Portraits: Pakistani victims of Taliban violence

Pakistan based Associated Press photographer Muhammed Muheisen recently created a portrait series of victims of Taliban violence. To many of these men and women, the idea of negotiating with people responsible for so much human pain is abhorrent. Their voices, however, are rarely heard in Pakistan, a country where people have long been conflicted about whether the Taliban are enemies bent on destroying the state or fellow Muslims who should be welcomed back into the fold after years of fighting. Denver Post

In this Tuesday, July. 31, 2012, photo, Pakistani newspaper seller Mohammed Rafiq, 20, who was injured in a bomb blast on June, 29, 2008, in Swat valley, poses for a picture in Islamabad, Pakistan. To many victims of Taliban violence, the idea of negotiating with people responsible for so much human pain is abhorrent. Their voices, however, are rarely heard in Pakistan, a country where people have long been conflicted about whether the Taliban are enemies bent on destroying the state or fellow Muslims who should be welcomed back into the fold after years of fighting.(AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this Saturday, July 7, 2102, photo, Pakistani daily worker Mufeed Ali, 48, who was injured by a remote control bomb at Lahore train station, on April, 24, 2012, reacts while posing for a picture in Lahore, Pakistan. Hazratullah Khan’s right leg was amputated below the knee after he survived a car bombing as he was on his way home from school. His response when asked whether peace talks should be held with the Taliban leaders who ordered attacks like the ones that maimed him is simple: Hang them alive. Slice their flesh off their bodies and cut them into pieces. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this Monday, July 30, 2012, photo, Pakistani politician Israr Shah, 56, who was injured in a bomb blast in Islamabad on July, 17, 2007, poses for a picture, in Islamabad, Pakistan. To many victims of Taliban violence, the idea of negotiating with people responsible for so much human pain is abhorrent. Their voices, however, are rarely heard in Pakistan, a country where people have long been conflicted about whether the Taliban are enemies bent on destroying the state or fellow Muslims who should be welcomed back into the fold after years of fighting.(AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

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El Callao, Peru: Life on the sea

From the Denver Post

Fishermen living around the port of El Callao, Peru have harvested the sea as a means of survival since the 16th century. Now, a global shipping industry giant based in the Netherlands is planning a project to modernize El Callao, Peru’s largest and oldest port. The project will expand port operations over the next couple of years and many fishermen fear the modernization of the port may have a negative impact on their livelihood. Already some fishermen are concerned that overfishing has depleted the waters of scorpion fish, horse mackerel and mullet. Fishermen once arrived at El Callao’s docks and sold as much as 110 pounds of fish. Nowadays, no more than 15 pounds are offered.

Associated Press photographer Rodrigo Abd spent time throughout November and December documenting the lives of the fishermen and dock workers of El Callao. Navigating the waters off Peru’s 1,490-mile (2,400 kilometer) coastline can be extremely risky. The fishermen know they cannot trust the sea, recognizing their return to port is never guaranteed.

In this Dec. 5, 2012 photo, seabirds hover nearby, as fishermen ride on a “boliche,” the Peruvian term for boats that are used by fishermen who fish with nets, in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the port of El Callao, Peru. Development of the Peru’s largest and oldest port undertaken by a global shipping industry giant based in the Netherlands, will expand port operations over the next couple of years. Many fishermen fear the modernization of the port may have a negative impact on their livelihood. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Nov. 9, 2012 photo, Juan Mont, 76, a former shell diver, now works guarding “boliches,” the Peruvian term for boats that are used by fishermen who fish with nets, at the port of El Callao, Peru. Development of the Peru’s largest and oldest port undertaken by a global shipping industry giant based in the Netherlands, will expand port operations over the next couple of years. Many fear the modernization of the port may have a negative impact on their livelihood. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

n this Dec. 1, 2012 photo, fisherman Alvaro rows a small boat during a fishing expedition in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of El Callao, Peru. Fishermen living around Peru’s largest and oldest port have harvested the sea as a means of survival since the 16th century. Many fear a project to modernize El Callao, transforming it into the most important port on South America’s Pacific coast, will force them to abandon fishing. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

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Photography industry shows mass opposition to government copyright changes

More than 70 organisations representing photographers, agencies and picture libraries – from Associated Press, Getty Images, Magnum Photos to the Press Association, Reuters and Tate – have joined forces, urging Parliament to vote against proposed changes to UK copyright law, BJP can exclusively reveal………..”The reason why all these organisations came together is because these proposals to change the UK’s copyright law will have a serious adverse impact on everybody in the visual creative industry,” Serena Tierney, head of Intellectual Property at law firm Bircham Dyson Bell, tells BJP

This is not scare mongering, this law will have an impact on everyone who has ever uploaded an image and not placed meta-data and copyright information on the image. READ MORE HERE

Read more: http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news/2235856/photography-industry-shows-mass-opposition-to-government-copyright-changes#ixzz2HgzeWJp6
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Pictures of the Week: October 5, 2012

From the always excellent photo blog at The Denver Post, 20 images to make you think and to marvel at the talent of the photographers, go here to see the whole series

An Afghan refugee girl stands next to her family’s sheep in a field next to a slum area on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 1, 2012. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

Christian pilgrims take part in a group baptism in the waters of the Jordan River on October 3, 2012 at Yardenit in northern Israel. An estimated 100,000 Christian worshippers make their pilgrimage to the Holy Land each year and one of their most sacred rituals is being immersed in the biblical river where, according to Christian beliefs, Jesus Christ was baptised by John the Baptist. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

Smoke rises over Saif Al Dawla district in Aleppo, Syria, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012. The U.N.’s deputy secretary-general says U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon made a strong appeal to Syria’s foreign minister to stop using heavy weapons against civilians and reduce the violence that is killing 100 to 200 people every day.(AP Photo/ Manu Brabo)

A Syrian man cries outside the Dar El Shifa hospital in Aleppo, Syria after his daughter was injured during a Syrian Air Force strike over a school where hundreds of refugees had taken shelter Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012. The border violence between Turkey and Syria has added a dangerous new dimension to Syria’s civil war, dragging Syria’s neighbors deeper into a conflict that activists say has already killed 30,000 people since an uprising against President Bashar Assad’s regime began in March 2011. (AP Photo/ Manu Brabo)

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Joe Raedle: Featured photojournalist

Showcasing some of the world’s best photojournalists.

“The Guardian receives many thousands of pictures every day, some days more than 20,000. Of these, many are publicity hand-outs, soft paparazzi images and material for the sports pages.

However, among all these photographs there are some real gems. The agencies that the Guardian subscribes to – AP, Reuters and Getty Images, among others – have some truly great photojournalists on their staff and under contract, although they probably would be too modest to describe themselves as such. We would like to recognise some of these unsung heroes by presenting their work in galleries, rather than publish them in the usual, one-off, spot news format.”….MORE

Joe Raedle

“Joe Raedle was a student at the Maine Photographic Workshop in Rockport. He was hired as a staff photographer at Fort Lauderdale’s Sun-Sentinel in 1987 and his 11-year tenure there took him across the globe. He joined Getty Images in 2000 and is now based in Washington, DC. Here, he returns to Joplin, Missouri, to cover the city’s regeneration on the first anniversary of a devastating tornado”

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Utterly fantastic North Korea by David Guttenfelder

From the Denver Post quite the most brilliant pictures from North Korea by David Guttenfelder….more here, just go and look

Central Pyongyang, North Korea at dusk. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder) #

A young girl stands on floral-print carpet inside the Pyongyang Children’s Palace in Pyongyang, North Korea. The large facility teaches performance arts, fine arts, and sports as extracurricular classes to students in Pyongyang. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder) #

A children’s choir performs in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder) #

A waitress is reflected in a mirror inside a hotel restaurant in Mount Myohyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder) #

A girl plays the piano inside the Changgwang Elementary School in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder) #