STORY: This picture was taken in Mumbai, India over the summer of 2010 while I doing non-profit work.  This image shows the face of poverty and child beggars in India, as well as the stark divide between removed foreigners being shuttled around in taxis and the mass poverty that dominates the city.  The stereotype follows that this beautiful and wide-eyed child has probably never ridden in a car, likely speaks no English, and perhaps only encounters foreigners in this context: begging. The way ...

STORY: In light of the wave of revolution and democracy that is passing over the Middle East, these photos are particularly telling. They reflect the connections that we as American citizens have with the rest of the world, and our duty toward our fellow human beings to stand against the injustices they face. Being an Egyptian American, I wanted to capture the spirit of the Egyptian revolution that extended far beyond the nation's borders to make a global impact; I wanted to share ...

STORY: This boy, Ishmael, drew a picture of "home". Many of these kids are HIV positive or came from parents without the means to take care of them and do not remember life before the orphanage. Ishmael was new to Beacon House and this picture was the most I heard from him the whole time I was there. He never spoke, but this image of "home" communicated a great deal to me. Whether this was ...

OpenShutter invites you to share your thoughts, reactions, and sentiments regarding selected photographs from our "Unfiltered" exhibition.  Thought provoking discussion questions have been posited by the photographers themselves and we welcome your input by asking you to "Leave a Reply" for the pertaining images.  Feel free to engage!

JR\'s TED Prize wish: Use art to turn the world inside out Winner of the TED Prize 2011, a semi-anonymous French street artist named “JR” uses his camera to expose global realities and undercover universal human truths. He does so by pasting photos of human faces and bodies across massive urban canvases such as billboards and buildings. Very broadly, these portraits challenge viewers to “discover, reveal, and share the untold stories and images of people around the world." One example was a ...

A boxer, a truck driver, and a dancer: these are some of the subjects that Sadaf Syed chose to represent in her photo documentary book about Muslim American women.  Her book iCover shows the many dimensions of the Muslim women, forcing the viewer to look beyond the headscarf and focus instead on these individuals’ incredible stories.  This past August, Syed was identified as a leading artist and was invited to the White House to join President Obama and other interfaith ...