8.8.88- 8.8.08: Twenty Years On

Cyclone Nargis , Burma, 2008

Editors note: Today is both the anniversary of 8.8.88 as well as 8.8.08, the opening of the Beijing Olympics. Twenty years ago the Burma military junta killed tens of thousands of innocent Burmese on the streets of Rangoon. Unfortunately we are not in a position to name the photographer for the reasons above.

About the Photograph:

“Hhaing The Yu, 29, holds his face in his hand as rain falls on the decimated remains of his home in the Swhe Pyi Tha township, near Myanmar’s capital of Yangon (Rangoon), on Sunday, May 11th, 2008.  Cyclone Nargis struck southern Myanmar a week ago leaving millions homeless and has claimed up to 100,000 lives.  Experts have warned that Myanmar now runs the risk of a public health crisis that could take an even greater toll, as the country’s military government has been slow to allow in international aid.

Tibetan Monks. Kathmandu, Nepal

Brian Sokol was born in the late 1970’s in the American Midwest where he grew-up pouring over back issues of National Geographic.  At university he studied writing and education before heading overseas.  After being awarded a small grant from the University of Wisconsin, Brian purchased his first camera and 100 rolls of slide film a few days before heading to Nepal for a year that elapsed into a decade.  In July 2008 Brian moved from Kathmandu to New Delhi, India in to better cover South and Southeast Asia.  He work appears regularly in publications including The New York Times, Time, Stern, l’Espresso and Der Spiegel.  He is the recipient of National Geographic Magazine’s 2007 Eddie Adams grant and was recognized as one of PDN’s 30 Emerging Photographers to Watch in 2008.

About the Photograph:

A Tibetan monk, rosary beads hanging from his hand, covers his face while sitting in solidarity during a hunger strike at a Tibetan refugee camp in Kathmandu, Nepal on 18 March 2008.  Eleven hunger strikers have been fasting in the Nepalese capital since 11 p.m. on 16 March in protest against conditions in Tibet.