Istanbul 2025
Efe Yalçın offers a welcoming presence in his restaurant, FISH Istanbul, in the city’s ancient port neighborhood of Karakoy. Two of us walked in off the street into a tiny first floor, half of which was the kitchen manned by Efe’s chef, Serkan. Stay or leave? we asked one another with a glance. Efe, possessing […]
Toledo 2024
Aniese Seed [L], 99, and Bob Storer, 100, spend an afternoon reminiscing about their years together as best friends and business partners. They first met 93 years ago at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in downtown Toledo. Over the years they double-dated, lived on the same street and, in 1976, formed a partnership in Toledo Transducers, […]
Estonia 2024
Filmmaker and journalist Jaan Tootsen revisits the Tallinn neighborhood featured in his documentary, “New World.” The building behind served as the center for a group of idealistic, counterculture millennials intent on turning a section of this neighborhood, Uus Maailm, into a pedestrian-only community of coffee houses, art galleries, parks, retail shops, music and sports venues. […]
Chicago 2024
At 15 months, Isla is discovering the world beyond her home. This day, at the Chicago Children’s Museum, she is joined by hundreds of her peer group doing what kids do best: Play. Strangers to one another, they briefly interact before moving on to the next adventure. Their varied ethnicity is a snapshot of the […]
Finland 2024
Chef Pedro Mata takes a break at Du Dii, a popular Thai takeout joint in Kallio, a blue-collar neighborhood in northeast Helsinki. A native of Valencia, Spain, he moved here four decades ago with his Finnish wife. She died young and Pedro married a woman from Thailand. Having worked as a waiter and cook in […]
Brazil 2023
A trio of youths make their way along a new road in a horse-drawn wagon, a typical mode of transportation in this remote, sparsely settled region in northeastern Brazil. The road, known as PI-309, was completed in 2018 to reduce the driving time from Teresina, the capital of Piaui state, to the Atlantic coast and […]
Lebanon 2023
Rev. Fr. Issa Francis of the Monastery of the Nativity and his fellow monks built this simple chapel using, in part, trees from the surrounding forests. The monastery, located in the northeast mountain village of Laqlouq, is affiliated with the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. The faith is unique in that its liturgy follows the ancient […]
Ghana 2022
Four years ago, while on assignment in Ghana, I met this ebullient kiosk owner in Accra, the west Africa nation’s capital. She sold locally made jewelry, clothing and other souvenirs. I was not her ideal customer. With a house filled with mementos bought during 50 years on the road, I no longer pursued keepsakes. However, […]
Ghana 2022
In Jamestown, a coastal shanty enclave in south Accra – Ghana’s capital – children are raised in stone caves and wooden shacks. Many of the families are squatters whom the government has tried to evict time and again, without success. The women roam better neighborhoods selling fish, bread, produce, water and soft drinks. The men […]