THAT SURPRISE ME!

27th
March

3 notes

A boy gets his head shaved by a Buddhist monk after being sent by his family to live the life of a monk for seven days as part of a ritual in Yangon on March 4, 2012. Boys between the ages of seven and 18 in Myanmar are traditionally sent by their family to experience the life of a monk for a short span of time.Myanmar
Is the recent political thaw in Myanmar genuine? Democratic elections are coming to the long-reclusive southeast Asian nation of Myanmar, formerly Burma. A long military dictatorship has nominally ended, and the regime has signed peace treaties with several ethnic separatist insurgencies. Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s long house arrest is over, and she is campaigning for a seat in Parliament in the upcoming April 1 vote. Western investment is beginning to mass, which may ultimately be the reason the country is finally opening its doors. Other speculation on the thaw points to the incompetent emergency response to Cyclone Nargis in 2008, which left as many as 140,000 dead and sowed deep dissatisfaction with the government. Whatever the reasons for the unprecedented opening, the isolated and impoverished Burmese people are eager to reconnect with and catch their more developed neighbors in ASEAN, the Association of South East Asian Nations. While it’s impossible to represent every corner of any nation, collected here are images from the last couple of months in Myanmar, a nation of 55 million. — Lane Turner (41 photos total)

23rd
March

2 notes

Luz nas vielas - Boa Mistura - Sao Paolo

6th
March

0 notes

25 TOES West Bengal, India, November 2009

6th
March

1 note

RANCH DOG TAKING A BREAK FROM WORK Ellsworth, Nebraska, April 2010

6th
March

1 note

A HOMELESS BOY SLEEPING INSIDE THE TRAIN Jakarta, Indonesia, August 2009

6th
March

6 notes

BROOKLYN BRIDGE New York City, New York, February 2011

6th
March

9 notes

MOONRISE OVER NORTHERN LIGHTS Northern Alaska, March 2011 - Listen (Sky Sailing)

6th
March

1 note

THREE FISHERMAN ON INLE LAKE Inle Lake, Myanmar, January 2011

6th
March

1 note

PACKED IN THE CABIN OF A TRAIN TO JODPHUR Jaipur, India, January 2011

6th
March

4 notes

STEAM FROM MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, October 2009

17th
February

4 notes

15th
February

3 notes

2nd Prize Sports Stories: Divers practice during the 14th FINA World Championships at the Oriental Spoets Center in Shanghai, China, July 17, 2011

15th
February

7 notes

2nd Prize Portrait Stories: A recruit at a police training center, Kunduz, Afghanistan, Sept. 28, 2011

15th
February

1 note

1st Prize Contemporary Issues Stories: Tahani, who married her husband Majed when she was 6 years old and he was 25 years old, poses for a portrait with her former classmate Ghada, also a child bride outside their mountain home in Hajjah, Yemen, June 10, 2010. Nearly half of all women in Yemen were married as children. (Stephanie Sinclair/VII Photo Agency/National Geographic Magazine)

15th
February

1 note

1st Prize Daily Life Singles: A photograph of North Korea’s founder, Kim II-sung, hangs on a building in the capital of Pyongyang, North Korea, Oct. 5, 2011. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters) #