Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto Assassinated

A warning: this blog post is not for the faint of heart.

 

What follows is a description from Getty Images about what their photographer, John Moore, saw and photographed during the rally in which Benazir Bhutto, an opposition leader to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, was assassinated earlier today. It contains graphic images from the scene, so please understand that before scrolling down further.

 

John had been covering the rally all day that Bhutto had appeared at; she had been speaking on stage in a park in Rawalpindi.

Benazir Bhutto at the rally in Rawalpindi, Dec. 27.

A number of people had mentioned to John that although the were thousands of supporters in the park, it was far from full and there was a feeling that people may have been staying away because of the events earlier in the year in Karachi. A previous attempt on Bhutto's life had been made there when she first returned from exile to her home country in October. On the day she returned, she narrowly escaped an attack when her homecoming parade in Karachi was targeted in a suicide bombing that killed more than 140 people.

The description from Getty Images of what photographer John Moore saw continues:

Today, when Bhutto finished speaking she came off the podium, got into her car, and her convoy appeared to be preparing to leave with her inside. John figured that events were over for the day and that no one would be seeing her again; he was preparing to leave himself. When he turned round he was shocked to see her standing out of the sunroof, waving to supporters as the car pushed its way slowly through the mass of people.

He ran back to grab a few frames and waited as the car came towards him, and he was pushed back in the crowd as the car came past. As this happened, he was aware of Bhutto ducking back into the car and of at least two gunshots; he picked up his camera unaware of exactly what was happening, and as he did so the bomb was detonated next to the car some 30 feet from where he was in the crowd. He kept the motor drive of his camera running as he was pushed back in the crowd, getting pictures of the blast as it went off and crowd members reeling from it.

As the crowds dispersed, he was able to shoot aftermath pictures, but was not able to get close to her car as he was kept back by the volume of people around it. The following are the sequence of photos John shot as the bomb detonated, followed by a photo of the aftermath of the explosion:

John, as might be expected, was shaken up by the bombing and the events afterwards, as the dead, injured and dying lay near the point of the blast -- shaken up, but uninjured.

For more photos and the latest on the story, please go to: Pakistan's Bhutto Assassinated at Rally.

Tags: Benazir Bhutto assassinated

2007 Pictures of the Year

It's that time ...

This week, I am publishing the Pictures of the Year 2007: People's Choice photo gallery in place of our regular Pictures of the Week gallery. The images that appear in this gallery were the most popular month by month, based on the poll results, as voted on by you, our weekly "Pictures of the Week" photo lover.

 

In reviewing this year's worth of Pictures of the Week poll results, certain trends become obvious. Based on the top vote getters, it appears that our audience is made up of animal loving, military families with an interest in astronomy -- since the most popular images are consistently related to animals and nature, our military, and space. Or maybe it's just people who recognize great photography -- photos that capture a defining moment or convey emotion or a sense of awe.

 

Please take a look at the final 12 images of the year in our Pictures of the Year 2007: People's Choice gallery, but don't overlook the other pictures of the year selections that we've put together. We also have a Pictures of the Year 2007: Editors' Choice, a sports entry, Sports Pictures of the Year 2007: Did You See That, as well as a wonderful selection of nature photography in our Nature's Best 2007 Award Winners photo gallery. Lots of links and lots of photos to check out. I hope you enjoy the galleries we've put together. Which is your favorite photo gallery? Which are your favorite images? Let us know. And don't forget to join me again in January 2008 when Pictures of the Week returns.

- Lee Van Grack

Tags: 2007 Pictures of the Year

Pictures of the Week: Dec. 8-14

You can see the fear in this little girls eyes, and that look of uncertainty as she experiences something unlike anything she's ever experienced in her life. War caught up to her in her young life. Yet I think her face conveys a certain sense of bravery as she is treated by medics at Patrol Base Murray, near Baghdad, following a mortar attack in the town of Arab Jabour.  What I find interesting about this photo is that I have no sense that the photographer's presence was felt by anyone in the room when she took this shot.

Please take a look at all of this week's compelling images in our Pictures of the Week gallery.

 

-Lee Van Grack

Tags: Pictures of the Week

Tiger Woods' Wife Wins Lawsuit Over Photos

Today, Elin Nordegren Woods, wife of world number one golfer Tiger Woods, won $183,250 and an apology from an Irish magazine that published an abusive article and a faked nude photo of her.

According to a story by the Associated Press, Trevor White, publisher of The Dubliner, conceded that the article -- published in September 2006 when Ireland was hosting the Ryder Cup -- "was cheap, tasteless, and deliberately offensive. It was also completely untrue." 

The magazine printed bogus nude pictures of Woods' wife just days before Ireland hosted the Ryder Cup, the biggest team event in professional golf.

Not a fake photo of Tiger Woods and his wife, Elin.

How the idea to do this ever got into print much less OK' d by people who apparently thought it was a good idea is beyond me. It still amazes me that in the publishing industry people still think that it's OK to fabricate a story and a photo to support the story and publish it.

For more details, go to: Woods' Wife Wins Lawsuit, Gets Apology

- Gary

Tags: Elin Woods, Tiger Woods

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Pictures of the Week: Dec. 1-7

In assembling this week's Pictures of the Week gallery, I was originally planning to comment on the photograph of the children playing in the mustard field in India.

I was struck by many elements that it contained. I liked the way that the image was composed, and I enjoyed the way that you can actually see the path that this young group of playmates takes across the field. I like the contrast of the orange fabric against the yellow flowers, but mostly, I like the innocence that this image captures, the way this image conveys the universality of childhood. It reminds me that the pursuits of children are very similar the world over.

 

However, late in the afternoon, a very different kind of image moved across the wires. It's an image taken from a video surveillance camera inside the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Neb., that shows the gunman with his rifle raised inside the Von Maur department store.

It is a chilling image that is heightened by the poor quality inherent in grabs from video surveillance cameras. The image is shocking and sad. A teenage gunman, not too far removed from childhood, whose actions are so very far from the innocence of a child.

 

Please take a look at all of this week's compelling images in our Pictures of the Week gallery.

 

-Lee Van Grack

Tags: Pictures of the Week

New Music Photo Hub

You've gotta check out the latest Music photo experience just launched in AOL: http://music.aol.com/pictures/most-viewed. It houses thousands of pictures and allows you to manage those photos in a number of ways, including sorting the images by most viewed. Right now Britney Spears is leading the list for most-viewed photo. Surprised?


The top vote-getting photo ...

New features in this release include:

• The ability to rate, tag, share and comment on photos
• The ability to browse photos by artist name and genre
• Enlarge button to zoom in on your favorite artists
• The ability to sort photos by views, ratings, and most recent image
• Top galleries module on photo asset pages to dynamically feature popular photo collections  
• Ability to search photos by artist name and caption

What do you think? Comments, suggestions, bugs? Let us know.

Tags: Britney Spears, Music photos

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Pictures of the Week: Nov. 24-30

This week I attended the Adobe Photoshop CS3 Power Tour taught by Photoshop expert Scott Kelby. On the way home, I was listening to NPR on the radio and I heard AP photographer Ron Edmonds talking about the Annapolis peace summit taking place this week in Maryland's capital city.

The discussion centered on the similarities between the iconic image of President Bill Clinton with his arms extended, framing Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat as they shook hands following the signing of the 1993 peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians on the White House lawn in 1993 ...



... and images of the handshake that occurred this week between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Annapolis between the outstretched arms of President George Bush.



I found Ron Edmonds comments to be both enlightening and accurate. If you are at all interested in photojournalism or learning about the thoughts that go into covering news events, I'd suggest you listen to his comments and take a look at all of this week's best in photojournalism from around the world in this week's Pictures of the Week gallery.

- Lee Van Grack

Tags: Pictures of the Week

Pictures of the Week: Nov. 17-23

While searching for photos for this week's gallery, a photograph of a starlet sitting on a power line as storm clouds rolled across the sky muting the sun caught my eye. I found it to be a unique image. The bird is perfectly framed by the shape of the partly obscure sun, which itself is framed by a dark storm cloud.



AOL is a subscriber to the AP Photo service, which allows us to use any photo that moves on the wire that is shot by an AP staff photographer. Occasionally, a photo comes across the wire that is submitted to AP by a newspaper for use by it's contributing members (which is usually other newspapers). Although AOL is a subscriber to the AP photo service, we are not a contributing member, and on those occasions when I wish to include a member photo in the Pictures of the Week gallery, I need to get permission from the contributing newspaper. 
  
I contacted the Wyoming Tribune Eagle to obtain permission to use the starling photo and spoke with  Michael Smith, the photographer of the image. He granted us permission but explained to me that he had another version of the image that he felt was a better photo, and he offered to allow me to use it. 
  
When I saw the second image, I immediately knew that it was an improved visual over an already great image. The second photo was a wider image and showed three additional birds on the wire, further highlighting the bird that is framed by the sun; it makes it appear as though the bird on the left is performing in a spotlight as the other three sit off to the side against a dramatic backdrop.

What do you think? Take a look at the rest of the dramatic images from around the world in this week's Pictures of the Week gallery.

 

-Lee Van Grack

Tags: Pictures of the Week

Digital Keychain

File this under the "what will they think of next" category ...

 

I saw this on the AOL Welcome Screen today, started poking through the AOL Shopping area and followed the links through to this intriguing gift idea for the holidays -- a digital photo keychain, sold by The Sharper Image.



It's got a one-and-a-half-inch screen, you can transfer photos to it directly from your PC or Mac (it stores up to about 31 photos) via USB port, you can display a single photo or have them shuffle through in a slideshow format.

Pictures of the Week: Nov. 10-16

Addrin Adams, 7, brother of slain Army Spc. Jeffrey Paul Shaffer who was killed in Iraq, wipes a tear from the eye of his mother, Melissa Adams, during a Fallen Soldiers Memorial at the American Legion Post 121 in Waco, Texas, Nov. 11. President Bush attended the event.

Veterans Day is an American holiday honoring our military veterans. It is so very sad that not all veterans return home to their loved ones. Although too many service men and women may never witness this day as veterans, they are honored just the same. The sacrifices that families make in service to their country is immense, and this photograph of a child wiping a tear from his mother's eye while attending the Fallen Soldiers Memorial at the American Legion Post 121 in Waco, Texas, is a poignant testament to that.

Take a look at the rest of the dramatic images from around the world in this week's Pictures of the Week gallery.

 

-Lee Van Grack

Tags: Pictures of the Week

Veterans Day, 2007

Prisoner of War Medal (left), Purple Heart (right)

Over 4 million American soldiers served during WWI. Today, only three U.S. WWI veterans remain. One is 106-year-old Frank Woodruff Buckles, who lives in Charles Town, W.Va.  Underage but eager to join up, he lied about how young he was so he could go to war. He was only 16 years old but was undeterred after being turned away by many recruiters. After some fast talking, he convinced an Army recruiter to let him sign up.

WWI Veteran Frank Woodruff Buckles

I found and interviewed five veterans from WWI to the current Iraq War. I wanted to learn about their experiences from different points of view -- men, a woman, white, African-American, Latino. It was such an honor to spend time with these veterans, listen to their heart-felt personal stories and see their war-time photographs.

 

I was struck by the number of veterans I interviewed who said the main reason they enlisted was to see more of the world. Something I learned that really struck me, was why servicemen and women are issued two dog tags. I guess all veterans know the reason, but it was sobering information to hear. 

 

All veterans endured hardships and faced danger. What does their service mean to you?

 

I compiled their stories in a handful of multimedia vignettes, using video, audio and still photos to tell their stories. Check it out, and let me know what you think: Veterans Reflect on  Service.

- Dave

Tags: Veterans Day

Pictures of trhe Week: Nov. 3-9

President Pervez Musharraf's recent declaration of emergency rule has sparked an uprising by citizens across Pakistan -- even lawyers. They are protesting against Musharraf's recent suspension of the constitution and his attempts to silence the legal system that he perceives to be a threat to his continued rule. (Latest news on Pakistan)

 

This photograph strikes me as an iconic image. People fighting for their rights and the rights of others. One does not normally expect to see a government protestor to be wearing a suit and throwing back a tear gas shell toward the police, but democracy does not possess a dress code.

 

Take a look at the rest of this week's dramatic images from around the world in this week's Pictures of the Week gallery.

 

-Lee Van Grack

Tags: Pictures of the Week

Digital Photography Info

I hesitate to say this ... we're barely past Halloween, but Thanksgiving, although still off in the distance a little, is only a couple of weeks away. And you know what comes next: Christmas. So -- it's not too early to start doing your homework on digital imaging and thinking about the kinds of digital photo gifts you might consider giving this holiday season. If you're thinking about giving a gift that involves digital photography this year, you certainly won't be alone. According to the Consumer Electronics Association's (CEA) figures, some 27.5 million digital cameras will be sold during 2007, up slightly from 26.7 million last year.

AOL has a number of areas where you can get basic tips as well as more in-depth information when it comes to digital photography. For example, check out this this digital camera buying guide, put together by CEA in partnership with CNET.com. It's an interactive guide, and there's lots of information that helps break down the various kinds of digital cameras, their features, and what you should look for. It's a good place to get started. Also in a similar format are guides for:

    • Printing digital images

    • Sharing digital images

    • Editing digital images

    • Storing digital images

CNET also has compiled the most popular digital cameras for your consideration.

And there's this digital camera type guide that also should prove to be very helpful. It was put together by digitalcamerareview.com, and it's a pretty thorough examination of current digital cameras. 

If you want more general information about digital photography, how-to's, the basics of shooting better pictures, information on making prints from digital files, and other tips, check out what's available at the Digital World of Photos. Another place that has a more newsy feel to it is switched.com's camera's area -- lots of interesting stuff there.

Digital Photography Review -- dpreview.com -- which is perhaps the most comprehensive review site for digital cameras.

When you're ready to move on and start hunting down the best prices, AOL Shopping has almost 1,000 different types of digital cameras available for purchasing. Not a bad place to start. 

Pictures of the Week: Oct. 27-Nov. 2

In life, as in death, nature has a way of displaying beauty in whatever form it may appear. Nature's beauty can be captured in the brightly colored autumn forest highlighted by it's reflection on the lake of Viacha outside Minsk, Belarus ...



... and it can be equally found in the colorful clouds of San Diego, Calif., as they serve as a canvas to highlight the twisted, burned and charred remains of trees destroyed by the Witch fire.

 

Take a look at all of this week's amazing images from around the world in this week's Pictures of the Week gallery.

 

-Lee Van Grack

Tags: Pictures of the Week

Natures Best Photography

I went to an amazing event last night at the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum. It was a reception for the Natures Best Photography, Windland Smith Rice International Awards Exhibition 2007. The photography presented is simply spectacular. If you live in the Washington, D.C. area or plan to travel there, you absolutely must stop in and see this exhibit on the second floor of the museum (right next to the Hope Diamond exhibit).


Outside the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History

The Natures Best photography exhibit officially opened Oct. 30 and will remain in place through April 27, 2008. Presented are 60 awe-inspiring, award-winning images from the annual Nature's Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Awards competition. Also featured are photos by the Conservation Photographer of the Year, Howard Ruby. This is perhaps the finest collection of nature photographs housed in one space. Many of the award-winning photographers stood by the images they had shot that were on display and talked with those attending about their photography and how they made their images.



As you walked through the gallery, it was impossible to pick a favorite. There was a mesmerizing shot of a lizard's eyes ...



... three somewhat menacing-appearing buffalo plowing through the snow, looking like they were about to run down the photographer ...



... there was an endearing shot of a two-toed sloth and a wonderfully colorful shot of a Mandarin duck as well as an interesting shot of a fox buried halfway in snow, digging for a snack of some sort. If I had to pick a favorite, though, I think it might be the shot of Nevada's Fly Geyser by Rodney Lough Jr. It was absolutely other-worldly.

We will offer a selective look at some of the award winners in an upcoming photo gallery on AOL, but for now, take a look at a gallery of photos that we have from a new publication that Natures Best has launched: Natures Best for Kids.

- Gary Hopkins

Pictures of the Week: Oct. 20-26

The trees are full of fall colors, surrounded by water. The shape of the island takes on the appearance of a sock or a boot amidst the tapestry of the autumn color -- the wake produced by the boat highlights the shape even further. It made me smile, to see such an unexpected image of trees during a week of seemingly endless forest fires and destruction.

 

Take a look at all of this week's amazing images from above and around the world in this week's Pictures of the Week gallery.

 

-Lee Van Grack

Tags: Pictures of the Week

Southern California Wildfires

We've been watching all week as the wildfires have raged across Southern California. The devastation has been incredible. As of this writing, the fires have consumed some 775 square miles. Hundreds of thousands of people have had to be evacuated. Eighty percent of the 1,800 homes lost to the fires were in the San Diego area. A woman interviewed on one of the cable news channels talked about how after she was evacuated from her house, she watched it burn on the news -- she described it as being completely consumed by flames. Not an easy thing to watch. But she said the tougher thing was having to explain to her 4-year-old daughter that her beloved purple room with all her things in it was gone. But she said she promised her daughter she'd have a new purple room soon.

By now you've seen dozens if not hundreds of photos from the week's coverage of the fires. They make for gripping images. And now, with the fires abating and people going back to their homes, the displaced families will discover the devastated landscapes that once were their homes. The boy in the photo below, for example, is telling his Mom where they should dig for his missing collection of arrowheads.

The coverage will continue, although as the days move on, not necessarily on the front pages of AOL or other Web sites, or on the front pages of newspapers. But you can continue to keep up with the coverage and the stories of the people who in many cases have lost everything, on our News page.

You also can find the continuing stream of photos that come in minute by minute through our feeds photo gallery on that page. You will find on that News page a photo gallery of the most impactful photos from the fires, edited by our staff of News photo editors, as well as another gallery that contains all the wildfire photos we have access to through our News photo feeds that are automatically updated every five minutes.

Tags: Wildfires

Pictures of the Week: October 13-19

Ok, so I have been accused of including so many pictures of aircraft in the Pictures of the Week gallery that one of my colleagues has suggested that I change the name to Planes of the Week. Look, it's not like I love aviation and strive to include an image of a jet or a plane every week. I'm merely trying to assemble the best news images from around the world each week in an attempt to produce the best collection of Pictures of the Week. So, what do you think? Seen too many aircraft week after week ... or do you think each one has been worthy of making it's appearance in the gallery?

In the meantime take a look at all of this week's great images and vote for your favorite from this week's Pictures of the Week photo gallery.


-Lee Van Grack

Tags: Pictures of the Week

Pictures of the Week: Oct. 6-12

Sometimes the best images are not even captured by a photographer. The Cassini spacecraft captured this image of Saturn's moon Iapetus, revealing amazing detail. Images that are sent to earth from Cassini and the Hubble space telescope never cease to amaze me.

Take a look at all of this week's amazing images from above and around the world in this week's Pictures of the Week photo gallery.

- Lee Van Grack

Tags: Pictures of the Week

Fotofestivus VIII

Welcome to our next installment of Fotofestivus on the AOL Photo Talk blog. It's an idea we came up with as a staff a while ago. It's pretty simple: we identify a theme and shoot a photo for it. Some themes will be straightforward, some wacky. We'd like to invite you to join in, too.

 

This month's theme is: ANTICIPATION. Better grab the camera and head out now to shoot a picture on this subject. This kind of a theme, which is not really on something tangible as recent past themes have been (green, toys, letter), is a little bit tougher to shoot.

Let's see how you interpret this one. Here are a few ideas that AOL photo editors shot around this one for a little inspiration:

Please send us links to your photos wherever they are -- AOL Pictures, Flickr, Snapfish, anywhere -- in the comments area below when you respond. Thanks!

 

- Gary

Pictures of the Week: Sept. 29-Oct. 5

Sometimes a photo is just waiting to happen. The creativity in this photo was created at the site of the event, not by the photographer. But it is a fun visual and it deserves a place in this week's gallery.

 

What do you think? Do you agree? Or does it not belong in the gallery? Leave your comments below, then take a look at all of the week's best photos in our Pictures of the Week gallery and vote for you favorite.

 

-Lee Van Grack

Tags: Pictures of the Week

Did You See That? -- It's Back!

An AOL photo staple has returned after a brief break during the Sports channel's redesign: Did You See That?

We're glad to have it back in operation. It won second-place honors for 2006 in the National Press Photographers Best of Photojournalism for sports photo galleries. Each week, AOL will bring you a relatively eclectic mix of sports photos. These images are unique or unusual -- sometimes from the big events going on that particular week, like the baseball playoffs, college or NFL games, sometimes not.

Honda's MotoGP rider Dani Pedrosa of Spain thumbles during the Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi, north of Tokyo September 23, 2007.

Check in on AOL Sports Photos every Monday to see the most recent photos posted from the week. A few navigation tips for the site: this area contains a wide variety of Sports photo galleries, including Did You See That? We've got up-to-the-minute feeds of the most recent baseball, college and pro football, NASCAR and hockey photos as well as other topical feature galleries. If you're not seeing Did You See That as the main gallery (it will rotate in and out of the top position throughout the week), you can click on the blue "Menu" button at the lower right of the photo gallery, then click on the "More Galleries" tab and scroll until you see the thumbnail photo highlighting Did You See That? That's also how you can get to the other collections of Sports pictures in AOL Sports Photos.

Check it out, and let us know what you think.

Tags: Did You See That

Pictures of the Week: Sept. 22-28

Kenji Nagai, a Japanese photographer, was shot by soldiers as they fired to disperse a crowd of anti-government protesters in Myanmar. He continued to attempt to take photographs even as he lay mortally wounded.

 

The life of a photojournalist appeals to many. For some the motivation comes from a pursuit of excitement, for others it may be a pursuit of beauty, some may pursue it out of a sense of duty to record injustices and for others it may be a desire to travel and to meet new people.

Why a photojournalist chooses to cover events doesn't matter. What does matter is that the photographer is there and is recording the event as a witness for those of us unable to witness it ourselves. Sometimes exciting, sometimes dangerous, sometimes  a matter of life and death. Always newsworthy.

 

The death of a photojournalist, like the death of any other innocent, is tragic.

 

See all of this week's compelling photography from around the world at Pictures of the Week.

 

-Lee Van Grack

Tags: Pictures of the Week

Pictures of the Week: Sept. 15-21

Warning: The photograph below in this blog entry is graphic. If you are easily offended by violent images, do not scroll down the page.

 

 

The photograph below breaks my heart. When I first saw this image, I thought it was a photo of a child injured by violence in a war zone as he reaches for his mother. Sadly the image is far more grim.

 

The photo depicts a mother grieving for her six-year-old son, Dhiya Thamer, who was killed when their family car came under fire by unknown gunmen in Baqouba, capital of Iraq's Diyala province. The family was returning from enrolling Dhiya in school, where he was to begin his first year.

 

A mother should never have to suffer such a loss, going to or from school should never be that dangerous, and innocent civilians should not come under attack.

 

 

 

 

 

For the rest of this week's compelling photography from around the world, go to: Pictures of the Week.

 

-Lee Van Grack

Tags: Pictures of the Week

America at Home

There's a very interesting project now underway through this Sunday, Sept. 23, called 'America at Home.' It's being organized by the same folks who brought us the variety of 'Day in the Life of ...' projects, such as Day in the Life of America,' as well as America 24/7.' The concept of the America at Home project is to document the diversity of what home life consists of across America -- to "capture a sprawling digital time capsule of the millions of ways we create our version of Home, Sweet, Home."

And the cool part is: anyone can participate in it. The idea is for families (and that means you!) in all 50 states to photograph their homes.  Amateur photographers as well as 100 professional photographers will team up to shoot photos of what makes a house a home in America to bring the project alive.

These are highly personal photos, sharing intimate photos from bedrooms, family rooms,
kitchens and sometimes the most surprising places across America.

We're partnering with the America at Home group and highlighting the kind of photography that's going on right now as part of the project. Each day on AOL Visions, we're launching a select group of pictures from the project to help give everyone a sense of the kind of images photographers are capturing. Check out what we've got so far: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

The project will culminate in a book of the same name, due out in March 2008. Will the picture you shoot make it into the book? Even if it doesn't, the America at Home group will allow you to send in one of your photos and they will make into a customized book jacket. Check out some of the great photography so far in this project by going to the daily links above. And to learn more about it, go to America at Home.

- Gary

Tags: America at Home, Day in the Life of America, America 24/7

Pictures of the Week: Sept. 8-14

On the sixth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, ceremonies were held at the Pentagon and near the site where the World Trade Center towers once stood. In these photos, we have two seemingly different reactions to similar events.

 

 

These images together do a perfect job of illustrating our collective reaction to those tragic events six years later: sorrowful, but with strength for the future. In one image we see a woman as she cries on the shoulder of a New York City firefighter during the ceremony near the former site of the World Trade Center towers. In the other image we see two friends displaying the strength to move forward through the support of each other at the ceremony at the Pentagon.

 

 

Though the photos display different emotions, they both evoke a compassionate response from us. 

 

The intent of those attacks six years ago was to weaken us, but it resulted in strengthening our country by bringing us closer as a nation and making us more compassionate toward each other as Americans.

 

To see all of this week's compelling photography from around the world, go to: Pictures of the Week.

 

-Lee Van Grack

Tags: Pictures of the Week

Viva la Salsa!

Fredy Perojo and I traveled to Puerto Rico to photograph El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, a prestigious Salsa combo that has been producing music for nearly half a decade.

 

I am a true over-packer and responded accordingly for this trip, packing five massive bags filled with strobe heads, lighting stands, soft boxes, a beauty dish, and an assortment of cords. Fredy and I hauled hundreds of pounds of gear from midtown Manhattan to ALFA studios in Puerto Rico for a portrait shoot featuring 13 musicians, some of whom have been playing with the combo for 45 years.

 

 

The intricacies of setting up for a portrait featuring 13 faces was not a simple task. We set up two backlights and two frontal soft boxes in a confined VIP lounge. Empty, the room seemed tight. Full, with 13 salsa musicians, one photographer, one art director, one assistant, one videographer, and an assortment of fans, the room was bursting at the seams. Working with 13 musicians is not an easy task, yet these vivacious and seasoned professionals made the shoot easy – laughing, hugging, throwing their hands in the air, pointing to promote the beloved Rafael Ithier, the conductor of the group.

 

 

I produced an individual shot of Rafael as well. His natural ability to play with the camera and offer perfect photographic gestures transcended the dingy, damp pool hall serving as the photo studio. It’s always easy to capture talent when they obviously are madly in love with their professions.

 

 

 

Fredy documented the fabulous musical performance while I repacked the hundreds of pounds of gear that we had hauled. Although it was a rigorous load to cart back and forth, my over-packing was worth it.

 

 

But the best part? Eating fried plantains and beans and rice with the trumpet player.

 

Check out the photo gallery and the video as well: Viva la Salsa!

 

The El Gran Combo Sesiones was released in conjunction with September's Hispanic Heritage Month.

 

- Rachel Been

Pictures of the Week: Sept. 1-7

It takes a photographer with a sense of humor along with a good eye to capture an image like this. The photographs that appear in this week's gallery are diverse, but they all share the element of a talented photographer with a good eye.

Take a minute to look through all the photos in this week's Pictures of the Week, and remember to vote for the photo you think is the best.

- Lee Van Grack 

Tags: Pictures of the Week

Fotofestivus VII

This is our seventh installment of our Fotofestivus here in the AOL Photo Talk blog. It's an idea we came up with as a staff a while ago. It's pretty simple: we identify a theme and shoot a photo for it. Some themes will be straightforward, some wacky. We'd like to invite you to join in, too.

 

This month's theme is: GREEN. Better grab the camera and head out now to shoot a picture on this subject if you don't already have one you'd like to submit. Fall is just weeks away and the green will be going before you know it -- if you interpret the them as a color, that is. Perhaps you have another idea. You can interpret it literally or have some fun with it.

 

Please send us links to your photos wherever they are -- AOL Pictures, Flickr, Snapfish, anywhere -- in the comments area when you respond.

 

Here are a few photos shot by some of the AOL photo editors for some inspiration:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have fun and think creatively! We look forward to seeing how this theme inspired you. For additional inspiration, take a look at some of our previous Fotofestivus entries:

 

Fotofestivus VI 

Fotofestivus V

Fotofestivus IV

Fotofestivus III

Fotofestivus II

Fotofestivus

 

- Gary