I used to tell myself, “It’s fine.” But then I presented a project that triggered difficult memories. I now realize I have to overcome PTSD. (Photo courtesy of Kasey Ingerson) “It’s fine. Everything’s going to be fine!” I’ve said that a lot....
Mocked and belittled as an Asian-American, I was desperate to fit in with my peers. With time and age, I have learned to straddle the two cultures. Workers make mooncakes, Taipei, Taiwan, 17 September, 2004 (AP Photo/Wally Santana) One morning I boarded the bus to go...
A Jordanian youth reflects on the tangible and intangible objects, the memories and values that he carries with him each day. A pupil’s backpack. (EPA/Pablo Gianinazzi) I carry my black Hawaii Y5 phone. It’s not the newest technology, but it satisfies me. I...
I’m a New Yorker studying in France. I now realize a president doesn’t define a country and there are constructive ways to talk about politics. (Courtesy of GetDrawings) Since arriving in France over six months ago, I’ve had the same conversation many times...
Everyone prayed I would be a boy. I was born a baby girl. My photographs show how the genders “girl” and “boy” can coexist as they interact. Two figures standing in two doorways in front of a multicolored cyclorama, one figure bathed in green...
I went to Myanmar on a whim, and it was the best decision I could ever have made. (All photos by Sam Graves) By Sam Graves These are photos I took during my first trip to Myanmar in June 2018. I had been teaching in Vietnam and was able to travel all over Southeast...
New York goes into lock-down every year for the UN General Assembly, which attracts world leaders — and sends photographers like me scrambling. UN Secretary-General António Guterres and U.S. President Donald Trump (Photo by Enrique Shore) News-Decoder...
An evangelical Christian whisks four men from a remote Indonesian island to Israel, part of a life-long effort to gather the world’s “lost” Jews. (Photo taken on Kisar island in March 2018 by Paul Spencer Sochaczewski) This is a story of serendipity and of remarkable...
How Java’s controversial female ruler grew into the job Paul Spencer Sochaczewski taps his vast knowledge of Asia in this, his third short story for News-Decoder. Last year, Sochaczewski entertained us with yarns about the South China Sea and Borneo. In this five-part...
How Java’s controversial female ruler grew into the job Paul Spencer Sochaczewski taps his vast knowledge of Asia in this, his third short story for News-Decoder. Last year, Sochaczewski entertained us with yarns about the South China Sea and Borneo. In this five-part...