Gaza Strip. I crossed through the Rafah border from Egypt and spent 5 days documenting everything from education to the fishing industry. Here are a few street scenes from in and around Gaza City. More to come in the following days.

Ann Hermes/Staff

Top image: A child walks along the outskirts of the Al-Shati refugee camp on the beach in Gaza City on Friday, September 30, 2011. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency reports that there are over 80,000 refugees in Al-Shati, which is the third largest refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

Center left: A ferris wheel sits in Al Bashir Joyland, a carnival in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, October 1, 2011.

Center right: Sunrise just outside of Gaza City on Saturday, October 1, 2011.

Bottom: A man makes his way towards Rafah city at dawn in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, October 1, 2011.

An Occupy Wall Street protestor in lower Manhattan’s...

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:32:00 -0400

An Occupy Wall Street protestor in lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park holds a sign to protest corporate greed. Demonstrators have been camped out in the park for days.

I was in New York yesterday for a couple photo assignments and stopped by the park to see the show. Demonstrators there were so organized they had a food line with free pizza, salads, water, etcetera. Their speaker system consisted of one person yelling out announcements and having everyone nearby repeat it loudly so all could hear. There was a poster-making section and sleeping areas covered in blue tarps. The walkways were swarming with tourists and journalists. Bands on the edges played music and many sang along. It was quite a festive atmosphere.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff photographer

On assignment in Wyoming in May I photographed the daily chores...

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 08:46:05 -0400

On assignment in Wyoming in May I photographed the daily chores of Deb and Jon Robinett on the Diamond G Ranch in Dubois. The Robinetts live and work in a beautiful and remote area in the Dunoir Valley, where they have to deal with bears and wolves in the wild. Though they’ve lost several pets and livestock to predators, Jon Robinett advocates cohabitation and works with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, capturing and tagging wolf packs on his property.

Here Deb opens the barn to gather hay for the horses.

Ann Hermes/Staff Photographer

Elegance in the rust Joanne Ciccarello, staff photographer It is...

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 13:06:06 -0400

Elegance in the rust

Joanne Ciccarello, staff photographer

It is rare to get an assignment to photograph the transformation of a decayed building from the beginning. Sheep Dog Hollow in Connecticut was a treat. How can a photographer resist the visual appeal of weathered wood, rusted metal, and abandoned items? It’s the photographic equivalent of comfort food. Little was left in the house when I arrived. But a few abandoned chairs, an old dresser, and an archetypal red barn provided enough material for exploring after the key images for the story were made. A red velvet chair sat regally in front of a haystack in the barn. The blue peeling paint retained its vivid color behind a rusted switch plate. Discarded tools lay haphazardly on a cracked concrete floor. A bureau in reasonable condition made it through the entire construction process without being marred. The photos are simple reminders of this farmhouse’s history.

The Aral Sea begins to trickle back Story and photos by Nadia...

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:11:05 -0400

The Aral Sea begins to trickle back

Story and photos by Nadia Shira Cohen and Paulo Siqueira (watch video)

Contributors to The Christian Science Monitor

Zhalanash, Kazakhstan In the 1960s, the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya rivers were diverted by the Soviets to irrigate cotton plantations. Deprived of its major tributaries, the Aral Sea began to recede – taking with it the fishing industry and much of the sustainable agriculture. Miles of desert appeared where expanses of fresh water had lapped. What remained of the inland lake became hypersalinated and contaminated with agricultural pesticides. Fish died. Wildlife died. Even the weather grew more harsh – drier summers, colder winters. Unemployment and illness rose among residents. Many left. It was an environmental disaster. In 2005, after years of failed attempts by locals, the World Bank and the Kazakh government completed the eight-mile-long Kok- Aral Dam, an $86 million project designed to raise the water level of the North Aral Sea by containing the flow into the vastly diminished southern part. Fish were reintroduced; a Danish charity donated fishing nets to villagers. Catch levels are still low, with an annual yield of 10,000 metric tons projected for 2012. But the newly returned fishermen of Tactubek are a testament to the human desire to try to correct the wrongs of the past.

A Himalayan trek with former Timber smugglers shows the...

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 16:11:00 -0400

A Himalayan trek with former Timber smugglers shows the cultural, spiritual, and emotional endurance of Kashmir. In Taking a hike where nuclear powers once clashed, Christian Science Monitor’s Ben Arnoldy recounts his experience.

A couple in wedding outfits pose for a photographer in Chaoyang...

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 12:16:00 -0400

A couple in wedding outfits pose for a photographer in Chaoyang Park on a Sunday in June in Beijing. The park is a popular backdrop for wedding album shoots.

I heard about these hardworking photographers who shoot wedding albums and was happy to find them working throughout this enormous park in central Beijing. Apparently, the couple rent these outfits for the photo shoot and the photographer sets them up in, dare I say it, sometimes ridiculous poses - like a bride holding a watering can over fake flowers. The photographers work really hard - constantly shouting out commands for poses and facial expressions. Most photographers have several assistants with props, ladders, makeup and lighting equipment. My translator explained that the album bears no resemblance to the wedding itself - which is a simple affair in regular clothing. The album is a treasured keepsake - even though it’s all a set up. I love how the bride in this photo is standing on a little wooden box to make her taller.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff photographer

Two things stands out in the central square in Skopje,...

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:00:05 -0400

Two things stands out in the central square in Skopje, Macedonia, the construction and the numerous statues. The capitol city is undergoing a huge renovation project called “Skopje 2014,” in which fountains, an arch and several new sculptures are being built. On a recent trip to Skopje I saw one of the most notable of the new sculptures, a 24-meter-high statue of Alexander the Great. The statue was dedicated on September 8, 2011 during Macedonia’s 20 year independence celebration, and it’s something to behold.

Ann Hermes/Staff Photographer

The scale of the disaster that struck Japan six months ago is...

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:01:05 -0400

A minute of silence

Anti-nuclear protester

Damaged replica of Statue of Liberty

Tsunami debris

Pile of cars six month later

Visiting spot where house used to be

Floating paper lantern mark anniversary

Checking for radiation in a classroom

The scale of the disaster that struck Japan six months ago is difficult to grasp: The 9.0 earthquake moved Japan eight feet closer to the United States and knocked the planet off its axis by four to six inches. The tidal wave generated struck 500 miles of coastline, reached heights of up to 130 feet, and penetrated up to six miles inland. The total bill for reconstruction – including the shutdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plant – is estimated at up to $300 billion. It’s an effort that has barely begun.
But of greatest concern to survivors in the region is that the nation’s attention is shifting away. “What the people want more than anything at all is the sense that other people – the rest of Japan – are keeping a careful watch over them and are ready to help,” says Yuka Kusano, leader of the Miyagi Jonet aid group for victims. “Instead, they fear that the rest of Japan … [has] forgotten about them.”

Owen Thomas - Deputy editor, Monitor Weekly

Dignity in the face of tragedy On a recent trip to Japan, I...

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:05:00 -0400

Dignity in the face of tragedy

On a recent trip to Japan, I photographed mostly the physical aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami tragedy: flattened coastlines, carefully separated piles of debris, untouched towns abandoned to radioactivity. But I also experienced things most rarely get to see. A memorial service for the 5,000 people lost from the city of Ishinomaki was held inside a huge white tent. Every seat was taken. The service was in Japanese, so I couldn’t understand what was said, but many times I had to hold back
my own tears and would turn away to compose myself.

In Japanese culture, people don’t usually cry or hug in public. They remain stoic; they bow. But it was impossible not to feel the emotion at the service. In the past, Japanese stoicism felt cold to my American sensibilities. Now I only feel respect for their strength
and calm in the face of unimaginable tragedy. I am reminded, again, that most cultural differences are only on the surface. Inside, we all feel the same.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff photographer

We all have to eat. But what we eat, where and how we eat it, is...

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 12:13:00 -0400

A hostess leads a couple to their table.

Participants at the Night Market.

"Stuffies" are served.

Musicians serenade shoppers.

We all have to eat. But what we eat, where and how we eat it, is consuming our attention at mealtime. There is a food renaissance in America and the Monitor’s Kendra Nordin explores the why of it all. There’s a visit to Oleanna’s Restaurant, a favorite of locavores. The choice between “blue” and “yellow” at the Night Market attracted a youthful crowd where food and art blended; an up and coming chef served his glamorous version of the humble clam fritter; and the faithful gathered at a weekly farmers’ market for their fresh produce. Joanne Ciccarello/staff

thepoliticalnotebook: rubenfeld: Freedoms Flourish On Walls...

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 10:27:33 -0400

thepoliticalnotebook:

rubenfeld:

Freedoms Flourish On Walls Across Tripoli

“In Tripoli, residents are painting the town red, green and black, the new colors of the Libyan revolution.”