The lung-searing ascents into the Andean highlands aren’t what worry the untold hundreds of young men who hump backpacks loaded with drugs out of the remote, lawless valley that produces about 60 percent of Peru’s cocaine.
Armed gangs, crooked police and rival backpacker groups regularly rob cocaine’s beasts of burden on their three- to five-day journeys over mountain paths carved by their pre-Incan ancestors.
High above New Orleans, a small plane rolled in tight barrels, trailing smoke to create inspirational messages: smiley faces, peace signs, hearts and words like “jazz,” “amen” and — in a true testament of flying ability — “transform.”
Over seven days of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, a skywriter inscribed smoky messages that captivated the hundreds of thousands gathered below.
New Orleans entrepreneur Frank Scurlock conceived the idea and hired skywriter Nathan Hammond to pen the fanciful, fleeting art.
A year ago, at the start of the climbing season for Mount Everest, 16 Sherpas died in an avalanche on the world’s tallest mountain. The season was over for foreign climbers, and the disaster led to demands for better pay for the locals who make the ascents possible, and larger payouts to the families of those who were killed. A new season is about to begin, and the lost are remembered in Nepal.
A Rio government report from 2013 stated that 5,500 people live on the streets in Rio, not including those who live in shelters or lack stable housing. Close to 40 percent of the street dwellers in the study were found to lack identification, limiting their access to public services. Getty photographer Mario Tama captured day-to-day life of these people in a series of photographs.
More →
It’s that time of year again – a sure sign of springtime when the cherry blossom trees come into full bloom.
Christians around the world are marking Palm Sunday by waving fronds, attending church services and visiting sites in the Holy Land at the start of the Holy Week that ends with Easter.
More →
On March 6th-8th the highlining community from around the world ascended on Mount Victoria in the Blue Mountains two hours west of Sydney for a weekend of challenging lines and routes established between various cliffs in the mountains.
Earlier this month, in its first major eruption in 15 years, the Villarrica volcano, located in the border between the regions of La Auracania and Los Rios Region, in southern Chile, forced the evacuation of thousands of people amid a shower of fire and ash. And now, it’s showing activity again.
More →
It may not be Christmastime, but the reindeer were out in full force for the Reindeer Herder’s Day. For the indigenous nomadic Nenets people, the day offers a chance to show their prowess in wrestling, high jumps and other traditional local sports, but, above all, reindeer races.
More →
From the Iguacu Falls in Brazil to the Nile River in Egypt, Associated Press photographers the world over set out to capture the beauty and majesty of humankind’s most precious resource ahead of World Water Day on Sunday.
We often take it for granted, but fresh water is one element we must always have nearby. – Associated Press photos
Baltimore neighborhoods
Baltimore street photographers
Year in review
Freddie Gray: protests, aftermath
24 hours with...
A. Aubrey Bodine
Viewing Baltimore from above