The 10 Best Photo Essays of the Month

2 minute read

This month’s Photojournalism Links collection highlights 10 excellent photo essays from across the world, including Tomas Munita’s powerful work on Burma’s persecuted Rohingya minority. The photographs, made on assignment for The New York Times, capture a camp in Sittwe, Burma, where some 140,000 Rohingya live in bamboo huts without electricity, in conditions that partly explain why thousands of the Muslim ethnic group have tried to migrate across Asia these past few months.

Tomas Munita: For the Rohingya of Burma, a Hardscrabble Existence (The New York Times)

James Nachtwey: The Plight of the Rohingya (TIME LightBox) TIME’s contract photographer travelled to Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, to document the plight of Asia’s newest boat people.

Pete Muller: Seeking the Source of Ebola (National Geographic) World Press Photo winner Muller’s excellent pictures track the Ebola outbreak from Democratic Republic of Congo to Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Ivory Coast.

Rena Effendi: In the Footsteps of Gandhi (National Geographic) Effendi’s beautiful color photographs look at the great Indian leader’s impact, past and present.

Robin Hammond: Chronicling the Struggles of LGBT People Around the World (TIME LightBox) Moving portraits series on survivors of discrimination

David Guttenfelder: Illuminating North Korea (The New York Times) Yet another fascinating look at the hermit kingdom by the National Geographic Society Fellow.

Matt Black: Geography of Poverty (MSNBC) The new Magnum nominee is expanding his project documenting poverty from California to rest of the U.S.

Philip Montgomery: Scott Walker and the Fate of the Union (The New York Times Magazine) Stunning black and white pictures document the fight to protect workers’ rights in Wisconsin.

Arnau Bach: Stranded in Marseille (The New Yorker Photo Booth) Bach won the Pierre and Alexandra Boulat grant in 2013 and used the funds to make a portrait of one of the poorest French cities.

Charles Ommanney: The Black Route to Europe (The Washington Post) These photographs track one Syrian family’s journey from Aleppo to Austria| More on the Washington Post In Sight blog: Pt.1 and Pt. 2.

Rohingya
The New York Times: For the Rohingya of Burma, a Hardscrabble Existence Oma Salema, 12, holds her undernourished brother Ayub Khan, 1, at a camp for Rohingya in Sittwe, Burma, on June 5, 2015. Tomas Munita—The New York Times/Redux
Rohingya
TIME LightBox: The Plight of the RohingyaChildren rest at a refugee camp in Bayeun, outside of Langsa, Indonesia, May 20. They were among the 25,000-plus Rohingya Muslim migrants who have fled reported persecution in Burma and Bangladesh this year by crossing the Indian Ocean in search of refugee status in Indonesia and Malaysia.James Nachtwey for TIME
Ebola
From the July issue of National Geographic magazine: Seeking the Source of Ebola A hunter from a small village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) adjusts the mask that he’ll wear while stalking game. The consumption of infected bush meat is one way Ebola virus passes to humans.Pete Muller—National Geographic
Gandhi
From the July issue of National Geographic magazine: In the Footsteps of Gandhi Workers harvest salt in Dharasana, Gujarat. In May 1930, the month after Gandhi led a march to protest British restrictions on salt, activists trained in nonviolent resistance marched here and were savagely beaten, a seminal event that advanced India’s drive for independence.Rena Effendi—National Geographic
LGBT
TIME LightBox: Chronicling the Struggles of LGBT People Around the WorldJoseph Kawesi, 31 Uganda, March 2015 Joseph Kawesi, a transgender woman, sits at home in the Ugandan capital of Kampala with her mother Mai, 65. Kawesi still has nightmares about the night in December 2012 when she says police officers dragged her out of her home after a tip-off that she might be gay. She says the officers beat her, and then raped her with a club. Kawesi is now an activist working to support LGBT people affected by HIV/AIDS in Uganda. Uganda's president signed an Anti-Homosexuality Act into law in Feb. 2014, that broadened the criminalization of same-sex relationships, adding to colonial-era laws that already prohibited sodomy. The law was overturned on a technicality in August, but Parliament could pass a new anti-homosexuality bill this year.Robin Hammond
North Korea Pyongyang children school
The New York Times: Illuminating North KoreaNorth Korean children perform at the Pyongyang Kyongsang Kindergarten. David Guttenfelder—New York Times/National Geographic Creative
Worker rights Wisconsin
The New York Times Magazine: Scott Walker and the Fate of the UnionDemonstrators protesting the abrupt end to a Wisconsin State Senate committee hearing on the “right to work” bill on Feb. 24. From left: Maureen Dunn, a union activist; Daniel Benoit, a member of Teamsters Local 344; Wendy Stott, a union organizer for the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals; and Peter Rickman, a staff member of Wisconsin Jobs Now. Philip Montgomery for The New York Times
Geography of poverty
MSNBC: Geography of PovertyGallup, NM. A man sleeping next to a house was questioned by police. Gallup is a city in McKinley County, New Mexico. The population is 21,678 and 21.9% live below the poverty level. Gallup has the highest violent crime rate in the state of New Mexico. In 2012, violent crime was nearly five times the national average.Matt Black
Marseille
The New Yorker Photo Booth: Stranded in Marseille Young people hang out on the streets of Felix Pyat, a neighborhood in the northern districts. July 3, 2014.Arnau Bach
Greece Refugees
The Washington Post: The Black Route to EuropeAhmed Jinaid, 42, and his family on the Greek-Macedonian border on May , 2015 in Evzoni, Greece. With the sun setting rapidly Ahmed Jinaid and his small family group continue on their epic journey through northern Greece. The Macedonian border is only a kilometer ahead and they must cross this hill without being spotted by any of the armed gangs and paramilitaries operating in the area. Once at the top of the hill they will wait until total darkness before carrying on in total silence through Macedonia.Charles Ommanney—The Washington Post

More Must-Reads from TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com