Holi 2013: The Festival of Colors

This week Hindus around the world celebrated Holi, the Festival of Colors. Holi is a popular springtime celebration observed on the last full moon of the lunar month. Participants traditionally throw bright, vibrant powders at friends and strangers alike as they celebrate the arrival of spring, commemorate Krishna’s pranks, and allow each other a momentary freedom — a chance to drop their inhibitions and simply play and dance. Gathered here are images of this year’s Holi festival from across India. From The Atlantic

A Hindu devotee, face smeared with colored powder, leaves the Banke Bihari temple during Holi celebrations in Vrindavan, India, on March 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Indian Hindu devotees throw colored powder at the Radha Rani temple during the Lathmar Holi festival in Barsana, on March 21, 2013. Lathmar Holi is a local celebration, but it takes place well before the national Holi day on March 27.(Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images)

Indians throw colored powder during Holi festival celebrations in Hyderabad, India, Wednesday, March 27, 2013.(AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Hindu men rest during Lathmaar Holi celebrations on March 22, 2013 in the village of Nundgaon near Mathura, India.(Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

A transgender Hindu devotee dances during Lathmaar Holi celebrations on March 21, 2013 in Barsana, India.(Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

Colored powder is thrown on Hindu men from the village of Nandgaon as they sit on the floor during prayers at the Ladali or Radha temple before the procession for the Lathmar Holi festival, the legendary hometown of Radha, consort of Hindu God Krishna, in Barsana, India, on March 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

Hindu devotees play with color during Holi celebrations at the Banke Bihari temple on March 27, 2013 in Vrindavan, India.(Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

An Indian child reacts as colored powder is smeared on her hair during Holi festival in Chennai, India, on March 27, 2013. Holi, the Hindu festival of colors that also marks the advent of spring, is being celebrated across the country Wednesday. (AP Photo/Arun Sankar K)

Can you resist seeing the rest of these joyful images, if not go here

The Masks We Wear

We wear masks for many reasons: for fun, for protection, or to make a statement. In turbulent public settings, obscuring one’s face can protect an individual from retaliation while evoking fear and uncertainty in others. Donning the mask of a cultural, political, or religious figure can lend that person power and further his or her legacy. Those who wear masks to protect their faces from environmental hazards may also end up sending a message of caution to outside observers. In many cases, though, masks play a more lighthearted role, allowing the wearer to take part in a festival and become someone (or something) else for a time. I’ve gathered here a few recent images of people wearing masks, covering their faces for a wide variety of reason From The Atlantic

An Egyptian boy wearing a Guy Fawkes Mask holds bread, a symbol of poverty, during an anti-Muslim Brotherhood demonstration in Cairo, Egypt, on March 22, 2013. Thousands of protesters from different areas of Cairo marched on Friday to express their rejection of the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohammed Morsi’s rule. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Protesters wearing masks perform during anti-austerity and anti-graft protests in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on January 11, 2013. More than 5,000 Slovenians gathered in the center of Ljubljana on Friday to protest against a corruption scandal that threatens to bring down the government. Slovenia’s anti-corruption commission said earlier this week that Prime Minister Janez Jansa had been unable to explain the source of some of his income in recent years. (Reuters/Srdjan Zivulovic)

A man dressed in traditional Perchten mask performs during a Perchten festival in the western Austrian village of Heitwerwang, some 90 km (56 miles) west of Innsbruck, Austria, on November 23, 2012. Each year in November and January people dress-up in Perchten (also known in some regions as Krampus or Tuifl) costumes and parade through the streets to perform a 1,500 year-old pagan ritual to disperse the ghosts of winter. About 15 hours are needed for a woodcarver to sculpt each demon mask which is made from stone pine wood with goat horns attached. (Reuters/Dominic Ebenbichler)

An Afghan woman receives winter supplies at a UNHCR distribution center for needy refugees at the Women’s Garden in Kabul, Afghanistan, on January 2, 2013. (Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images)

Protestors wear orange prison jumpsuits and black hoods on their heads during protests against holding detainees at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay during a demonstration on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on January 8, 2013. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

A Bahraini boy takes part in a demonstration against the killing of a Shiite protester during clashes with Bahraini police, on February 22, 2013 in the village of Daih, West of the capital Manama. (Mohammed Al-Shaikh/AFP/Getty Images)

Utterly fascinating, go and see them all here

Syria in Ruins

In 2009 I visited Syria. I did not know what to expect of one of the Axis of Evil states but what I found was the most friendly people, an organised and flourishing society, with religious tolerance to the numerous different religions to be found, a place where history seeped out of the crevices. I don’t doubt that for some people Syria was a despicable state but on an every day level it was rich and fascinating. Now all that has gone, the hotel I stayed in Aleppo with the unpaid bill by Lawrence of Arabia on display, gone; the freedom to walk almost anywhere at any time of day or night, gone. The security to feel safe, gone. It makes me weep and these images from The Atlantic terrify me, what has happened to the people I met and became friends with, the people I drank tea with and watched Champions League football in sport cafes. The small bakeries on the streets, the vendors around the mosque in the centre of Damascus…..

While much of the world’s attention focuses on a possible war with North Korea, the war currently being fought in Syria grinds on. March of 2013 was a month of grim milestones in Syria. It marked two years since the start of hostilities; the number of war refugees passed one million; and it was was the bloodiest month to date, with more than 6,000 people killed. Neither the pro-Assad forces, nor the group of rebels opposing them have gained much ground recently, and little or no progress has been made by international agencies to halt the bloodshed. The following photographs come from across Syria, taken over the past six weeks, showing just some of the devastation in Aleppo, Deir al-Zor, Homs, Deraa, Idlib, and Damascus

Sami (center) speaks with his children in an underground Roman tomb which he uses with his family as shelter from Syrian government forces, at Jabal al-Zaweya, in Idlib province, on February 28, 2013. The ancient sites are built of thick stone that has already withstood centuries, and are often located in strategic locations overlooking towns and roads. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Damaged buildings in Jouret al-Shayah, Homs, Syria, on February 2, 2013. (Reuters/Yazen Homsy)

A Syrian woman sits on the ruins of her house, which was destroyed in an airstrike by government warplanes a few days earlier, killing 11 members of her family, in the neighborhood of Ansari, Aleppo, on February 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Abdullah al-Yassin)

A resident inspects the damages at an ancient Souk caused by what activists said was shelling by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in Deir al-Zor, on March 9, 2013. (Reuters/Khalil Ashawi

A boy takes a picture of his friend who gestures from the top of a damaged building in Deir al-Zor, on April 4, 2013.(Reuters/Khalil Ashawi)

People inspect damaged areas in Deir al-Zor, on March 3, 2013. (Reuters/Khalil Ashawi)

See all the images in this gallery here

Native Americans: Portraits From a Century Ago

From the pages of the Atlantic we find these touching images

In the early 1900s, Seattle-based photographer Edward S. Curtis embarked on a project of epic scale, to travel the western United States and document the lives of Native Americans still untouched by Western society. Curtis secured funding from J.P. Morgan, and visited more than 80 tribes over the next 20 years, taking more than 40,000 photographs, 10,000 wax cylinder recordings, and huge volumes of notes and sketches. The end result was a 20-volume set of books illustrated with nearly 2,000 photographs, titled “The North American Indian.” In the hundred-plus years since the first volume was published, Curtis’s depictions have been both praised and criticized. The sheer documentary value of such a huge and thorough project has been celebrated, while critics of the photography have objected to a perpetuation of the myth of the “noble savage” in stage-managed portraits. Step back now, into the early 20th century, and let Edward Curtis show you just a few of the thousands of faces he viewed through his lens.

Left: Koskimo person, Kwakiutl, wearing a full-body fur garment, oversized gloves and mask of Hami (“dangerous thing”) during the Numhlim ceremony. ca. 1914. Right: Hamasilahl, Kwakiutl, ceremonial dancer during the Winter Dance ceremony.(Library of Congress/Edward S. Curtis)

Left: Ben Long Ear, ca. 1905. Right: Hastobiga, Navajo Medicine Man, ca. 1904. (Library of Congress/Edward S. Curtis)

Left: Bird Rattle, Piegan, ca. 1910. Right: Nesjaja Hatali, medicine man, Navajo, ca. 1904. (Library of Congress/Edward S. Curtis)

Portrait of a Native American named Big Head, ca. 1905. (Library of Congress/Edward S. Curtis)

See all of the images here

The Strange Beauty of Salt Mines

From The Atlantic website we find these often beautiful images of salt

Salt, an essential element for all animal life, is abundant here on Earth, but it still requires extraction from stone deposits or salty waters. The process of mining that salt can produce beautiful landscapes, including deep, stable caverns, multicolored pools of water, and geometric carvings. Some of these locations have even become tourist destinations, serving as concert halls, museums, and health spas touting the benefits of halotherapy. Collected here are images of salt mines across the world, above and below ground

Tourists guarded by local policemen visit sulphur and mineral salt formations created by the upwelling springs of Dallol volcanom on January 29, 2007. (Reuters/Michel Laplace-Toulouse) #

One of the colorful brine pools that are part of a lithium salt pilot plant on the Uyuni salt lake, which holds the world’s largest reserve of lithium, located at 3,656 meters (11,995 ft) above sea level in southwestern Bolivia, on November 5, 2012. (Reuters/David Mercado)

Pools of salt at the Maras mines in Cuzco, Peru, on February 17, 2010. (Reuters/Enrique Castro-Mendivil)

An aerial view of the brine pools and processing areas of the Soquimich lithium mine on the Atacama salt flat, the world’s second largest salt flat, in the Atacama desert of northern Chile, on January 10, 2013. (Reuters/Ivan Alvarado)

Salt layers reflect in the inner lake of Turda salt mine in Turda city (450km northwest of Bucharest), on December 9, 2010. One of the most important salt mines in Transylvania, central Romania, Salina Turda has been known since ancient times, but was put into operation for underground mining work during the Roman period. (Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images)

Ethiopia’s Danakil salt pan, near the Dallol volcano, on November 29, 2004. Dallol is unique in the world because is the only volcano situated below the sea level in Danakil depression, also known as Afar, one of the hottest places in the world with temperatures sometimes over 60 degrees Celsius in the sun. (Reuters/Michel Laplace-Toulouse)

See all 31 images here

Lighting Up the Night

My other go to place for great photography is The Atlantic, another one you should bookmark for the future. This week they have images on the theme of Lighting up The Night

Around the world, people are using light to paint, perform, honor, work, and play. In villages and cities alike, lanterns and candles are used to celebrate and commemorate events. In Berlin, famous landmarks are currently being illuminated for the annual Festival of Lights. In Florida, a private spacecraft climbed into orbit atop a pillar of fire, and around the globe, dozens of buildings were bathed in pink for breast cancer awareness month. Gathered here is a handful of recent images of humans pushing back the dark and lighting up the night

Magician David Blaine performs his “Electrified: 1 Million Volts Always On” stunt in New York, on October 7, 2012. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Paper lanterns float on the Motoyasu River in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome (center) in Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 2012. Tens of thousands of people marked the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, as a rising tide of anti-nuclear sentiment swells in post-Fukushima Japan. (Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images)

Runners and walkers wearing light emitting suits and holding light sticks make their way up Arthur’s Seat as part of a dress rehearsal of a mass participation public art piece called “Speed of Light” on August 8, 2012 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The piece which forms part of the annual Edinburgh Festival is set to illuminate the iconic natural monument as hundreds of people make their way up and around, creating streaks of light as they go. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Go here to see another 30 of these special images

National Geographic Photo Contest 2012

As reported in the excellent the Atlantic magazine:

Once again, National Geographic is holding its annual photo contest, with the deadline for submissions coming up on November 30. Beginning on September 1, the society started gathering and presenting galleries of submissions, encouraging readers to vote for them as well. National Geographic was kind enough to let me choose among its entries from 2012 for display here on In Focus. Gathered below are 50 images from the three categories of People, Places, and Nature, with captions written by the individual photographers.

Here is a sample of some of the 50 images in the gallery here

Ninja Kangaroos: Young male kangaroos test their strength with “boxing” matches that mostly occur at dawn. One buck gets in the others face with its forepaws until the second one concedes and hops away, or stands up tall and faces its tormentor. Then the two grapple until an advantage is gained and one rears back onto its tail and kicks out with both its feet. Here the roo on the left clearly has its opponent on the retreat. Photo taken at Lake Cootharaba, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. (© raoul slater/National Geographic Photo Contest) #

Yosemite Valley at Dusk: A mist had settled over Yosemite Valley, as automobiles passed through, headlights illuminated the fog. (© Phil Hawkins/National Geographic Photo Contest) #

Chaos: A huge flock of Red-billed Queleas flies in to drink at the same time as an African Elephant in Tsavo National Park, Kenya. (© Antero Topp/National Geographic Photo Contest) #

Butterfly at sunset: Photographer Toni Guetta submitted this macro shot of a butterfly with the sunset in the background near Hod ha’sharon, Israel. (© Toni Guetta/National Geographic Photo Contest)

See the rest of these amazing images here

London 2012: The Closing Ceremony the best pictures

The Atlantic reports….Thousands of fans gathered in Olympic Stadium for the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 games. The spectacular show kicked off with fireworks and rolled into a series of performances by British pop stars from the past six decades, including Brian May, The Who, Blur, and George Michael. Even John Lennon and Freddie Mercury made posthumous appearances via video. Brazil gave a preview performance of things to come in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, and Lord Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London Games Organizing Committee, praised the execution of this year’s summer games, saying, “When our time came, Britain, we did it right.”

Fireworks explode over the Olympic Stadium during the Closing Ceremony, on August 12, 2012. (Reuters/Tim Wimborne)

DJ Fatboy Slim performs atop a psychedelic bus transformed into a massive translucent octopus in the Olympic Stadium, on August 12, 2012. (Reuters/David Gray)

A giant sculpture of the face of John Lennon is assembled from pieces onstage during a performance of Lennon’s “Imagine” in Olympic Stadium, on August 12, 2012. (Paul Gilham/Getty Images)

Timothy Spall plays the role of Winston Churchill during a theatrical piece at the Olympic Stadium, on August 12, 2012. (Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch)

A overhead view of Olympic Stadium, during the Closing Ceremony on August 12, 2012. (Reuters/Pawel Kopczynski)

British prima ballerina Darcey Bussell flies into London’s Olympic Stadium on a flaming phoenix during the Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, on August 12, 2012. (Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch)

London Olympics 2012 in pictures, the first week

From the more than excellent The Atlantic pictures from the first days of the London 2012 Olympics. There are some truly astounding images in this set so do go and have a look at all of them.

More than 10,000 athletes from 200 national Olympic committees around the globe have gathered in London for the 17-day 2012 Summer Olympic Games. So far, dozens of Olympic and world records have already been broken and more than 500 medals have been awarded. As we pass the Games’ halfway point, here’s a look back at some amazing events that have taken place in the U.K. over the past nine days. [62 photos]

Jessica Ennis of Great Britain crosses the line during the Women’s Heptathlon 800m to win the race and the overall gold on Day 8 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium, on August 4, 2012. (Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt crosses the finish line to win his second consecutive gold medal in the men’s 100-meter final in the Olympic Stadium, on August 5, 2012. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Russia’s Aliya Mustafina warms up before competing in the balance beam during the women’s individual all-around gymnastics final in the North Greenwich Arena, on August 2, 2012. (Reuters/Mike Blake)The South Korean men’s cycling team trains on Monday, July 30, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)

Britain’s Jessica Ennis celebrates winning her women’s heptathlon at the Olympic Stadium, on August 4, 2012. (Reuters/Lucy Nicholson)

Gabrio Zandona (right) and Pietro Zucchetti (left) of Italy compete in the Men’s 470 Sailing on Day 6 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Weymouth & Portland Venue at Weymouth Harbour, on August 2, 2012. (Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Samantha Arevalo Salinas of Ecuador starts in a women’s 800-meter freestyle swimming heat at the Aquatics Center in London, on August 2, 2012. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Jamel Herring, of the United States, after being defeated by Kazakhstan’s Daniyar Yelessinov in their men’s light welter 64-kg boxing match at the 2012 Summer Olympics, on July 31, 2012. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Russian gymnasts and team officials react as teammate Kseniia Afanaseva falls while performing on the floor during the Artistic Gymnastics women’s team final, on July 31, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

See all 62 images here

The 2012 Tour de France in pictures

This summer of sport has thrown up so many memorable moments and images, none greater than the 2012 Tour de France and the magnificent Bradley Wiggins. These pictures from The Atlantic are just a taste of the majesty of the toughest sporting competition on earth.

The 99th Tour de France cycling race began on July 1, as 22 teams of nine riders raced through Belgium, Switzerland and France. The entire tour covered a distance of 3,497 km (2,173 mi). Sky Procycling rider Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain became the first Briton ever to win the tour on Sunday, July 22. Gathered here are images from the second half of the 2012 Tour de France. Part 1 can be found over here.  [42 photos]

Bradley Wiggins of Britain — he first Briton to ever win the Tour de France — kisses the trophy as he celebrates his overall victory on the podium after the final stage, on July 22, 2012. (Reuters/Jerome Prevost)

Sky Procycling rider Mark Cavendish of Britain (left) sprints to win the 18th stage of the Tour de France in Brive-La-Gaillarde, on July 20, 2012. (Reuters/Jean-Paul Pelissier)

Thomas Voeckler of France, center, crosses the finish line ahead of Michele Scarpone of Italy, left, and Jens Voigt of Germany, right, to win the 10th stage of the Tour de France in Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, France, on July 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

The peloton passes a woman on a horse during the 13th stage of the Tour de France, on July 14, 2012. (Reuters/Stephane Mahe)

The peloton passes through a sunflower field during stage eighteen in Blagnac, France, on July 20, 2012. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

The pack with Bradley Wiggins of Britain, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey, Tejay van Garderen of the US, wearing the best young rider’s white jersey, and Fredrik Kessiakoff of Sweden, wearing the best climber’s dotted jersey, awaits the start of the 14th stage in Limoux, on July 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Overall leader Bradley Wiggins celebrates at the end of the 53.5 km individual time-trial and nineteenth stage of the Tour de France in Chartres, France, on July 21, 2012. Wiggins won the stage, all but securing his overall win of the entire tour. (Pascal Pavani/AFP/Getty Images)

See the rest of these fantastic images here