I love this photo essay for looking behind the scenes at what is happening in California. It's informative and creative. Mette Lampcov breaks down why trees are dying in a way that is accessible — and heartbreaking.
—Kate Bubacz, deputy photo director, BuzzFeed News
A very happy (yes, that is a pun) 75th birthday to the drug that fueled an entire generation and some more after that. Some used LSD for a fleeting psychedelic escape; others took it for creative inspiration, which is how we ended up with “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”...allegedly. Getty Images takes you on a trip (another one of them puns, hey?) down its history through highlights of what makes LSD a significant player in pop culture.
—Anna Mendoza, photo editor, BuzzFeed Australia
Laura Aguilar was an artist ahead of her time who approached such vital issues of sexuality, identity, and race with a style that was as empathetic as it was fierce. Aguilar paved the way for contemporary Latinx artists and offered a mirror to marginalized communities who had never seen themselves depicted in art before. This inspiring retrospective written by Dazed offers a crash course on the influence of this prolific artist.
—Gabriel H. Sanchez, photo essay editor, BuzzFeed News
It’s still so mesmerizing to see — 32 years and hundreds of thousands of photos later, the aftermath of this nuclear power disaster. As eerie as they are fascinating, the abandoned towns around Chernobyl have become a site where old and new can coexist without getting in each other’s way. The control center is pretty much a period piece that has no purpose in the present day other than aesthetics. While wildlife starts to grow in a place that’s been written off long ago, Chernobyl will always serve as a reminder of how precarious life can be as well as how incredibly resilient.
—A.M.
Over the last century, medicine has transformed itself with every leap and bound in technology, dramatically elongating the lives of humans and minimizing what I'd describe as the "creepy factor." Take a journey through the UK's medical history in this fascinating collection of historical images shared by BuzzFeed News.
—G.H.S.
THIS IS MAGICAL! Claire Rosen has created beautiful fantasies of animal feasts. Each image is whimsical, funny, and completely addictive. I could look at this all day. It's also the perfect “tag yourself” photo essay for friends.
—K.B.
Vijay Pandey's photographs — of a refugee Rohingya community rebuilding their homes after a fire burned the camp to the ground — really speak to the perseverance and resilience of the human spirit. These images illustrate how the refugees continue to face the atrocities of genocide, as well as the strength of scarred children smiling and playing, and adults determinedly creating new homes adjacent to the ashes of their old ones.
—Laura Geiser, photo editor, BuzzFeed News
Here are the most moving and breathtaking pictures from the past week.
—G.H.S.