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Up and down Detroit’s streets, buildings stand abandoned and in ruin. French photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre set out to document the decline of an American city. Their book “The Ruins of Detroit“, a document of decaying buildings frozen in time, was published in December 2010. From the photographers’ website: Ruins are the visible symbols and landmarks of our societies and their changes, small pieces of history in suspension. The state of ruin is essentially a temporary situation that happens at some point, the volatile result of change of era and the fall of empires. This fragility, the time elapsed but even so running fast, lead us to watch them one very last time : being dismayed, or admire, making us wondering about the permanence of things. Photography appeared to us as a modest way to keep a little bit of this ephemeral state. |
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view Captured: The Ruins of Detroit as presented by: Denver Post |
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The New York Times- The use of air power has changed markedly during the long Afghan conflict, reflecting the political costs and sensitivities of civilian casualties caused by errant or indiscriminate strikes and the increasing use of aerial drones, which can watch over potential targets for extended periods with no risk to pilots or more expensive aircraft. |
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view In Focus: The War from the Sky as presented by: Denver Post |
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When dictators are overthrown by rebel or military forces, their many elaborate palaces, mansions and bunkers are evacuated, left behind for the new forces to rummage through. From Saddam Hussein’s palace, Maqar-el-Tharthar, a massive residence at Lake Tharthar, to Moamer Kadhafi’s homes and his families homes scattered throughout Libya, the first peek into their lavish lifestyles come to life as rebels enter each residence. Visitors view the bedroom of Imelda Marcos at the Santo Nino shrine 13 October 2004 that was sequestered by the government. When the former first lady built the mansion in 1981 in her hometown Tacloban, it was dubbed by many as the Malacanang presidential palace of the south. The mansion named after religious icon of the Child Jesus stands as a monument to the obscene excesses of the Marcos years whenthe late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was deposed by military-backed people power revolt in 1986 after 20 years in power. Soldiers stand at attention during a change of command ceremony July 1, 2004 in Camp Victory, Iraq. Gen. Casey took command of the forces from Gen. Sanchez in a change of command ceremony at the elaborate Al-Faw Palace in Camp Victory. Anti-Communist soldier (L) sticks a bayonet through a portrait of late Romanian Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu 28 December 1989 in Sibiu as the anti-Communist uprising to end Nicolae Ceausescu's 24 years of dictatorial rule continue. The communist dictator N. Ceausescu and his wife Elena were deposed and executed by a firing squad 25 December 1989. Eight years after the December 1989 revolution which toppled Ceausescu, Romania has begun lifting the veil on the "mysteries" surrounding the uprising and the circumstances which brought former president Ion Iliescu to power. According to general prosecutor Sorin Moisescu, reports put about at the time of "terrorists loyal to Ceausescu" provoking bloody diversions to sow panic in the population, were "fabricated" to justify Iliescu's takeover. "Nothing that happened after 22 December 1989 was due to chance. The deaths of some of the demonstrators were supposed to provide legitimacy to the new regime" Moisecu said 24 December 1998. |
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view In Focus: The Palaces Left Behind as presented by: Denver Post |
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In early September, Matthew Lloyd photographed the Yorkshire Gliding Club in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park, England. The Club, founded in 1934, operates a fleet of fiberglass gliders and pilots can take advantage of the favorable soaring conditions of North Yorkshire. Towed into the sky to a height of 2000ft by an aircraft called a tug, the gliders are then released and can ride the thermals for a considerable amount of time, the club record being 13 continuous hours. A high performance glider mid air over the Yorkshire Gliding Club which lies on a plateau in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park on September 1, 2011 in Thirsk, England. Pilot Les Merritt pushes his aircraft into position before a flight at the Yorkshire Gliding Club, which lies on a plateau in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park. Gliders and their trailers line the airfield of the Yorkshire Gliding Club which lies on a plateau in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park |
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view Glider Flight as presented by: Denver Post |
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In downtown Baghdad, a police headquarters has been painted two shades of purple: lilac and grape. The central bank, a staid building in many countries, is coated in bright red candy cane stripes. Multicolored fluorescent lights cover one of the city’s bridges, creating a Hawaiian luau effect. Blast walls and security checkpoints stick out because they are often painted in hot pink. Baghdad has weathered invasion, occupation, sectarian warfare and suicide bombers. But now it faces a new scourge: tastelessness. Iraqi artists and architecture critics who shudder at each new pastel building blame a range of factors for Baghdad’s slide into tackiness: including corruption and government ineptitude, as well as everyday Iraqis who are trying to banish their grim past and are unaccustomed to having the freedom to choose any color they want. “It’s happening because Iraqis want to get rid of the recent past,” said Caecilia Pieri, the author of “Baghdad Arts Deco: Architectural Brickwork 1920-1950.” “They see the colors as a way of expressing something new, but they don’t know which colors to use. The Arab mentality is that you have to be the owner of your building, and you do what you want with it. But there are no government regulations like in Paris or Rome. It’s anarchy of taste.” For decades, Saddam Hussein’s government ruled over aesthetics in Iraq’s capital with the same grip it exercised over its people. A committee of artists, architects and designers approved the color of buildings as well as the placement of shrubs. With many beige brick buildings, and color used sparingly — most often on mosques — the city’s appearance was uniform and restrained. But the committee, like Mr. Hussein’s government, fell apart after the United States invasion in 2003. Some years later, when Iraqis started rebuilding as the violence declined, there was no central arbiter. Bright colors started appearing, and places like the Trade Ministry were done up in pink, orange and yellow. |
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view In Focus: Shades of Change in Baghdad as presented by: Denver Post |
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When Cuba legalizes buying and selling real estate by the end of the year – as the government promised again this week – many expect a cascade of changes: higher prices, mass relocation, property taxes and a flood of money from Cubans in the United States and around the world. Private property is the nucleus of capitalism, of course, so the plan to legitimize it here in a country of slogans like “socialism or death” strikes many Cubans as jaw-dropping. Indeed, most people expect onerous regulations and, already, the plan outlined by the state media would suppress the market by limiting Cubans to one home or apartment and requiring full-time residency. Yet even with some state control, experts say, property sales could transform Cuba more than any of the economic reforms announced by President Raul Castro’s government. An old house that has been subdivided and is in use by several families in the Old Vedado neighborhood of Havana, July 27, 2011. Private property is such a central tenet of capitalism that the plan to legitimize it here strikes many Cubans as jaw-dropping. A man gets a haircut in Central Havana, July 26, 2011. The area is one of the most heavily populated of the Cuban capital since many of these old buildings have been subdivided to house multiple families. A worn staircase in an old house that has been subdivided and is in use by several families, known as a "solar," in Old Havana, July 28, 2011. Experts say that even with some state controls, property sales, announced recently by the government that some would be permitted, could transform Cuba more than any other economic reform announced by President Raul Castro's government. |
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view In Focus: Cuba Moves Toward Capitalism as presented by: Denver Post |
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Determined never to forget but perhaps ready to move on, the nation gently handed Sept. 11 over to history Sunday and etched its memory on a new generation. A stark memorial took its place where twin towers once stood, and the names of the lost resounded from children too young to remember terror from a decade ago. In New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, across the United States and the world, people carried out rituals now as familiar as they are heartbreaking: American flags unfurled at the new World Trade Center tower and the Eiffel Tower, and tears shed at the base of the Pentagon and a base in Iraq. It was the 10th time the nation has paused to remember a defining day. In doing so, it closed a decade that produced two wars, deep changes in national security, shifts in everyday life – and, months before it ended, the death at American hands of the elusive terrorist who masterminded the attack. A woman at the National September 11 Memorial, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011, mourns the loss of her son who died during attacks at the World Trade Center, Sept. 11, 2001. Hikers unfurl a large flag on the top of Peak One of the Ten Mile Range outside of Frisco, Colo., Sept. 11, 2011. The Sunday following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, several dozen friends climbed the peak to raise an American flag, and on Sunday, many of the same group made a return trek. Dawn breaks over ground zero in lower Manhattan on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011. The two memorial fountains, among the largest artificial waterfalls in the world, sit where the twin towers stood. |
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view Captured: Remembering 9/11 as presented by: Denver Post |
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Ucil, a trained monkey, takes part in a street performance in Jakarta, Indonesia. Macaque monkeys who are trained for street performances, known as “topeng monyet”, are chained to a cage in “monkey village”, where the animals are trained to take part in street performances. The street performances usually involve the monkeys wearing masks, such as dolls’ heads or attire to mimic humans, with the monkeys trained to act out human activities such as shopping, riding bicycles or other simulations of human behavior. Poverty drives the handlers to exploit the monkeys in the hope of earning small change, but the effect and cruelty to the monkeys is a cause that charities such as the Jakarta Animal Aid Network are increasingly taking up. Kasman ties the hands of his macaque monkey who is trained for street performances in Jakarta, Indonesia. Ucil, a trained monkey, takes part in a street performance in Jakarta, Indonesia. The street performances usually involve the monkeys wearing masks, such as dolls' heads or attire to mimic humans, with the monkeys trained to act out human activities such as shopping, riding bicycles or other simulations of human behavior. |
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view In Focus: Performing Street Monkeys as presented by: Denver Post |
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