Entries from Previous Competitions

“In the streets of San Telmo in Buenos Aires, Argentina tango pours out of the shops during the weekend market and a couple enjoys a tango together. I could picture them dancing like that 40 years ago. I love how this captures Buenos Aires (mate, tango, colors and all).”

“Waiting for a ferry in Haiti, I went down to the beach to see what these boys were doing. Their attention was focused on a shell and what was inside. They patiently waited for the inhabitant of the shell to produce some action as well as tried to engage it. At one point, the mollusk did make an appearance and it was at that moment this picture was captured.”

“Every year, Recife residents leave en masse to the interior to celebrate the SÌ£o JoÌ£o season, abandoning their urban and modern city for the Northeastern countryside and the bucolic traditions of their past. Once considered antagonistic to “”civilization”” and “”modernity””, the agrarian interior is the heart of Northeastern culture which radiates across all of Brazil, from ForrÌ_ music to traditional corn-based foods. “

“This photo of Iguazu Falls was taken during my semester abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 18 hour bus ride was well worth the sight of the most beautiful place on earth.”

“I took this picture while I was in SÌ£o Paulo, Brazil this summer as part of the Vanderbilt-Tulane summer portuguese program. My class went on a trip to visit the Mercado Municipal, the old center city market that is famous for its selection of meats that are made into mortadella sandwiches. I found this display of meats to be wonderfully foreign and beautiful for the US viewer.”

I had never seen Maya men in pants like these and loved the green wall and purplish maroon contrast.

“This photo was taken in Villa Guerrero, El Seibo, La RepÌ¼blica Dominicana in April 2010. This is a Haitian-Dominican woman preparing a batch of dulce de manÌ_ (peanut sweet) in her home. Many Haitian-Dominicans sell dulce de manÌ_ in the streets and at bus stops for income.”

“This was taken during a family trip to Peru. It was a dull day at Lake Titicaca, but this girl, Izabel, was so colorful, she lightened up the spirits of the whole group.”

“World’s largest open pit coal mine in La Guajira, Colombia. “

“This photo was taken at the Perito Moreno Glacier in El Calafate, Argentina. “

“This picture was taken in the small town of Upsallata, Argentina, on the road connecting Argentina to Chile. “

“The subject is flying over the Iguazu Falls. I took this picture because I wanted to see the magnificence of the falls from a broader perspective. Though I was a little nervous of my first helicopter ride; I didn’t want to lose the opportunity to view this “New Wonder of the World” from above. The picture is a reminder of how much it was worth to overcome that fear.”

“While doing research in Argentina, we stopped by a Guarani village to help a physician during her annual visit to the region. All of the kids were running around and playing with us and with each other, except one toddler. He sat watching all of us intently and quietly. “

“As I was in a country house in Anapoima (Cundinamarca, Colombia) chatting with relatives, I saw this hen just wondering around, sort of prowling, oblivious to all things human–like it owned the place. The colorful scene sort of composed itself, crying for a picture to be taken.”

“Rising high above Guanabara Bay, Sugarloaf Mountain stood before me like a rock giant watching over its beloved cidade maravilhosa, Rio de Janeiro. Inside the aerial bondinho, I had a 360 degree view of the land as I ascended the 1400-metre cable route from Morra da Urca to PÌ£o de AÌ¤Ì¼car. With the dense green foliage below, monoliths of granite and quarts ahead, and far out islands populating the coastal waters, this view captures the beauty of Brazil’s exotic and diverse landscape. “

“This Totonac musician is in the middle of the “Danza de los Voladores” a Mesoamerican ritual ceremony that is now considered an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. Swinging upside-down from a 30-meter pole, he becomes a bird as he flies through the air, his flute singing. “

“Kids are playing traditional dies to learn how to count and make additions in their own language, Kaqchikel Maya. For me it’s very important to see how kids and adults are making efforts together in order to keep their language, culture, and games alive. Unfortunately they must do it after the end of official year of school and without help of Guatemalan local and national government.”

“This photo was taken on Porto da Barra Beach in Salvador, Brazil. I remember sitting on the beach watching the sunset and turning my attention away from the sun and to the men on the end of the seawall. Something in them, in the way they were looking to the sea, exuded both beauty and sadness. “

“During my visit to Patagonia, Argentina, I had the opportunity to trek on the Perito Moreno Glacier. Perito Moreno is breathtaking in its immensity– extending 19 miles in length and containing 97 square miles of ice. At some points during the trek, all we could see around us was ice. It felt as if we were in another world.”

“On a family trip to Cuba, we sat to have a coffee after a long day of exploring Havana. The weather had been cool and rainy, and I was experimenting with capturing reflections in the puddles. The women walking across the frame added the perfect element to a photo of a painted wall glorifying the Cuban revolution.”

“Nazario is a waste picker in the garbage dump of Guatemala City. Though faced with extreme poverty, he stands as a rooted oak, or ‰€œencino‰€, leading his community with strength, hope, and wisdom. He inspires his neighbors to dream of a greater life, and he encourages his children to aspire to a future beyond the dump. Even since this photo was taken, he has led his street through incredible transformation.”

“This photo was taken in the Dominican Republic. Standing at the edge of a threshold, the girl faces a decision to leave or stay. The dark interior of the home and the bright outdoors suggest a stark contrast between her choices. However, the dogs, almost mirror images of each other, suggest that there may be more parallels than contrast in her options.”

“The past and the future collide in the Northeastern Brazilian state of CearÌÁ. In this photo the historic Igreja SÌ£o Pedro in the small coastal town of Canoa Quebrada overlooks the ocean, while in the background recently installed state-of-the-art windmills capture sea breezes to generate electricity for the region, which has been one of the fastest growing economically in the past decade.”

This is a public school playground in a Guatemalan pueblo in the Western highlands. Cantel is a village in the midst of cornfields: every inch of earth not covered by a building or road contains rows of the plants. The Guatemalan creation myth describes how people came from corn. Mountains and volcanoes frame the background. I had just observed a Population Council youth program take place at the school.

“This picture was take in Panajachel, Guatemala. It is a picture of a volcano on the shores of the beautiful Lago Atitlan. “