Kate Bellm's psychedelic landscapes and dreamy portraits of free-spirited people living their best life create a world into which the viewer can escape. In this world there are no jobs to run off to or responsibilities to tend to. There is only the pleasure derived from the beauty and fulfillment of Mother Nature. Bellm's work embodies the freedom of natural living many young folks aspire to achieve. For those who are reading this before an eight-hour shift at work, I highly recommend getting lost in the fantasy of these images for a while. Bellm's first solo show, Night Sky Rising, is currently on exhibit at LAMB Arts in Mayfair.
—Laura Geiser, photo editor, BuzzFeed News
In this fascinating and vital piece published by the New York Times, historian and curator Maurice Berger selects an eclectic series of photographs that weave together a narrative of race in United States. At the center is Berger's own poignant story of growing up at the intersections of race, culture, and art.
—Gabriel H. Sanchez, photo essay editor, BuzzFeed News
These images are 70 years old and can still be used to discuss the ongoing difficulties on Native American reservations in the United States. The poverty, isolation, and bureaucratic stalemates still exist and still need to be solved, even as fashions and customs have evolved.
—Kate Bubacz, deputy photo director, BuzzFeed News
I. Cannot. Get. Enough. Of. These. Images. Charlie Hilton James' work on monkeys and their human partners is a pure delight. Per National Geographic, James discovered a strong bond between indigenous people and their monkeys during his time working in the Amazon and thus began his photo exploration of this unusual friendship. The shared humanity in the eyes of both of the subjects is truly striking, and with their faces so close together you can clearly see the direct evolutionary path from primate to man.
—L.G.
I legit did not know that tugboats were still a force of the shipping industry, but this essay by Reuters captures both the romance (think Mark Twain) and the hardship (think dying rustbelt towns). This is a quick, fun essay worth checking out.
—K.B.
The Rohingya remain in survival mode within their refugee camps as they contend with a severe food shortage. The struggle to feed large families has lead many to marry off their young daughters. Although early marriage isn't uncommon within the Rohingya community, photographer Allison Joyce recently spent time documenting these girls' marriages, and her images tell a story of exhaustion and desperation. These marriages are built on the relief of one fewer mouth to feed in camps full of hungry survivors. Looking into the eyes of these girls, there's a resignation to a fate they wouldn't have chosen for themselves having just endured the horrors of an ethnic cleansing.
—L.G.
These images are beautiful, like visual poetry, capturing the in-between human spaces and rendering them magical. It's an incredibly unique look at Congo, a country usually portrayed as a place of war and blood diamonds.
—K.B.
A look back at the dumpster fire that was US politics in 2017.
—G.H.S.
Here are the most moving and breathtaking pictures from the past week.
—G.H.S.